Business
Familes First NI
Finance
June - July 2014
Change the way you perceive money – and the way you receive it will change too
What’s sort of example are you setting your children with money? Children learn by example and their money story becomes a part of their life the moment they discover that money can buy them more sweeties! Understanding more about your own relationship with money and what you’re teaching your children, almost by osmosis, could make all the difference to what your children grow up believing about money. When you get more tuned into how your relationship with money works, you’ll become more connected to money and it can only be a really good thing in the long run.
Association for Quality Education Limited
COMMON ENTRANCE ASSESSMENT THE ASSESSMENTS FOR THE NEXT CYCLE (2014/15) WILL TAKE PLACE ON 8 th NOVEMBER, 22 nd NOVEMBER and 29 th NOVEMBER 2014.
REGISTRATION OPENED ON TUESDAY 6 th MAY.
FORMS ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE AQE SCHOOLS, FROM THE AQE OFFICE OR FROM THE AQE WEBSITE. For further information, including details of the registration process, the list of participating schools, answers to questions parents are asking about the CEA and details of sample questions and past papers, please visit www.aqe.org.uk . The papers will reflect the English and Mathematics elements of the current Primary School Curriculum.
The Association for Quality Education Ltd., Unit 3, Weavers Court Business Park, Belfast BT 12 5GH Telephone: (028) 90224002
www.familiesfirst-uk.com
www.facebook.com/FamiliesFirstNI • Page 22
Email: aqeoffice1@yahoo.co.uk
So, let’s start with something practical. Here’s a short exercise you can do which will only take a moment. However, I expect it will have a disproportionately big impact on you. Grab a coffee and park yourself somewhere comfy and then answer these few simple questions right now. Would you treat your child like this? • Pay scant attention to where he is • Be unsure about when he’s coming and when he’s going • Not know where she’s going or how often • Do you care who’s looking after her and whether they’re doing the best they can while she’s in their care? • Would you worry if he disappeared? • Does he live in tatty and neglected surroundings? • Do you leave him on his own, unattended and neglected • Does he have friends to keep him company – or is he all alone much of the time Could you do that to any child? Well, of course the answer’s ‘No’! Daft questions I’m sure you’re thinking and, you’d soon have the authorities down on you like a ton of bricks too.
Actually, I haven’t been quite fair here, as that’s only half the exercise. So don’t get up from your cosy chair just yet. To complete the exercise, I want you to substitute the word ‘child’ with ‘money’. Now…. Go through and answer those same questions again and, please make sure you answer honestly just jotting down your answers. So, what did you come up with? The thing about you, your money and what you’re unconsciously teaching your children is this. You need to be as acutely aware of money – your money – as you are about what your child is up to. Where it is, where it’s going, is it running away from you, are you looking after it really well. Much like being a parent, we have to learn the ropes as we go along and to be great parents, it’s more than just doing it by default. We can all learn to be better at it, if we want to. Managing our money is exactly the same. It’s not necessary to be an investment banker or high flying entrepreneur to be responsible with money and to take more notice of where it is and where it’s going. Money loves to be paid attention to in powerful and positive ways – it matters. If it’s easier, you can think of it like this too. How long would you remain friends with someone who neglected you, didn’t support you, let you down and was unreliable and unconnected with you? The relationship you have with your money is no different. I’ve often heard people who don’t have a good relationship with money and never have enough of it, jealously say that money always goes to those who’ve got it. So here’s why: Money flows to those who’ve already got it because they know how to look after it – and that doesn’t just mean where to invest it. Money matters to them – they value it and they look after it well – because they like it. Try asking yourself this question, “What must be true in order for me to have the relationship I have with money today?” The best time to ask would be just before you go to sleep so that your mind has the
www.familiesfirst-uk.com
opportunity to process it all overnight while your brain is resting. Here’s another conundrum: how many times do you hear people say, “There’s never enough money left at the end of the month to save any.” Let me let you into a secret. At the start of a new discipline or habit with money, it’s not the amount that matters. It’s the action – and saving has to start first. As soon as you’re paid, you squirrel away in a separate account where you aren’t tempted to break in and help yourself, a small proportion FIRST. The moment you’re paid. Then, you leave it alone and you do the same the next month. It may not look like a lot to start with but the shift in intention and attention matters so much more than the amount. Keep doing this for a few months and you will soon begin to see the pot filling – and that’s when you start to feel good. When you feel good, more follows more easily. Changing your relationship with money and creating new ways of managing it requires discipline. These aren’t tips or secrets for you to scan quickly, take on board and forget in a few days. If you want a different result you need to change what you do to get that – otherwise it all stays the way it was. You may find it easier to do this if you think
www.facebook.com/FamiliesFirstNI • Page 23
about the legacy that you’ll be teaching your children. If you’re struggling with cash flow and managing money now – then wouldn’t it be a great gift for your children to see how you made some changes that they could learn from too? You can take the full Money Midwife Quiz at themoneymidwifequiz.com to see which money type you are - and get 3 instant tips.
If you’ve got questions about this article, then please email welcome@themoneymidwife.com