Comments on: Never Say We Can’t Afford It http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/ Personal Finance. Investing. Wealth Building. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:04:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Mary Hall http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-24234 Mary Hall Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:24:38 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-24234 @Heather: I agree with Dustin about getting your kid involved in the family's finances. Kids can often be quite sympathetic and willing to help out once you explain the situation to them carefully. Good luck :) @Heather: I agree with Dustin about getting your kid involved in the family’s finances. Kids can often be quite sympathetic and willing to help out once you explain the situation to them carefully. Good luck :)

]]> By: Mary Hall http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-24231 Mary Hall Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:44:20 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-24231 Teaching your kids about setting priorities, as well as long-term and short-term goals, might also make it easier to teach them about budgeting. Helping them understand why you choose (nice distinction everyone) to purchase certain items before/over others will highly contribute to how they handle finances in the future. @Heather: I agree with Dustin about getting your kid involved in family finances. From experience, kids can often be quite sympathetic after you explain the situation to them carefully. Good luck :) Teaching your kids about setting priorities, as well as long-term and short-term goals, might also make it easier to teach them about budgeting. Helping them understand why you choose (nice distinction everyone) to purchase certain items before/over others will highly contribute to how they handle finances in the future.

@Heather: I agree with Dustin about getting your kid involved in family finances. From experience, kids can often be quite sympathetic after you explain the situation to them carefully. Good luck :)

]]> By: Dustin @ Inzolo http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-22494 Dustin @ Inzolo Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:12:14 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-22494 @Heather: I think now is a great time to start getting your son involved in the family finances. Maybe you could consider all of you taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course together. It is 13 weeks of training and discussion that should help him understand personal finance much better. He may also find motivation to be a little entrepreneur to make some money for his own toys. @Heather: I think now is a great time to start getting your son involved in the family finances. Maybe you could consider all of you taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course together. It is 13 weeks of training and discussion that should help him understand personal finance much better. He may also find motivation to be a little entrepreneur to make some money for his own toys.

]]> By: Heather http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-22476 Heather Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:59:45 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-22476 Any Advice? My son came home from the well to do family down the street and was absolutely distraught and in tears. He is 13yrs. old. It started with the friend has all this weight equipment and we do not and his friend is getting in amazing shape and he is not. His friend has grown taller, he has not. The hardest of all was he asked if we were poor. He said dad always says we cannot afford this or that and dad has explained to him how much $ we are in debt. He is so worried and asked if he would always be poor. He is in tears and very upset. We don't have any toys (boat/quad/ski-doo) like all our neighbors and yet we live 2min. from a lake and 2min. from trails so he does not understand. I work half time and my husband works full time but we made a choice for me to stay home while the kids were young and now it's caught up with us. Any advice? Any Advice? My son came home from the well to do family down the street and was absolutely distraught and in tears. He is 13yrs. old. It started with the friend has all this weight equipment and we do not and his friend is getting in amazing shape and he is not. His friend has grown taller, he has not. The hardest of all was he asked if we were poor. He said dad always says we cannot afford this or that and dad has explained to him how much $ we are in debt. He is so worried and asked if he would always be poor. He is in tears and very upset. We don’t have any toys (boat/quad/ski-doo) like all our neighbors and yet we live 2min. from a lake and 2min. from trails so he does not understand. I work half time and my husband works full time but we made a choice for me to stay home while the kids were young and now it’s caught up with us. Any advice?

]]> By: Dustin Davis http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21856 Dustin Davis Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:05:04 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21856 Sorry Pinyo for the false accusations. I see your point though. It really is hypocritical to tell your kids you can't afford a toy when they see you buying toys for yourself. I guess if you have a "commission" system for chores you could ask them if they can afford the toy. Sorry Pinyo for the false accusations. I see your point though. It really is hypocritical to tell your kids you can’t afford a toy when they see you buying toys for yourself. I guess if you have a “commission” system for chores you could ask them if they can afford the toy.

]]> By: Pinyo http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21852 Pinyo Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:09:43 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21852 @Dustin - I know where you're coming from, but this one is definitely NOT Kiyosaki brain wash. He didn't even come to mind when I wrote this. It was just me thinking about teaching my son about a defeatist mindset versus an expansive mindset full of possibilities. @Dustin – I know where you’re coming from, but this one is definitely NOT Kiyosaki brain wash. He didn’t even come to mind when I wrote this. It was just me thinking about teaching my son about a defeatist mindset versus an expansive mindset full of possibilities.

]]> By: Dustin Davis http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21847 Dustin Davis Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:19:43 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21847 I hate the Kyosaki brain wash that it is evil to say "we can't afford it". Sometimes it is true and it can me the most caring thing we say to a loved one. Sometimes we can't afford the consequences that come with a bad purchase decision. I hate the Kyosaki brain wash that it is evil to say “we can’t afford it”. Sometimes it is true and it can me the most caring thing we say to a loved one. Sometimes we can’t afford the consequences that come with a bad purchase decision.

]]> By: An Aged-Based Plan For Teaching Kids About Money | Frugal Dad http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21817 An Aged-Based Plan For Teaching Kids About Money | Frugal Dad Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:01:30 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21817 [...] My blogging colleague at Moolanomy recently shared a great thought on avoiding the phrase, “We can’t afford it.” I like the concept, and have caught myself using that same excuse with my children. Be [...] [...] My blogging colleague at Moolanomy recently shared a great thought on avoiding the phrase, “We can’t afford it.” I like the concept, and have caught myself using that same excuse with my children. Be [...]

]]> By: YNAB 3 Post Featured on Funny about Money | Personal Finance Software Reviews http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21584 YNAB 3 Post Featured on Funny about Money | Personal Finance Software Reviews Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:16:53 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21584 [...] Never Say We Can’t Afford It - A great little article about creating opportunities to teach personal finance to your children [...] [...] Never Say We Can’t Afford It – A great little article about creating opportunities to teach personal finance to your children [...]

]]> By: Rob Bennett http://www.moolanomy.com/1606/afford/comment-page-1/#comment-21546 Rob Bennett Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:51:36 +0000 http://www.moolanomy.com/?p=1606#comment-21546 I agree that you shouldn't say "We can't afford it" to justify not spending on something that a child wants. I would take the idea step further. You shouldn't say "We can't afford it" to justify not spending on something that <i>you</i> want. You can afford just about anything if you put your mind to it. To not buy something is a <i>choice.</i> You learn a lot by forcing yourself to go to the trouble to figure out why a particular purchase does not represent a strong long-term value proposition for you. When you say "We can't afford it," you cut off the reasoning process that would lead you to a better understanding of why the purchase is not a good idea (or, in some cases, why it is). Rob I agree that you shouldn’t say “We can’t afford it” to justify not spending on something that a child wants.

I would take the idea step further. You shouldn’t say “We can’t afford it” to justify not spending on something that you want.

You can afford just about anything if you put your mind to it. To not buy something is a choice.

You learn a lot by forcing yourself to go to the trouble to figure out why a particular purchase does not represent a strong long-term value proposition for you. When you say “We can’t afford it,” you cut off the reasoning process that would lead you to a better understanding of why the purchase is not a good idea (or, in some cases, why it is).

Rob

]]>