parenting in the face economic crisis

Parenting in the face of economic crisis can be challenging and daunting if one is not well informed on the basics of child training under a tight budget. Parents need to be well informed on how to tackle the challenges of parenting during economic downturn.

The challenges are of double fold; (1) combating with the reduced and constrained budget (2) teaching the children how to face the problem that will be facing them (children) later in life, especially in the period economic meltdown. In this hub are tips on how to handle both situations:

TRAINING YOUR CHILDREN UNDER CONSTRAINED BUDGET

As the credit sector of the global economy continues to be under tight and complex policies and controls, budgeting skills and good financial management techniques are knowledge that parents cannot do without. Budgeting simply means quantifying your spending pattern, put down on paper and judiciously following it through implementation.

You need to make a list of all the family’s most pressing needs and draw up a scale of preference on these pressing needs. You may be wondering at this point what it means to make a scale of preference on your family’s pressing needs list. Yes, you need to do this as we some times think we cannot do without certain items in the family only to discover that we can actually do without those items.

This does not mean you will have to deprive your children all the good things of life. You will sometimes buy some toys for your children so as to keep their body and soul going.

I remember how my father used to squeeze out something out of his meager salary to buy me toy guns. This toy gun that he bought for me made me develop the right kind of confidence that help see through in life up to this very moment. There is this unexplained confidence that I experience each time I am with my toy gun.

Allocate more on their feeding and education as these are the most two important needs of our children. This is bye the way my own suggestion. You can choose to allocate your income the way you want it.

TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN TO BE FINANCIALLY SAVVY

It is a good idea for parents to teach their children the basics of financial planning and budgeting. I once read in a book written by Doctor Ben Cason how a single mother gave up the responsibility of revenue allocation in the family to her two sons for about two weeks. She did this because the children were demanding for things that were more than what she earns as an uneducated single mother.

The result was that the children ended up assisting their mother in auditing the family’s expenses to ensure that monies are not spent on irrelevant things.

I am not saying that you should follow this method as what work for her may not work for you. But, you can borrow a leaf from her concept. Make your children have some responsibilities in the family for certain things. This will make the children develop some financial managerial skills that cannot be learnt in school.

You can buy these games cash flow for kids and Rich Dad cash flow 101 by Robert Kiyosaki sampled on the right hand side of this hub you are reading. This game is an educational and entertaining game that everyone can easily play, enjoy and develop their financial capabilities and acumen.

I cringe whenever I see parents leaving the financial training of their children to the school teachers alone, forgetting the fact that these school teachers are themselves not even financially balanced talk more of having the right financial knowledge to pass on to the children.

To the successful training of your children!