Things I Wish My Parents Had Taught Me About Money

Money was never spoken about in the house when I was growing up. As a parent myself, I want to make sure that my children know more about money than I did growing up. I want to ensure that money isn’t a mystery for them and I want to share my money saving tips with them. I endeavour to teach them about where money comes from, how much disposable income most parents actually have, how to budget, and how to look after their money sensibly.

I’m under no illusions that teaching them these things will keep them out of financial hardships. I think that at some point, these sorts of things tend to get the best of us. But hopefully, with these skills, they’ll be able to get back on their feet without suffering too much from the severe stress and anxiety that can affect a person as a result of financial hardship.

So with that being said, here are 3 things that I wish my parents had taught me about money.

1 The cost of living is much, much higher than I expected it to be.

When I was younger, I remember asking for things such as toys or magazines that I had seen all the other kids in my class with. Honestly, I couldn’t understand why I was always told ‘no’. All the other kids had them; their parents were happy to buy them these things, so why weren’t mine?

Well, when my parents said they “couldn’t afford” it, I thought they were just being mean. As I later came to realise when I had my own children, they weren’t being mean at all. They were simply telling me the truth.

I had no idea just how expensive it was to simply stay afloat and survive. As I flew the nest and started my own life and my own family, I discovered just how much money was needed to get by. I never considered how much I’d be spending monthly on essential bills such as council tax, rent, and food. It’s no wonder my parents didn’t have enough spare cash lying around to buy plastic tat and magazines that I’d probably never even read! 

2 You can save money on food by cooking from scratch and shopping for reduced items.

I remember seeing those yellow stickers on the food packaging at home when I was younger, but it never occurred to me that one day I’d be actively hunting these out on the supermarket shelves. I knew, of course, that these stickers meant that the food was reduced to clear, but in my head that just meant that it was about to go off. I didn’t realise until I was much older that you can save so much money on your weekly food shop by looking out for these magical deals and that it didn’t necessarily mean that the food was bad.

I also wish that my parents had taught me that it works out to be much less expensive to feed yourself if you cook your meals from scratch, rather than purchase premade or ready meals. Ready meals are, of course, so easy and convenient, however, I do wish that my parents had spent more time teaching me how to cook, as well as telling me about useful money-saving food hacks like learning how to batch cook. 

3 Always make sure you keep an emergency fund.

I never heard my parents, or any adults for that matter, talk about emergency funds. I don’t know if my parents had one, or if those were even a thing back in the 90’s when I was growing up. All I know is that, without an emergency fund, you’re basically a sitting duck.

First-hand experience of life’s ups and downs has really cemented in my mind just how important it is to have some money set aside for emergencies. Things will inevitably go wrong at some point. It might not be anything disastrous, however, expensive bills do have a habit of popping up out of the blue. Big bills such as emergency vet visits, car maintenance, or expensive home repairs can land you in some serious financial hardship if you don’t have a buffer in place to protect you.

I understand that discussing money can be difficult, but I think that it’s essential if we want our children to be confident, money-savvy adults.

Money wasn’t an easy topic to discuss way back in the day, but times have changed. With so many online finance products and the ease of access to money via online creditors, I think it’s vital we teach our children how to manage their personal finances. 

It’s important that we, as parents, take this responsibility seriously and ensure that our children have the tools and knowledge needed to tackle their personal finances head on. 

I’d love to know what you wish your parents had taught you about money. Perhaps you wish that they’d taught you how to budget, or track your outgoings? Or maybe you wish they’d given you more information about paying your taxes or handling debt. Let me know in the comments!