RS/EQ: Going Without

by Nola Redd | More from this Blogger

08 Jun 2007 06:00 PM

The prophets have taught us increasingly to avoid debt. As we struggle through this modern world, that may be hard to comprehend. For many families - especially young families - it seems hard to go through life on a small paycheck. But the sad reality for most Americans is that, as their paychecks increase, so does their spending. Right now, our nation has a negative savings rate. As a country, we are spending more than we are saving.

President Kimball urges us to "live within (our) means and not beyond them." What does it mean to live within your means? It means to only buy things that you can afford. If you have to put it on credit, that usually means you can't afford it. Very rarely do we buy things we literally have to have. If you see something that you want - save for it. That's called delayed gratification, and can be difficult to master.

Since I'm the writer here, I get to brag on my kids. We are on a get-out-of-debt plan, which means we are cutting the spending. We have told our five year old and our four year old the basic details; just enough to encourage them, not enough to scare them. We told them that Mommy and Daddy spent more money than we made for quite awhile, so now we are working to get out of debt. We also promised that, once we were debt free, we would save up the money and go on vacation to Disney World.

Preschoolers are notorious for having the "I want it now" syndrome, so I didn't expect this to have any lasting effects. However, almost from the first day, my five year old began asking at the store, "Mommy, can we buy this when we get out of debt?" Her brother quickly followed suit. (They have a long list of things they want when we are debt free, LOL.) Similarly, if we are driving down the road, they might ask to stop at McDonalds or do something else we have cut from the budget. My husband and I explained at one point that the more we eat out and spend money, the longer it will take us to get out of debt. So when we ask, "Would you rather eat at McDonalds or go to Disney World," 99% of the time, Mickey Mouse wins out. I think Ronald only won once or twice.

My four year old has learned to delay pleasure. My five year old knows how to wait to achieve larger goals. I promise you, if my little kids can learn that debt is not the way to get what you want, pretty much anyone can.

For other articles on President Kimball's lesson, click on the RS/EQ Lesson link at right.

Related Articles:

Giving Your Money Away

An Example to Your Children

Church Guidance for Family Finances

Learn more about Nola Redd

Freelance writer Nola Redd is a stay-at-home mom to three kids, with a fourth on the way.

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