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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

"Teaching Thrift"

The Wall Street Journal has a brief essay on Teaching Thrift to kids. the essay itself is kinda blah, but check out the comments.

Seldom have I seen so many frugal soulmates gathered together! I spent a blissful 20 minutes or so reading through the comments. 121 at last count.

3 comments:

Duchesse said...

The article naturally draws the frugal and value-conscious,and I was fascinated by how birth family background (both happy and dire) set the stage for frugality.

We could have done a better job preparing our sons for the costs of everyday life. (They how know what bananas on sale cost, and what you can do with them.) When they were at home, we focused on value and avoidance of all debt, especially credit cards.

Shelley said...

I don't remember any lessons in thrift at home, other than what I observed. The contrasts between the spenders and the savers in my family were marked. One had constant worries, the other relative serenity; one had endless wants, the other used endless creativity to meet needs. One's borrowing habits ruined relationships, the other was able to provide a (paid for) home to her spend-thrift mother late in life. I inherited two houses from my saver relatives; nothing but debts from the spenders. I loved them all, but I admired some more than others.

Frugal Scholar said...

@Duchesse--Honestly, I think avoidance of debt is the best thing you can teach. Probably 80% of the 80/20 ration.

@Shelley--Yeah--interesting to observe, isn't it. But so hard to have to bite your tongue.