Debt Discipline - How a family of five deals with Money, Budgets, and Debt.

Financial Literacy Interview: Joseph Hogue

April 20, 2018 Brian 3 Comments

As part of Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2018) I am featuring interviews with fellow bloggers to get their take on the subject. Please join me in welcoming Joseph Hogue to the blog today.

Please tell me a little bit about yourself and your blog.

Joseph Hogue: I grew up in Iowa, not in the cornfields but corn-field adjacent to Des Moines. After service in the Marine Corps, I got my degrees in Finance and Communications before starting my professional career as a financial analyst.

I’ve actually got five blogs, all in the personal finance and money niche. It’s my full-time job but also love talking about money and helping people reach their financial goals. My project for this year is developing a new personal finance channel on YouTube to really connect with people and share our money challenges.

Money causes so much stress and arguments but it doesn’t have to be that way. Most of us go through the same money problems and have the same money questions. Just sharing our stories and asking questions can be a huge help in getting back on track financially.

joseph hogue

Financial Literacy: Teaching Kids About Money

April 18, 2018 Brian 6 Comments

Hey y’all! I’m Hannah Rounds, a writer and occasional blogger (UnplannedFinance.com is my site).

My husband and I have two kids, Kenny age 4 and Shirley age 2.

For Rob and I, the early years of our children’s life have mostly consisted of keeping kids fed and dress and trying to keep them from injuring themselves or others. Most of our “life lessons” are about using kind words and (unsuccessfully) teaching kids to practice self-control.

While the “just survive” mentality of early babyhood has come and gone, I would be lying to say that we have the time or energy for tons of intentional parenting. That said, we are willing to slightly inconvenience ourselves to teach our children financial literacy. These are three lessons we’re trying to teach our little kids about money. As our kids grow, we hope that these lessons will build in nuance, so our kids leave the house with a solid understanding of the role and value of money in their lives.

kids about money

Financial Literacy Interview: The Mastermind Within

April 16, 2018 Brian 8 Comments

As part of Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2018) I am featuring interviews with fellow bloggers to get their take on the subject. Please join me in welcoming Erik, from The Mastermind Within.

Please tell me a little bit about yourself and your blog.

The Mastermind Within: Hi! I’m Erik, a 25-year-old who is passionate about self-improvement, personal finance, and looking for ways to improve my odds of reaching financial freedom at a young age. For a day job, I work as a statistician and web developer, and I have a number of side hustles.

I blog and podcast at The Mastermind Within, where the content is mainly around my passions of personal finance and self-improvement, but also where I talk about some of the tips and tricks I’m learning in my career and business endeavors. At the end of the day, I’m looking to help others reach their full potential so that they can become more successful.

The Mastermind Within

How to Teach Your Kids Good Money Management Skills When Yours Suck

April 13, 2018 Brian 9 Comments

As part of Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2018), I’m featuring guest posts and interviews on the topic all month-long. Please welcome Laurie, formerly of The Frugal Farmer.

One of the most common complaints I hear when I talk about teaching kids good money management skills is this:

“How can I teach my kids to manage money well when I don’t even have my own financial crap together?”

This is a valid question. Kids tend to learn via watching your examples, and “Do as I say, not as I do” generally isn’t a very effective method of teaching children.

In fact, in my experience, it’s quite common for kids to have an “If mom or dad did it, it’s okay for me to do it” attitude.

So how can those of you who are struggling to overcome your own money management faults teach your kids to do better with their own money? Let me share my own experience in this arena.

When we first started our financial journey to get out of debt, we had over $60,000 in consumer debt and a bloated mortgage. Our situation was so bad that we were in the hole between $1,000 and $1,500 every single month.

Yet all four of our kids are turning out to be very financially responsible. They’re good savers, and they weigh purchases carefully before spending.

Check out the tips we used to teach them financial responsibility in the midst of our fiscal irresponsibility.

money management Read More