The "Money" Talk

I heard a radio report recently:  “Meg Ryan is Broke”.   And then I read this: “Elvis died almost broke”.

That caught your attention, didn’t it?  Well, it did mine.  I’ve always thought Meg to be a cute, rich, famous blonde.  I should dislike her on that alone, I think!  Elvis had two planes and a chef that made him banana/peanut butter sandwiches, right? 

But the beauty of the above is that the same “caught your attention” scenario works for our offspring, too!  They may pay attention to almost anything Kardashian, or perhaps for them it might be Tom Brady.  Regardless, it provides a great opening for we parents. 

How parents can start the “money talk” conversation 

Actually, there are several ways to capture their attention before dispensing your obviously fantastic words of money wisdom to your offspring!  We’ve noticed many of our students respond to hearing about someone famous.  Wouldn’t you like to avoid this scenario:

Parent:  “Honey, let’s talk about money and watching what you spend”

Your Mini-You:  (eye roll).  "Yeah, yeah.  Geez, you don’t have to tell me.  Gotta run."

Haven’t we all been there more often than we’d care to admit?  So, start your conversation with a tidbit about someone famous they are interested in that struggles with managing their money.  Your parent point?  “Honey, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, you have to have a spending plan to go with it.” 

Perhaps this article can provide you a starting point for someone “famous”: 6 Famous Bankruptcies

More on Elvis Money Woes: 10 Facts About Elvis

Creating Habits Easily - Your Secret Weapon

Instilling habits for our kids...and for us...isn't just an option.  IT'S CRUCIAL.  The most fantastic point here?  It isn't too late to create habits at any age.  Setting and keeping a spending plan is just simply a habit pattern, easily created if you just know how.  

Let me close with an apology to Meg Ryan and Elvis.    I googled Meg to check on this whole “out of money” concept and one article said she’s worth $45 million.  So who knows.  Elvis, per the article above, died with $1 million in the bank.  The article writer deemed that “almost broke”.  Hmmmm.    That said, let’s close this article by thinking Meg really has millions in the bank, and Elvis could still have given away as many cars as he wanted to.  Now where's my peanut butter and banana sandwich?

You CAN Have Success in the Middle of it ALL

 The JellyGeneration Team