To Spend Money Responsibly

spannar

When her nephew was 8 years old, nationally recognized personal finance expert and influencer Buffie Purselle began teaching him how to track and spend money using a prepaid debit card. Purselle and her sister, Aiden’s mom, told him that if for three months he didn't spend the money he received for his chores, birthday, and holidays, he would receive an interest payment from them for saving his money. He was intrigued by this idea and agreed to save.

But Purselle, author of the new book Crawl Before You Ball: Breaking the Cycle of Generational Poverty, tells LittleThings, “On day 91, he decided to do a bit of shopping. Then he shopped again on day 93, 97, and so on. Finally, my sister was with him at Walmart, and Aiden had picked out a few items. She asked him if he had enough money on his prepaid card. He confidently said, ‘Of course!’ He proudly set his purchases on the checkout belt and requested cashback. His charge declined in a line full of people.”


His mom wouldn’t bail him out, and he had to put all those items back. Aiden learned his lesson, and he has never let it happen to him again. Today, at age 19, he saves half of his paycheck each pay period.

samwilliam

Aiden learned the hard way about the importance of responsible spending and saving. It's great to see that he's now saving half of his paycheck at age 19.

samwilliam

Aiden learned the hard way about the importance of responsible spending and saving. It's great to see that he's now saving half of his paycheck at age 19.