My new roomate saw me in the kitchen the other day and said she was impressed with my cooking skills. When I asked if she cooked, she replied, “by necessity.”
“By necessity” is exactly how most of us learn to handle our finances. Very few people have been taken step-by-step through balancing a budget, reviewing a check book, tracking bills and managing a savings. Instead, we are expected to figure this out for ourselves. It is no wonder so many people fall into debt.
Invisible Money
There are a plethora of cooking shows on tv. Every cuisine, style, and cook time is shown with complete details and visual instructions of how to prepare each dish. Then you have personal finance, which is rarely mentioned on television.
When money is shown in the media, it is often because someone won or lost a large amount of it. Sitcom couples are rarely shown balancing their budget or saying they cannot afford something (without it being the joke of the episode). In fact, the only time money is usually discussed on television is during a credit card commercial.
Society in general tends to hush conversation about money. Salaries are never to be mentioned among friends, budgets are a boring topic, and no one wants to be the one who “can’t afford it” in the group.
As a child, money is invisible. It is not until your first job that money becomes relative and even then, it is merely disposable income as most 16 year olds live at home without many bills.
Without being taught how to handle money or given real life examples of proper budgeting, along with being surrounded by credit card companies, it is no surprise that we make financial mistakes! Continue reading »
