Bringing everyone together as a family is important. This includes dealing with money as a family unit because it’s poorly – if ever – taught in the school rooms. Given that we home school our techie girl, we include teachings about how to manage money solo and together as a family with her.
We realize that not everyone benefits from financially literate parents or a school system that includes personal finance education on the school curriculum. Therefore, this article is intended to provide some assistance in this area.
For example, do you know that knowledge of your energy bills and your energy usage can be an important factor in helping you to get the cheapest energy bills for what you need, alongside using something like a Smart Meter? This will help to prevent getting some surprise bills, which can mean that you don’t have to rely on using credit cards when there are any emergency bills that you haven’t accounted for and can’t really afford to pay. When things like that happen, it can lead to spiralling debt, as you haven’t planned for it, and if it can’t be paid off in full, will mean that you have to spend more on it in the long-term. Eventually if you have a lot of debt, you might have to start looking into debt consolidation loans so click here if that is of interest to you.
Most people spend money in the wrong order. Why? Because they’re never taught the right way to approach money and spending. So how should it be done? You receive money from a job and then allocate what you’ll save from it. After that, you spend what’s left.
This is entirely different to how most families operate where they receive their paycheck, spend money how they wish and if they’re lucky, get to the end of the month with no money left. If they’re less lucky, they’ll have some time left in the month and the next paycheck isn’t due yet. Then they have a problem.
Credit can be used when it’s for a good purpose. For instance, many households borrow money to buy a car. This is because purchasing a vehicle is the second most expensive purchase after a home. They need something to get around and going without a vehicle won’t work in most parts of the United States.
Even if you have bad credit, it’s sometimes possible to get bad credit installment loans even if you’ve had problems making repayments in the past. Taking out debt allows you to re-train yourself to be more responsible with money which is a great lesson. The installment loans for bad credit are usually available up to $2,000 to $2,500 for personal use only. Usually, there’s no credit check and they’re issued quickly too.
Learn to spend cash and not use plastic at the stores. Using plastic was something that came into being in the 1960s. Before that, it wasn’t normal to use virtual money like debit cards to pay for things.
One of the ways that using plastic distorts your thinking is that handing over a debit or credit card doesn’t feel the same as parting with cold hard cash. It just doesn’t! When handing over a ten-dollar bill to cover your coffee bill – it gives you pause. You suddenly realize how much you’re enriching the shareholders instead of yourself!
Switch to using cash money. Take it out in small amounts. Look for cash discounts because retailers pay a percentage to run cards through for purchases. Visa and Discover must make their fees - just make sure they’re not making it with you.
By sharing money lessons as a family, everyone can begin to spend more wisely. There’s some research that indicates people spend at least 7% less when switching to cash spending, so it definitely works for people who do it. Being smarter as a family makes it possible to save and retire early if this is something you aspire to do too.
Save First, Spend Later
Most people spend money in the wrong order. Why? Because they’re never taught the right way to approach money and spending. So how should it be done? You receive money from a job and then allocate what you’ll save from it. After that, you spend what’s left.
This is entirely different to how most families operate where they receive their paycheck, spend money how they wish and if they’re lucky, get to the end of the month with no money left. If they’re less lucky, they’ll have some time left in the month and the next paycheck isn’t due yet. Then they have a problem.
Use Credit More Wisely
Credit can be used when it’s for a good purpose. For instance, many households borrow money to buy a car. This is because purchasing a vehicle is the second most expensive purchase after a home. They need something to get around and going without a vehicle won’t work in most parts of the United States.
Even if you have bad credit, it’s sometimes possible to get bad credit installment loans even if you’ve had problems making repayments in the past. Taking out debt allows you to re-train yourself to be more responsible with money which is a great lesson. The installment loans for bad credit are usually available up to $2,000 to $2,500 for personal use only. Usually, there’s no credit check and they’re issued quickly too.
Spend Cash, Not Credit When Shopping
Learn to spend cash and not use plastic at the stores. Using plastic was something that came into being in the 1960s. Before that, it wasn’t normal to use virtual money like debit cards to pay for things.
One of the ways that using plastic distorts your thinking is that handing over a debit or credit card doesn’t feel the same as parting with cold hard cash. It just doesn’t! When handing over a ten-dollar bill to cover your coffee bill – it gives you pause. You suddenly realize how much you’re enriching the shareholders instead of yourself!
Switch to using cash money. Take it out in small amounts. Look for cash discounts because retailers pay a percentage to run cards through for purchases. Visa and Discover must make their fees - just make sure they’re not making it with you.
By sharing money lessons as a family, everyone can begin to spend more wisely. There’s some research that indicates people spend at least 7% less when switching to cash spending, so it definitely works for people who do it. Being smarter as a family makes it possible to save and retire early if this is something you aspire to do too.
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