CHAPTER ONE BEING CAREFUL WITH YOUR CASH Ah the money tree Everyone wishes they had one but unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees If it did we would all be rich Only a small percentage of the world is fabulously wealthy The rest of the people on the planet have to be careful with the cash they earn and spend When your parents tell you You need to learn the value of a dollar they mean you should know how much work it takes to earn a dollar Knowing it and living it are two different things 4
For Richer or Poorer There's an old saying Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves A pound is a British unit of money similar to a dollar The saying means if you are careful and don't waste small amounts of money the pennies small savings will turn into large savings the pounds World currencies may vary but the idea of building wealth from a small amount to a larger amount is the same around the world You have to start somewhere so you might as well start with learning the value of money ELECTRICAL BILLS Money Matters So what is the value of money The term itself has several meanings It can mean the actual value of the dollar on a financial market or how much one dollar will buy Say you want to buy your favorite basketball shoes They cost 200 You earn 40 on weekends doing odd jobs for a neighbor That means you have to work five weekends to pay for one pair of shoes Is the cost worth your time and effort What if you also want a night out wearing your new shoes of course Can you afford to go to a movie in addition to buying the shoes How long will it take you to save enough to go out too Will you save it piggybank style or will you open a bank account at a nearby bank There are so many WATER BILL FOOD HOME LOANS AUTO LOANS SHOPPING questions to answer to make just one purchase MONTHLY EXPENSES MONTHLY EXPENSES HEALTH MEDICINE TRAVEL EDUCATION CREDIT CARD BILLS WIFI MONTHLY SAVING PHONE BILL A laptop and a credit card will help you buy what you want But before you hit submit for those purchases you should think about the bigger picture of bills and other expenses that need to be paid every month 5
Sharpen Your Financial Smarts Rather than going through life worrying feeling guilty and experiencing jealousy you can have a healthier relationship with your dollars and cents You can choose to sharpen your money smarts This area of expertise is called financial literacy and it’s something you can start working on right now Learn the Language of Money Financial literacy is about learning the language of money and becoming comfortable speaking that language It’s about understanding how to earn money keep track of it and save and spend it wisely Mostly financial literacy is about learning how money works and how it can work for you We live in an age of information and there's a lot to learn and talk about Making money a part of the conversation of everyday life is a big step on the path to financial literacy and success Many people consider money a taboo subject or something that is not acceptable to talk about in public Not talking about money though is one of the things that can lead to financial problems in life 6
Speaking of Money Young people must develop a positive relationship with money and learn that their relationship with money is a life skill and as important as their relationship with language reading or arithmetic They need to learn that money is actually a tool to help them achieve what they want in life Financial Planning Standards Council Canada 2011 7
