Did Your Family Talk About Money Growing Up And Other Money Questions

Have you seen the money related conversation starter cards circulating in the social media lately?

It is the Financial Service Council NZ teaming up with Hatch investment platform who brings us these downloadable cards that each have a money related question to answer.

I thought I’d do a post series of personally answering a few of these questions in each post and inviting you to share your own answer to the same question in the comments! You can download your own set here.

What was the last big thing you bought? Was it worth it?

Does education count?

My student loan is creeping up there, and on top of that I signed up for a level 5 financial advise certificate that is not eligible to be funded through StudyLink, so I need to fork up around $2,000 for that.

I have also spent hundreds of dollars on non-university courses in the name of self-development and to learn new things.

I definitely don’t regret any of that, it has been money well spent!

Or ask me again in 5 years when I’m still paying my loans off haha.

If we are talking about physical items, then the most expensive item I’ve bought lately, and I suppose the biggest thing would be Connetix magnetic tiles and a ball run.

This was about a $350 purchase (after a discount too), and while we don’t usually spend much money on toys this has been money really well spent!

Both my daughters love these tiles and the ball run!

It has been amazing to see how my older daughter’s imagination is growing and she’s building new and more ambitious designs.

I will definitely add to our magnetic tiles collection in the future, as these are worth their weight in gold when it comes to my kids entertaining themselves quietly!

Will more money make you happier? Why or why not?

Yes.

More money would mean we get our dream house sooner, it means being able to travel and to go home more often to see my family.

More money would help me focus on those things in life that brings me the most happiness.

More money can buy me back time, being able to outsource things I don’t want to do, thus being able to use my time on things that do bring me joy.

Not having to choose between things because of financial constraints would be freeing.

So for me, more money would make me happier. I think it’s mainly because I currently have quite little, and I have always had quite little being on minimum wage my whole working life.

For other people more money might not make them happier. It is very personal.

Did your family talk about money growing up?

Short answer: No.

Money wasn’t spoken about in my family, unless it was to say that we didn’t have any for xyz.

I still don’t know much about my parents’ financial situation, except I suspect it isn’t that great.

My parents got a divorce when I was around 8, and while my whole life I knew we didn’t have much, my mum always made sure there was enough for things that mattered to us.

This was to the point that I didn’t know growing up how much she was struggling financially.

She told me in my late teens once when I was crying about wanting to go back to “the good old times” that those “good old times” weren’t so great for her.

I’m so grateful that she didn’t let it show to us, but she made sure we weren’t fully going without.

My dad is quite impulsive with money, spending a lot on whatever is his current interest.

He always liked to say “I don’t have any money”, and I worry we’re going to inherit debt from him.

I can see some of his money behaviour in me, not caring how much something I’m really into will cost me.

I wish they had taught me to be better with money, but let’s face it, they just don’t know.

So I will make sure that I teach my kids to be good with money, and that money is openly spoken about in our family.

You can find my other money questions and answers here.

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions in the comments below!