Living within our means
How do some get lessons in learning to live within their means and other do not? The answer may be that some had exposure to others whose footsteps they could follow.
Many times, we teach without knowing it.
I have a spiritual daughter who always reminds me of things I said to her about raising children and handling money. She is now an adult with three children and is still going back in her memory bank, pulling things out to use that I taught or shared with her. She said, “Do you remember telling me that no matter how many houses and cars I have that I should always have liquid money — no less than $10,000 — that I can access at all times? I have done that. Now you told me that 20 years ago, so I guess that amount has increased to $20,000.”
I am sure that was shared in a casual conversation because I do not recall telling her that. I intentionally shared this money concept with my sons, but not my daughters. When she gives back information to me that I gave her, I wonder how powerful the lessons would have been if they had been intentionally taught.
We can look around at the young people in our circle and see the ones who listened and the ones who did not. We can look around at our young people who had a person to follow as a guide and the ones who did not. That is no fault of the children born in this world. They have no choice about who is a part of their village or tribe.
Proof that many people do not attempt to live within their means can be had by taking a look at the number of people who file for bankruptcy every day. Some of the rich and prosperous are just using the system, but most are not.
In order to break the poverty cycle, people in the villages will have to intentionally involve our people with some of the basic teachings about handling money. Many will say “I do not have enough left over to save.” When I hear that my mind goes back to my Aunt Cornelia, who was proud that she was frugal enough to save out of her $25 a week salary. Before her death at 100 and 6 months, she had purchased a house as well as land on which to put it. She had a $10,000+ savings account along with burial insurance.
Classes are needed in schools and churches and homes to guide parents and others about the value of not living from paycheck to paycheck.
When I learned that some politicians did not want to continue the Biden Child Tax Credit, my thoughts were why can they not see the need to lift children out of poverty so that their children will not be “scratch babies.” Many of us are scratch babies, born with or without good advice but having to scratch all of our lives to make a living.
The scratch babies who had good teaching about the proper use of money were able to succeed with all their basic needs met. These are the ones who never had to worry about bills not being paid, no food in the refrigerator, debt collectors calling.
But they are also the ones who did not have to wear the most expensive shoes or carry the most expensive pocketbooks. These are the ones who have savings accounts, not just the Christmas savings club. These are the ones who would rather live in his or her place, keep the grass cut and drive a Ford Fusion not a Lexus.
How do we expect the young adults to know how to save if they are not taught? I remember saying to one young man that he should put something aside each payday, and he said “When I finish paying bills and taking care of other responsibilities, I have nothing left.” Yet many of us had adults in our lives who said they had bought property and were able to save on the nickels and dimes that they made.
We have got to set up classes to teach our young people how to live within their means.
When they talked about removing the tax credit for children, I was quite unhappy — along with many parents who were getting $250-$300 monthly for each young child. It seems that many of them went on a spending spree for shoes and clothing. Many had not been able to take the children to restaurants and fast-food places before. The attitude was “now we can do what others are doing.”
But in order to have this care package do what it is allocated to do, the parents must set it aside to be used to keep the children nourished with healthy food and for when emergencies arise.
How to Handle Your Money classes are needed all over this area. For programs like the child tax credit to work, churches and community groups need to first share with the recipients in a class on “How to make your money work for you.”