Worthy is the...?

[kerravonsen]

Y'know, I don't want to teach kids the worth of money.
I'd rather teach them the worthlessness of money.

Comments

[phaea]

That is EXACTLY the mission I'm on with my kids!!

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

It's not the worth of money that counts but learning how to spend it wisely. It still boggles my mind when I see teenagers tossing coppers into the bin. Never occurred to them to donate them to the nearest charity box instead of throwing them into landfill!

[kerravonsen]

It still boggles my mind when I see teenagers tossing coppers into the bin.

What?!!?
I'm boggling too. I didn't know that anyone would be dumb enough to do such a thing.

[delphipsmith]

I'm all for that.

[kerravonsen]

8-)

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Let's teach them what it is (and isn't) good for; half the problems of young adults I've seen here in the US is not knowing how to manage one's money.

[kerravonsen]

The background to my remark...

When we were kids, my parents would give each of us a weekly allowance, to spend or save as we would. It was a fixed allowance, we couldn't beg more money off them; if we wanted something special, we would have to ask for it as a birthday/Christmas present. They also gave us chores, which we were expected to do without remuneration. The chores were not connected to the allowance in any way.

Contrast this with something I stumbled across recently (on Pinterest, of course): a chart which gave prices per chore. The idea being that if kids were paid for their chores, it would give them an appreciation of the value of money.

But thinking on this, something in me revolted. Because, yes, it may teach them the value of money, but it also teaches them that nothing has value except money. It doesn't instill a sense of duty, of working together for a common goal (the goal being the running of the household), or that something can be useful and valuable without having a monetary value put on it.

It's not until your comment that I realized that there was a third way that parents perhaps did: to not give their kids an allowance (for a fixed allowance would teach kids how to budget their money), but just buy things for their kids when the kids asked for them, or just give them money when they asked for it. That, indeed, would leave the kids unable to manage money. It just never occurred to me that anyone would do something so dumb.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

It's not until your comment that I realized that there was a third way that parents perhaps did: to not give their kids an allowance (for a fixed allowance would teach kids how to budget their money), but just buy things for their kids when the kids asked for them, or just give them money when they asked for it. That, indeed, would leave the kids unable to manage money. It just never occurred to me that anyone would do something so dumb.

Yeah, until I got out into the Real World and started talking to other people my age about finances, I didn't think that could happen either. Frankly, it depresses me. *facepalm*

Ah, I see where you're coming from.

My parents did a combination. We got an allowance (frequently very, very small due to poverty), with which we were expected to learn to save, spend and tithe. We also had quite a few daily and weekly chores which we did as part of the family. Then there was a list, kept on the fridge, if I recall, of bigger chores (thinks my parents wanted to get done around the house but usually didn't have time for, like cleaning the windows) which we could choose to do during our own free time for set sums of money in addition to our allowances.

The older I get, the better I like that they did this, because it taught me to handle my money while also instilling the idea that taking the initiative to work hard is something that can and should be rewarded. ("The worker deserves his wages.")

[kerravonsen]

My parents did a combination.
Oh, that's interesting! I wonder how one would figure what should be an "extra" chore and what should be a regular one.