Is Money Good or Bad?

Is money good or bad? Your views about money effect not only your life but your children's lives. They watch how you interact with money and your feeling towards it. Your child is always paying attention and creating their own views of money by modeling yours.

Let's figure out where our emotions around money started so we can change and adapt our feeling towards it. This will lead to healthier choices around money and to a path of financial freedom.

What are a couple of your first experiences with money? List out your initial experiences with money. Some may be good and others bad.

I remember earning money with my sister so that we could buy my mom a kitchen pot she wanted for her birthday. She knew we were working hard and saving our money to buy her this gift. We would ask for extra jobs so that we could earn enough money before her birthday. We felt amazing to have earned enough money to buy the pot. We asked my mom to drive us to the kitchen store and she asked to see our money before we walked in. My mother waited outside as her two daughters walked proudly into the store. We bought the exact pot she wanted and walked out with the receipt and gift in hand. My mom asked to see the receipt and the rest of our money. I knew something was wrong when my mother asked us twice if there was any other money the sales lady gave us. We said no. My mother got out of the car with the bag holding her gift, the receipt and rest of the money. She walked into the store and sternly told the woman how my sister and I earned the money. My mother asked why she pocketed money and why she took advantage of her two girls. The sales lady apologized and gave my mom back the money that the woman pocketed. I felt embarrassed at the time and confused but later I realized that my mom was teaching us a great lesson. We did everything right on earning our money but spending our money was a whole new concept. I did not count the money the sales lady handed us back or even check the receipt. Yes, she short changed us but I learned about taking responsibility for handling my money. My mother took this situation as a teaching moment for us.

This money situation had caused me to be more hesitant on purchasing products or using coupons because I felt i could be stolen from again. I could feel like a sucker or someone who is naive. It was difficult for me to purchase items because someone could steal from me again. Once I became aware of my money experience I realized how it was subconsciously controlling the way I handled money.

We want to have power over our money experience and have it turn into positive result. I deal with coupons and receipts by reading them and checking them after each transaction. If I am confused about a purchase I am not afraid to ask for clarification and do not view questioning something as a negative confrontation. I see it as giving myself enough respect to actually say something if I have a question or if something did not balance. I am grateful that this had happened to me when I was young because I have noticed that a lot of adults have problems in this area. They feel very uncomfortable questioning a coupon or even asking for their money back if they were charged incorrectly.

We have the opportunity not only to teach our kids money skills but to support them on this journey. My mom intentionally taught us to earn money but unintentionally taught us to stand up for ourselves and check our purchases.

Another money experience I remember was buying my first CD. It was Seattle in the 90's and Nirvana was the biggest thing since Micheal Jackson. Okay, so it just felt like it in Seattle. All my friends were ragging about the new CD from Nirvana called Unplugged. I knew I liked a few of their songs. My friends told me I would love it and I had to buy it. I purchased it and could not wait to play it when I got home. I ripped open the plastic wrap and put it in my CD player. I waited excitedly for it to start. I could hear Kurt Cobain introduce his songs and the crowd applauses in the background. As I skimmed through the songs I realized that I liked less than a quarter of them and I did not like hearing the audience in the background. I realized that I used my money to buy something that all my friends wanted instead of what I wanted. I was angry, disappointed, betrayed, and frustrated all at once. I fell into the "keeping up with the jones" philosophy. I had used my money to make myself appear cool and I didn't even think about if I truly wanted it. I made my purchasing decision on other people and not myself.

I am fortunate that I made that mistake when I was younger. I was able to learn from it and make better purchasing decisions.

We use our first emotional experiences around money and carry it with us through life.

From learning that earning money is about hard work, to feeling that someone might steal our money to buying something because your friends liked it. This all effects our future. We all attach money with emotions but we need to face these experiences and understand that money is

Financial freedom isnt just about the end result of retirement but about the financial journey. It's about recognizing why we spend the way we do from our early childhood money experiences and learning from them in a positive way. We reach financial freedom by changing our money behavior and attitudes in a meaningful way.