The Best Advice My Mom Ever Gave: Finances

It’s safe to say that about every 20-something wishes they would’ve been taught more about money in school. Taxes, investing, saving… I wouldn’t have understood the first thing about any of it if it weren’t for my mom's advice growing up 💰

I walked into my life after school confident in what I needed to do to be financially stable. Okay, maybe not exactly confident, but definitely aware. And it wasn’t really advice from my mom that made me so aware, but instead, it was how she taught me about finances. 

The best thing my mom ever did while raising me was keep me in the know about her finances. Yup, I know, I was not entitled to this but it taught me so much, including some other life skills like keeping boundaries (although, I always say yes to ice cream when prompted by friends 🍦)  

I’m not saying you need to tell your daughter exactly how much you make and spend, but there are so many things you can do to practically teach your daughter about money. 

Here are three ways you can practically prepare your daughter for her future financial endeavors: 

1) Don’t just give her budgets, but tell her about yours 💰

Growing up, you’re told what you can and cannot do a lot and sometimes it can feel unfair. Why do they get to do all these things and spend all this money and I only get $5 for ice cream with my friends, as if it were enough for a double scoop? Show her that budgets are normal and not just for her. 

2) Let her in on your financial decisions, showing her the wins and losses 📊

This teaches her that there are consequences to every financial decision - good and bad. I was with my mom when she was buying a new house on her own. She told me all the details, like how she qualified for something more expensive, but wanted to buy below her budget. She told me about down payments (which were shockingly huge to me at the time, realllyyy putting some things in perspective for 13-year old me.) She even let me be there when she signed the final papers and we celebrated this huge financial decision together 🏡

3) Set goals with her, and maybe even allow her to help 📈

If you’re planning a family vacation, create saving goals and share that with her. This will show her where and why you need to cut back and budget on other areas of your life. If there’s something she wants to do on said vacation, let her save for that herself and allow her to get a job. Getting a job at a young age was a game-changer for me. Of course, I didn’t have bills yet, but I had to be responsible with my money if I wanted to efficiently save for something big. 

Implementing these will not only help her learn, but it will prompt her to ask more questions about how finances work. Don’t be afraid to let her look over your shoulder when you’re preparing your taxes, paying bills, or setting a family budget. We all need to know how this works at some point. 

As for me, I not only learned a lot, but it motivated me to be successful and careful with how I spend my money. In high school, I knew I wanted to go to a four-year university because I wanted to experience the traditions. I found a private school in a different state and told my mom, “that’s the one!” You can probably guess how expensive this school was 😶 

My mom and I sat down together to figure out what we needed to do to make sure I could go to the school I wanted to go to. My first step was retaking the SAT for a higher score - a lot of schools give scholarships off of merit. Studying for an extra couple of months and retaking this test led me to a scholarship that covered half of my tuition expenses. 

Next, my mom helped me write essay after essay for other outside scholarships 📝

Every day after school and sports practice we would sit and do some scholarship research together. A few scholarships I received were from my local rotary club and other local nonprofits supporting women. Note: a lot of my scholarships were awarded due to my involvement in extracurriculars.

Lastly, I worked hard to save my own money. That first tuition payment hit us hard because we didn’t account for room and board that first year of school. So… I made over 100 dozen cookies in two weeks and sold them to friends on Facebook and in the area 🍪Some people had me ship them to Arizona and California. I made $2,000, covering the payment we were worried about. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. My mom always said to me, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” 

So, let your daughter be in the know and allow her to be accountable for her own financial goals. It can be scary opening up about your finances, but it will help her become successful and money smart in the future 💗