3 Things I Wish My Parents Had Taught Me About Money

Today I’m sharing some things I wish my parents had taught me about money. Money is a topic that many families feel uncomfortable openly discussing. Although adults may feel they know everything that there is to know about their personal finances, by keeping quiet about the way the financial world works, they are depriving their children of vital information that could help them to become more stable and confident individuals.

There are a few things I wish my parents had taught me about money; these things would have definitely helped me when the time came for me to fly the nest and make my own way in the big wide world. It is my aim to be more open about money with my own children, and to start this off, here are 3 things I wish my parents had taught me about money.

1 The Cost of Living is Expensive! 

As we all know, the cost of living is extortionate at the moment, but even when I first ventured out of the family home to start my own life, I was shocked at just how much I was spending each month just to stay afloat. I was woefully unprepared for the amount of cash that came straight out of my bank account as soon as it went in on payday.

One of the things my parents should have taught me about money is that Bills are expensive!

With essential bills such as rent, council tax, and utilities all adding up, it left very little money in my bank account to pay for ‘luxuries’ such as phone bills or the internet.

2 Food Shopping is an Art.

It took me a long time to figure out how to food shop in a way that didn’t leave me absolutely penniless. Food shopping is definitely an art! When I first started grocery shopping for myself, I was shocked at how much everyday food stuffs, such as cheese, costs!

I would have loved for my parents to have taught me how to save money on my food shop. It would have been really useful to know how to meal plan, use supermarket loyalty schemes, and choose supermarket’s own brands over the more expensive items. It’s one of the easiest ways to reduce your monthly outgoings.

Another of the things I wish my parents had taught me about money is that food shopping is an art.

3 Having an Emergency Fund is Vital.

For a long time, I didn’t have any form of emergency fund or savings. I didn’t really think about starting one – after all, I was still reeling about the price of cheese! So it’s no surprise that one of the things I wish my parents had taught me about money is that having emergency funds is essential. 

Saving money is also an art form, however, as I soon found out, having a buffer for when things go wrong is extremely useful. Unexpected bills, such as car maintenance or needing to purchase appliances, can very easily send you into debt if you don’t have some savings put aside.

Once you’re in debt, it’s not always easy to get back out of it, so I really do wish that my parents had taught me the importance of building up an emergency fund, or at least having some savings put aside to help with unexpected costs. 

Can you think of any other things my parents should have taught me about money?

Final Thoughts on Things I Wish My Parents Had Taught Me About Money

These are just a few examples of things I wish my parents had taught me about money. Of course, as we grow up and begin living our lives as adults, we naturally begin to learn more and more about personal finance.

However, I do firmly believe that having these money related conversations with children whilst they’re still in the family home can seriously help to give kids a real boost when it comes to budgeting and handling their finances once they fly the nest.

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