What do you wish you’d learned about money as a kid?

Last week, we reframed the story: “We make good money. We should be able to afford this.”

This week, we’re continuing with something I hear in my coaching conversations:

“I don’t want my kids to feel left out.”“I don’t want them to think we can’t afford it.”

Reframing can help us feel more hopeful and capable of making choices. Before we reframe these stories, let’s start here:

What do you want your kids to learn and know about money?

What do you wish you had been taught about money? Start there.

Maybe you want your kids to learn to:

• Save for something they want

• Make intentional choices with money

• Plan for purchases instead of using debt to get what they want

• Understand that sometimes the answer is “no” or “not right now”

• Feel confident managing the money they have

Getting clear on those goals can help guide how you spend on your kids AND how you talk with them about money.

Of course, keeping those goals in mind can be challenging when we feel pressure from social media, friends, family, and our own expectations.

We want our kids to have opportunities, make memories, and maybe have more than we had. Sometimes, we want to spare them the struggles we experienced.

Those feelings can influence choices like:

• Taking on debt to pay for something for them

• Paying for a vacation to make memories, especially when we see other families traveling

• Buying the shoes or phone “everyone” has

The desire comes from a loving place. And saying “not right now” can feel like we’re letting them down.

What you want to teach your kids may be different from what another family wants to teach theirs. As the expression goes, you have to run your own race.

So before making a spending decision, ask:

“How does this purchase or experience support what I want them to learn?”

We can also reframe how we talk with our kids about those choices.

Instead of “We can’t afford it,” depending on the situation, we might say:

• “That isn’t in our spending plan right now.”

• “We’re choosing to put our money toward something else.”

• “Let’s look at what it would take to save for that.”

We can be honest about our limits AND help them see the choices available.

💛 This week, choose one thing you want your kids to learn about money. How could your next spending decision - and the words you use - help teach it?

In your corner,