Guest Post: Life Lessons from Mom

Lessons I Have Been Taught

I’ve been blessed growing up within a stable household, with a determined and devoted mother. Looking back, I realise the lessons she taught me then were vital to develop my sense of personal responsibility in the world as I grew up.

Skills For Life

As I moved on in my school life, I started to notice that she teaching me every day practical skills – though at the time I was rather reluctant and paid little attention – I was wondering why I needed to be able to do this for myself. By the age of 14, I was able to cook, clean, wash, and repair my bike tires if they ever got damaged.

Preparation

My transition into secondary school was a harsh one emotionally; I was bullied like any child, and like any child I had a loving parent to sweep me up and tell me that things were going to be just fine. Putting aside my emotional torments, I opened my first bank account as soon as I started and gradually begin saving my paper round money. As such I was one of the first kids in school to get a Playstation 2 console; having saved faithfully for over half a year.

My mom had not been preparing me for independent living; she was making sure I was organised enough to keep track of my bank account and save my earnings without spending them all. Her methodology was very effective. Her homely skills became ingrained in me; thus when I opened a bank account, it felt no different than anything else I had done that far in life.

Pay It Forwards

Which practical skills can you teach your children promoting financial responsibility later in life?

• Cooking – Cooking teaches your child time based organisation and the ability to follow basic recipes and have the confidence to cook them! More importantly when they grow up and head off to college they will be less inclined to spend money on takeaways. According to tasty profit’s blog (calculated from GBP) a student will spend on average $10.10 a week on take out food. $10.10 a week for three years is $1454.40, this will account to a large proportion of their student fees.
• Washing and Cleaning – The Simple Dollar has some nice data on home washing at home vs. a Laundromat. 8 washes at home will be around $7.76 and $25 for 8 at your local Laundromat. Easy savings for a well taught child!
• D.I.Y – Companies such as Anywhere Bicycle Repair offer their bicycle repair services at $60 per hour. Giving your child the means to repair a puncture themselves by purchasing a repair kit from Walmart for just $5.47 means they will be saving $55.53!

Written by Daniel, contributor to a site that provides fast payday loans advice so people know clearly what they’re getting into – if more people could learn skills like these from their parents, then fewer people would end up borrowing money!