Yep, it’s true. I’m a grown ass adult and I am financially irresponsible. What I mean by that is I do not know how to manage my money. I know how to spend it. I know how to spend it when I don’t have it (credit cards), but I don’t know how to budget my money and start filling in the holes of my own making that I am buried in.
It’s not something that they taught us in school and it’s not something that I can figure out on my own – trust me, I’ve tried. I thought, when I got married that I was all set. After all, he majored in business, he must know about managing money. Yeah that marriage was a mistake in more ways than one, and his lack of fiscal responsibility was only part of it. I was the one who managed the money, and paid the bills. Listening to him is part of the reason why my student loan debt is equal to the gnp of a small country. My retirement plan is to win powerball – seriously!
It’s not something I like, and it’s not something I’m proud of, but I don’t know where to begin to change it. Where do people learn this stuff, and more importantly, why aren’t we teaching it to kids in high school? Seriously, there should be a series of classes called Life 101, 202, 303 and 404 that you take each year you’re in high school where you learn how to be an adult. How to balance a check book (and write out a check) how to find a job, register a car, file taxes, rent an apartment, fill out a fafsa, do laundry, grocery shop – all of that stuff. And yes, a lot of this stuff should be taught at home….I did learn most of that at home, but kids today don’t – neither do some adults. I just want to be more financially responsible.