Of Golf Balls, Budgets & Failure

"Is it easy to dance with your pockets full of golf balls?"

I asked that question to those in the Get Cheddar Club who had forgotten to bring in their "bills" from last class. They had just fallen behind their classmates in building up their credit scores and were given their first feel of debt.

They shook their heads.

"Are the golf balls heavy or light?"

"Light!" they answered.

"That's true," I responded. "But if you keep forgetting to pay your bills I will keep giving you golf balls."

Needless to say, there are no golfers in the class.

"Is it easy to dance with your pockets full of golf balls?"

"And that's what debt feels like. It holds you down. It feels heavy. It makes you feel like you can't do things." Yeah, I keep this class real light.

We then transitioned to the topic of the day: budgets.

I asked them what their parents spent money on. The kids hit six or seven of the eight areas I wanted to address including:

-rent/mortgage
-food
-health (insurance)
-communications (phones, internet)
-transportation (car, bus, etc)
-entertainment

I supplemented their responses with savings and credit cards. One little girl did a nice job of explaining why savings was important in the short-term. I followed her general point up with a specific example.

"How many of your parents have had car problems in the last month?"

Half the class raised their hands.

"Didn't expect that to happen, did you?"

They all shook their heads.

"What about trips to the doctor? Or a relative unexpectedly staying with you for a while? Are these unexpected events free?"

"No!"

We then tied together the expenses affiliated with a budget back into credit scores with the verse:

Pay comes in,

Bills go out.

Keep the lights on

rock 850 out!

Lastly, we've started a tally to chart their credit scores - for better or for worse. I want these kids to see how they are doing the same way they can feel debt weigh them down. If they hit 850, awesome. If they come in at 450, so be it. I would rather see them fail now than later when it's a question of real money.

At the end of the class a teacher told me there was little chance that they would remember to bring in their pieces of paper in two weeks; that they should leave them in the classroom for next time. I thanked her for her suggestion and I declined. That's not how the real world works. The point is for them to remember and to be rewarded for remembering; that's what credit rating agencies do. Sure, automatic bill pay exists, but I'd rather make it hard on them now so the alternative looks easy later.

The Get Cheddar Club will next work on The Big Scary Number, debt, how it grows exponentially and how to avoid its long, dark shadow.