By Latasha Brown
As a mother, the older my children get the more important personal finances is to me. Growing up I didn’t have a financial foundation. As a matter of a fact, I watch my mom work hard, pay bills, and struggle. That became a normal. Go to work, pay bills, and wait on the next paycheck to do it all again. I didn’t know anything about budgeting, saving, having a plan to support my children’s college journey, creating an effective way to pay my bills and pay off debt, or even investing. I was clueless.
I had to learn that just because things worked that way growing up, it didn’t have to work that way for me and my family. I had to learn a New Normal. I gave myself the permission to break what I once knew, and I had to make it my business to educate myself about finances. I have 3 children all in different age groups. As a mom we are the first teachers, and for me Financial Literacy is important because I want to be able to educate my children and give them a solid foundation on finances. I didn’t want them to inherit the struggle or bad financial habits.
Why is Financial Literacy important?
Without financial literacy, it can lead to dire financial consequences. With it, you are equipped to manage money more effectively. Financial literacy builds a solid relationship with your money.
As a mom having a child in college, financial literacy is even more important to me because it allows me to give her the opportunity to learn, develop, and strengthen core financial skills so that she can be knowledgeable with her money and other financial tools after college.
Even as a mom with younger children, educating them early about the importance of financial literacy will help them understand that money is a tool, and it should work for them and not against them. Showing them early how to save money, even when they get older and make poor financial decisions, they will know what to do to get back on track.
In a marriage, financial literacy is important. One of the top leading reasons for marital issues and divorce is financial struggles. A lot of times it starts with a communication barrier surrounding finances, and that just comes from a lack of financial literacy. A married couple should be on the same page with money. If a married couple work together, communicate, and educate themselves on finances, they can be more organized and overcome any financial situation together.
Financial literacy helps you transform your life. It allows you to maximize your earning potentials, create a budget that works for your family, save money, pay off debt, and take your money to the next level no matter how much you earn.
The benefits of financial literacy:
Helps you plan for your future.
Helps you to create financial goals.
Helps you overcome financial struggles.
Helps you maximize you income.
Helps you thrive financially.
Helps to improve your marriage, relationship, and careers.
Helps to provide a foundation to the youth and prepares them in transitioning to young adults.
Here are some simple ways to become financially literate:
Read. There are so many books and blogs about personal finances, invest a minimum of 2 hours a week to educate yourself on personal finances.
Listen to a podcast. Podcast are huge and will give you the motivation and empowerment to change your mindset and relationship with your money.
Follow likeminded people. Instagram has a lot of accounts that provide information about budgeting, saving, and some amazing people sharing their debt free journey, and you can receive a lot of encouragement and inspiration to gain more financial literacy to help with your own financial goals.
Take a course. You can start with a free online course to improve your financial literacy. You can start with the basics of budgeting. Budgeting is a tool that will help you manage your money more effectively. There are also courses you can take that are paid courses, but there are many free courses that can be a great resource.
Take action. Listen, it doesn’t matter your age or your income. You’re never too young or old to become financial literate. It doesn’t matter how much you make, whether you make 10,000 or 100,000 educating yourself on your money is a must. It helps you prepare for the next stage of life whether it’s college, marriage, motherhood, starting a career, or retirement. Take action to become financial literate.
Final Thoughts. Financial Literacy is up to you, you are in control. Instead of letting money control you, you have the power to be in control of your finances. This empowers you, and it allows you to make more confident decisions. It also changes your relationship with your money, and your attitude towards personal finances. I am eager to hear how having a financial foundation and literacy can help you shift your relationship with your money?
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