What a 22 Year Old Taught Me About Money

A few posts ago I wrote about "The Traits of Entrepreneurship" and since then I have had the pleasure of discovering like-minded Vanessa Van Patten, a 22-year old entrepreneur who is already an author of the parenting book “You’re Grounded!” and also writes a parenting blog from a teen’s perspective to help parents understand what is actually going on in the mind of kid’s today to make life a little bit easier. http://www.vanessavanpetten.com/

Vanessa and I talked about some of the big issues for parents and money was one of the items at the top of the list. She gave me some of the tips she tells parents that read her book and blog about allowances. Vanessa writes, "I wish I was still getting allowance. Now, as a bootstrapping 22-year-old entrepreneur living at home, I cherish the money and saving lessons my parents bestowed on me. There are four key messages that have stayed with me, that I hope I can tell you, to share with your kids."

What My Dad Taught Me About Money

1) Learn what you do not need and look for ways to get it cheaper
My dad is the guy who taught me how to clip coupons, by food in bulk and never turn down freebies. My dad made the decision early on to save where he could on things that he did not need to spend on. Teaching kids how to bargain and that there is almost always a cheaper way...you just have to look. When I got to college I was shocked to see that many of my friends never asked for discount tickets or group rates when we went to concerts or movies. Teach your kids to ASK, the worst that happens is that someone says no…and then you are in the same place you are when you started off!

2) Learn what you love, and spend on it, and then love it even more.
While my dad taught me to save wherever I can, my mom loves what she loves. What I mean is, she has certain aspects of her life that she freely spends on because she enjoys them so much. What she taught me is that it is really important to know what you love and allocate money to spend on it. Once she figures out what she wants to spend money on, how much money she wants to spend on it, then she enjoys it guilt free. This has been an important message for me to hear because it taught me to allow myself certain planned and budgeted luxuries so I feel like I can treat myself.

3) Passive Income…in kids terms.
Don’t worry, my dad never used the term passive income with me, but he did bring up the concept of working for your money. For example, I wanted to start a weekend car washing business when I was 14. While planning the large undertaking of my business (colored posters and signs included) my dad not only discussed the idea of having to buy start-up supplies, but also that I might want to ‘hire’ other neighborhood kids. This way, he explained, I can take a Saturday off and still take a cut of my neighbor’s earnings…it’s too bad SAT tutoring started and my budding car wash business was cut short, but the idea of making passive income has always stayed with me.

4) Give and you get.
I truly believe that if you are generous to others, others will be generous to you. My parents always gave to charity, bought meals for homeless people on the street and put their change in those little jars near the cash register. They used to tell me, even when money was tight, that if you give to others, the universe will somehow give back to you. This also gave me great perspective to appreciate the allowance and money I do have, not the money I am lacking.

The most important part about talking to your kids about money is that you are actually talking to them! Keep the communication going and show them how you value money so they can develop positive attitudes as well.

Check Vanessa out at http://www.vanessavanpetten.com/
or get a copy of her book

Earn Smart. Spend Smart. Raise Capital Smart.

Dave
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