Money Management Education

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

Hello DFW's,

ive been reading this forum for a few weeks now and only recently ive realised ive spent the majority of my working life in one for of debt or another.

i'm only 31 so plenty of time to enjoy not having debt, but thinking back to all the money i wasted im trying to think of reasons how i could have had so much money through the years and yet in a situation where im hand to mouth each month.

Did this start at an early age regarding money management?

Any DF people out there who can advise where their education came from regarding finances?

they teach you in school how to ignite sodium on water but they didnt touch much on how to live and budget

January2015

I'm a long way from being DF, but everything I've learnt so far - which is taking us strongly towards a DF retirement - came from this forum. Wish I had found it decades ago.

enthusiasticsaver

My financial education came mainly from my Dad who was a business man and always said it is generally cheaper to borrow your own money - ie save for things rather than borrow. Rest of it I got from my years of working in banks and researching online (including this forum). Only debt we have ever taken out are mortgages which we paid down asap and 0% HP car loans or credit cards. Never had an overdraft as that was frowned upon for staff when I worked for a well known bank in the 80s. Mismanaging your money then was a disciplinary offence.

I instilled in my daughters a love of budgeting which has helped them stay out of debt (other than mortgages and student loans). They both like using spreadsheets for working out income and expenses each month, something I do still as well.

sourcrates

I think money management should be taught in schools, at the moment, it's just one of many things we are supposed to find out on our own.
I will be the first to admit I am sadly lacking in that area, I have won and lost fortunes, I have been insolvent, I have also been in debt most of my adult life, until recently.

I put the banks and credit card companies in the same league as the tobacco pedlars, once hooked, they have a customer for life.

Schools are very good at teaching you stuff you only need to know for one exam, not so good on teaching you skills for life such as managing your credit card bill.

Pablosammy

From the moment I took out a student loan and the bank offered me an interest-free £2k overdraft at 18, I've always subconsciously accepted debt as a way of life. Nobody ever taught me debt was bad... on the contrary, it was a way to get an education and a way to get by. As a result, at the worst point I've owed nearly £50k in student loans, credit cards, and hire purchase agreements.

It's only in the last 5 years I've finally woken up to the fact that debt is a really negative, draining entity. I'll finally be debt free (mortgage aside) by early next year, but then it'll be another few years before I have savings and, for example, can afford a car outright rather than leasing one.

Anything you're taught in a class at school can be very quickly re-programmed by naivety and irresponsible bank lending. I see now why the bank gave me an interest free overdraft - it wasn't because they were helping me out, it was because they wanted to make money from me in the long term. And they did.

dreaming

sourcrates wrote: »

I think money management should be taught in schools, at the moment, it's just one of many things we are supposed to find out on our own.

Schools are very good at teaching you stuff you only need to know for one exam, not so good on teaching you skills for life such as managing your credit card bill.

Totally agree with this, and it shouldn't just be at senior level either, it should be part of maths lessons right from a young age. I am "sort of" debt free - in that the mortgage is paid off and I have no loans. The only debtI carry is a credit card which I use for my food shopping, petrol and incidentals but is limited to £400 per month and is paid off in full each month:money:. I get cashback on this card and would use it in an emergency but I have savings in the bank in various virtual pots to cover annual expenses and emergency fund. I'm not sure where my financial savvy comes from. As a child my family were very poor (parents on low pay and bad managers), then I married a man who chopped and changed jobs and spent for England so we had very little security, but once I divorced I took on mortgage on my own and 16 years later have paid off mortgage and live the life I want to. I brought up 2 children and tried to educate them about saving for rainy day, not taking on debt etc. but whereas 1 is very good with money and manages on very little (actually they are quite stingy), the other is in serious debt through taking out credit cards etc. in their 20's. To their credit they are working 2 jobs to try to pay it all back (on DMP) but it isn't even as if they lived a very lavish lifestyle on the debts. Sometimes I think people are just born good with money, some learn along the way, and sadly some never learn, If anyone is interested in learning more I have just completed a Futurelearn online course on Money Management which I am sure will be run again - all totally free. Most of it was second nature to me but I did pick up one or two useful bits of knowledge about APR and AER.

lessonlearned

Why do you think my nom de plume is "lessonlearned" :rotfl:

If I knew then what I know now ...........I would be very wealthy indeed.

I wasted shedloads of money. Still I'm solvent now and live simply but well. Thankfully I've managed to pass on my hard found wisdom to my kids - both in their 30s. They are a lot more savvy than I ever was.

rjwr - at least you are young enough to recover and rebuild your finances. Learn from your mistakes and you'll be fine.

DCFC79

sourcrates wrote: »

I think money management should be taught in schools, at the moment, it's just one of many things we are supposed to find out on our own.
I will be the first to admit I am sadly lacking in that area, I have won and lost fortunes, I have been insolvent, I have also been in debt most of my adult life, until recently.

I put the banks and credit card companies in the same league as the tobacco pedlars, once hooked, they have a customer for life.

Schools are very good at teaching you stuff you only need to know for one exam, not so good on teaching you skills for life such as managing your credit card bill.

I agree with this,

Not every child at school has a parent or parents who know about budgeting or even have parents for whatever reason.

angelaf_3

If you would like to learn more about finance then why not see if there is a CAP Money Course in your area or the Open University has an excellent money course for free on their OpenLearn site.

curlytop12

angelaf wrote: »

If you would like to learn more about finance then why not see if there is a CAP Money Course in your area or the Open University has an excellent money course for free on their OpenLearn site.

hi, could you link to that OU course please, I can't seem to track it down. many thanks

curlytop12

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management


found it!