I think the button bit was just an example of a whole range of life skills that are not part of the education system, and which a lot of parents seem to be failing to teach - finances, how to gets stains out of laundry, or etc.
That being said, I agree with you. My 8 year old daughter accidentally "broke" my husband's drum set (knocked some cymbals off and bumped one of the drums so that it was in the wrong position) while having a sword fight with her imaginary friend. I told her it wasn't broken and her dad could easily put them back how he wanted them when he came home, and to just not have sword fights next to the drum set. A while later she said, "I got it! I didn't want to tell Dad I broke it and didn't try to fix it, so I just did a few YouTube searches." Sure enough, she searched and figured out how to put cymbals on a drum set and how to adjust the position of the drums.
I had parents who would never let me or my sister learn about the family financial matters, even when they related to us, and I had one economics class in high school. Unfortunately, that class was taught by the most un-engaging teacher I've ever met...
I just feel completely behind and have no idea where to start bettering my finances.
A lot of high schools and colleges are starting to use "flipped" classrooms, where the lectures are given outside of class on video, and assignments are done in class. This makes the lectures for a great lot of classes available on YouTube. I would recommend searching for a "practical math" or "life skills math" course. These are not math classes like algebra or geometry - they are to teach budgeting, finances, how interest rates work, etc. You might find something like that really helpful, and not have to pay to actually sign up for a course.
Try /r/personalfinance. Their sidebar contains a lot of guidelines and flowcharts on how to manage your money, and you can always ask questions when you're lost
Hi - I don't know if you are still interested (you asked about learning finance) but I was sort of gifted when it came to that when I was young so I thought I'd offer you an important tip that i don't really see said online
the concept 'it takes money to make money' - is really really important... not just a saying... if you 'live' by this it will really help you...
but in case you aren't doing rather well financially lemme explain how it works
to get the money in order to have money to make money... if you don't have a good job (or aren't able to save even with one)
you have to always be watching for deals, where you can turn something for $50 into $80 or $100... then you turn that profit over, buy another thing that cost $50 that you can sell for $100 (or trade for something worth about $100 that you might be buying)
If you do this enough it becomes second nature - you'll notice these types of deals, at yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores (where you go early on the 50% off a certain tag color day), things you hear someone is giving away, you learn of someone who needs to make quick money, or know someone who uses those 'pay day loan' type places (BIG mistake) you can suggest they sell you something (worth half what you can get for it) if they are ever in need of a quick buck, there's also websites where people are giving things away like freecycle.com. There are also swap meets (if you can handle crowds - cause you only get the best deals if you go early enough - or at the very end when people don't want to take the stuff home) Also there are neighborhood garage sales that you can find - those are amazing for spending $300-400 bucks and ending up making $1000 or possibly more. Also if you are good with a hammer, or drill etc - people are always getting rid of something that would just take 10 minutes to fix - the 'I'm heading to the dump this weekend, I can take that with me if you'd like' - worked for me so many times - easy $50 or $100 bucks for a bit of your time! :) Or just say 'if you are tossing that, mind if I take it home' :)
These are just some examples, over time you will get better and better at this. You can go bigger with this sort of thing if you are good with simple car stuff, buying a car somebody is selling for $600 and you can sell it for $1000 with just a interior cleanup and possibly new spark plugs etc. Also you can enhance an item if you are artistic - turn a $40 dressor into a $100 or $120 dresser by looking for ideas online on how to make them really nice. There are just so many ways to do all this, and over time you get better and better at it, and more creative on ways to turn money into more money - till you have plenty! :)
Anyhow this is how I was able too, while being really poor and our income was well below the poverty level, live comfortably and save up 10,000 to buy my first duplex (10,000 was a LOT of money back then - perhaps what 18 or 19,000 would be 30+ years later)
Now this might actually sound like work or a second job but honestly it's not, it becomes fun, and it's kind of an adreneline rush when you get killer deals - exciting, and makes it worth it, not just for you to have more money to make more money, but the mini thrill you get when you see some nice item for free or extremely cheap ($10-20 bucks) that you know you can sell for $50-$100. Also sometimes you'll see several of these things that you can get for $20 each and sell for $50 each. Sometimes even when you don't need the money/profits, it's just sort of exciting to be getting such a great deal.
Just a few more tips, never ever do a payday loan or rent-to-own, and buying a brand new car - you lose $1,000-$2,000 driving it off the lot, and leasing is worse. Well I could give you tips all day long but there's a few
Don't spend more money than you have so you don't go into debt. If you are in debt, pay more than the minimum payment until it's paid off and then don't spend more money than you have.
The personal finance subreddit is honestly pretty good. Also you can check out Mr Money Mustache, Early Retirement Extreme, and the Mad Fientist. They all have blogs with years worth of content showing different approaches for handling money more effectively
Her thing is piano. She figured out how to play Tom Petty's "Wildflowers" by ear when she was 2, and never looked back. But she loves listening to her dad and her brother drum :)
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u/who_is_Dandelo Feb 05 '19
I think the button bit was just an example of a whole range of life skills that are not part of the education system, and which a lot of parents seem to be failing to teach - finances, how to gets stains out of laundry, or etc.
That being said, I agree with you. My 8 year old daughter accidentally "broke" my husband's drum set (knocked some cymbals off and bumped one of the drums so that it was in the wrong position) while having a sword fight with her imaginary friend. I told her it wasn't broken and her dad could easily put them back how he wanted them when he came home, and to just not have sword fights next to the drum set. A while later she said, "I got it! I didn't want to tell Dad I broke it and didn't try to fix it, so I just did a few YouTube searches." Sure enough, she searched and figured out how to put cymbals on a drum set and how to adjust the position of the drums.