Ending the Cycle of Bad Family Money Management

People who manage their own money poorly often come from families who modeled the same sort of behavior.

This familial cycle of dysfunction is present in many negative family traits, like substance abuse, physical violence, anger, self-destructive behaviors, and many other things you don’t want in your life or the lives of your children.

While financial chaos may not seem as serious as those other problems, it can have just as harmful consequences in the long run.

 

What Are Your Financial Skills Like

Poor financial skills have an insidious effect on individuals and their families. The problem is usually indicative of larger tendencies where an individual does not take responsibility for their actions.

While some people make financial mistakes simply because they don’t know any better, many people understand the fundamentals of spending beneath one’s means, saving, and debt-avoidance.

These are common knowledge and to consistently not practice them is something that can and should be avoided.

People tend to model the example of their parents. After all, children are around their parents more than any other adults in the first years of their life.

Actions and routines practiced in the home imprint themselves deeply on their developing minds. If you lived in a household that had constant avoidable money troubles, you know how hard it is to break from this harmful pattern.

Whether you’ve been able to change things for the better or not, it’s important to start making positive changes, especially for the sake of the next generation.

Taking charge of your house’s finances requires you to have a clear perspective on the present, and to plan and act for the best future possible that your current situation will allow.

People who simply live for the moment will have a hard time making this work, but it’s something that families need to learn to do if they want to be happy and healthy.

 

Increase Your Earnings

One way to prepare for the future is for parents to increase their earnings. When families can’t make ends meet, this tends to communicate stress through all members of the household, even the littlest ones.

There are reliable ways to make money, even if you don’t have a good career already. The gig economy has expanded incredibly in recent years, and this trend is likely to continue.

Freelance work available online, local side hustles that use skills you already have, and new jobs you will qualify for after some affordable education – these are all considerations you should make in order to bring more money into your household.

Money isn’t everything, but if you have enough of it, you’ll be able to cancel a debt, prepare for the future, and eliminate a lot of stress along the way.

 

Final Thoughts on Debt

Speaking of debt, it should be something you work hard to get rid of. A debt will hold you back from achieving nearly all of your goals.

If you can do the two main changes listed up till this point, you’ll be able to create a foundation which you and your children can build upon for many years to come.

What are you doing to end your families bad debt cycle?  I feel that education is the best answer to this problem.  What are your thoughts?  Share your ideas and comments below.

Cheers!