Comments on: Talking money with my teenage cousins

By: Meld

Meld — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:39:55 +0000

@stu Just a quick irrelevant comment – in some (if not most) countries, Monday *is* the first day of the week… It’s one of those culture things (like day/month/year vs month/day/year)

By: Carnival Of Personal Finance #118: Fun Money Facts Edition

Carnival Of Personal Finance #118: Fun Money Facts Edition — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:29:13 +0000

[...] Talking Money With My Teenage Cousins @ Clever Dude. The reason I began with credit cards is because I continually hear my cousins “wanting this and that”, and how their mom usually buys it for them. [...]

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:54:09 +0000

Sounds like your cousins need to earn something they want by saving their allowances just for a reality check. And as far as the car fantasy goes, it’s ok for him to dream a bit. It’s one thing to talk with your cousin, and another thing when the rubber meets the road. I’m not sure he knew he was supposed to take you seriously or if that was just chit-chat.

By: Advanced Personal Finance » Blog Archive » Carnival of Personal Finance 118 is up

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:04:06 +0000

[...] Remember that scene from Ferris Bueller’s day off when the maitre de says, “I weep for the future.” Well, Clever Dude had a similar moment with his cousins when he had a money talk with them. [...]

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #118 Fun Money Facts Edition is up at Money, Matter, and More Musings | Cash Money Life

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:54:08 +0000

[...] Dude: Talking Money With My Teenage Cousins. Sometimes it is amazing to hear what younger people think about money. But then, again, it is easy [...]

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:21:24 +0000

Money should be a course in school. When I was in highschool ‘back home’, home economics was standard for everyone and it made sure you could boil potatoes, basic cooking 101. The kind of things that teach you to eat the heels of loaves of bread because not doing so is a waste for waste’s sake.

my wife teaches english in rural virginia and 7th graders who cant name all the months of the year let alone put them in order (the number of kids that put monday as the first day of the week was mindnumbing.)

I need to learn not to be so shocked.

The more I think on it, money really needs to be taught in school when they start highschool.

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:09:33 +0000

Stu, I was actually inspired by another PF blogger (sorry, can’t remember which) to ask my cousin if he knew about credit cards. Apparently, you can’t take for granted that TV and parents will teach our kids about money. Perhaps that’s why the US is in so much debt? So few people know the right (and wrong) ways to spend, and those tend to be my readers

By: Stu

Stu — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:02:49 +0000

17 and not knowing how a credit card works? to me thats really shocking its not like he has just hatched from an egg. and 17 and never having a job of any kind?

i had a paycheck when I was 12 from a paper round. that taught me the value of a dollar (6 days a week for 2 hrs a day to earn i think it was 7$ a week… circa 1988)..

maybe its an american thing (im australian). my wife has zero concept of budgeting or managing money. her sister is no better (Expesnive baby clothes for 0-3 months that get worn once before its outgrown!! outragous!)

I like your debt scale box!

By: BookwormDragon

BookwormDragon — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:44:21 +0000

Frankly, I have trouble believing how financially ignorant young people can be today. My younger Brother, who is still in high school, scored a perfectly legal (not stolen) 30GB iPod off of a rich young sucker (RYS) for $20! The first time RYS had trouble with the device, he simply had his parents buy him a new one and sold the old one for a song (this was when this model was still new and therefore rather expensive)! My brother brought it home, hooked it up to his computer, did some very basic maintenance on it, and in about a half hour, had it working perfectly. Still works beautifully today. Good for him, but RYS certainly managed to screw himself over! Of course, my Brother happens to one of the most penny-pinching teens I know.
We always used cash only when I was growing up, no credit cards or bank accounts, and we tended to live pretty much paycheck-to-paycheck. I can remember rolling coins as well as ‘money-hunting’ throughout the house, hoping to find enough spare change to buy whatever we needed at the moment. Each of us kids received a small allowance in exchange for chores, which we were encouraged to spend or save as we pleased. Birthday gifts (we didn’t exchange gifts for Christmas) were always carefully chosen, and often planned for months in advance – making wish lists with savings plans/budgets was a favorite activity for us kids, and often caused us to realize that we didn’t really need that $80 Barbie after all. At twelve, I was a savvy enough shopper that Mom would often send me grocery-shopping with Dad, who sucked at smart shopping. It was a bit of a shock, though, when I got out on my own and realized how many financial choices were available to me. Things learned through hard experience:
PayDay Loans = BAD! VERY BAD! I really can’t stress this enough. Theoretically, PayDay loans could be a viable way to cover an emergency cost. In reality, they are addictive and expensive – few people have the knowledge or discipline to use them safely. Before you know it, you’ll be taking out PayDay Loans to cover your PayDay Loans, and the cycle will never end. They may sound like a good idea, but that money has to come from somewhere, it isn’t really free, you know…
Debit Cards = Good, if used correctly. But be careful, those small purchases can really add up.
Contract Cell Phone Plans = BAD! Go over your minutes? Hand over your first-born, it’ll be cheaper.
Pre-Paid Cellphone Plans = GOOD! You’ll know right away when your minutes are up, no accidental $300 phone bills. By the way, if you’re a teen looking to buy your first cellphone which you’ll pay or help pay for, this is the way to go. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if your bill ends up being over $100 a month.
Now that I’m in college, I’m planning ahead, taking advantage of the loan rates and chunks of cash (which I will probably never see all at once again) to buy things that I Know I’ll need when I graduate, like a professional wardrobe, 1st & Last Month’s rent, the Dentist, Quality but not extravagant electronics, etc. Having lived in the real world for nearly 4 years before I was able to qualify for a school loan on my own, I have some idea of what to expect when I graduate. I feel sorry for all those kids who went straight from HighSchool to College, though. They have no idea what the real world is like… Kind of amusing to listen to them talk, sometimes, though. Pipe Dreams in the Sky, lol.

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:10:49 +0000

rstlne, I’m worried about him because he’s a year behind in school. That means he’ll be 18 this year and only a junior. He’ll legally be able to get loans and credit cards, even if he has no credit history.