Carve Out Time to Talk Money With Your Kids This Thanksgiving.(First Part)

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/melissa-jarman/teaching-kids-about-money_b_5929246.html

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many students and parents are about to have their first holiday meal together since post-secondary school began about six weeks ago. For students, it has been a crash course in time and money management, and one thing is almost certain: there's never enough of either. As parents, we wonder if our child is getting enough sleep, keeping up with homework, and adjusting well.

There's so much to talk about, but the elephant in the room is sometimes about money. This Thanksgiving, parents and students should carve out some time to talk finances and revisit the budget to determine if spending is on track.

Hopefully before the school year began, parents and their college or university-bound children had an open discussion about where the money to fund that education is coming from, who's responsible for how much, and when. The goal is to make sure the funds last throughout the school year.

Now at the halfway point of the first semester, it is the ideal time to revisit finances and find out how your child is managing. It's early enough in the year to address any small issues before they become big problems. Whether living at home or away, there are a lot of expenses that come with being a student. Transportation, textbooks, rent, and groceries -- and that's before discretionary spending on meals out or the occasional movie

But the financial talk isn't just for freshmen and their parents. It's an evolving conversation and one that should occur regularly. The recent RBC student poll showed that the majority of students turn to their parents for financial guidance.

Even for upper year students, predicting spending needs before you start classes can be difficult. Take recent Carleton graduate Kirsten for example. She found first year was a repeat of high school in many ways with few pressures outside of maintaining the grades necessary to continue in her Commerce program. She lived in residence, had a meal plan and didn't work during the school year.

In second year, all of that changed. Living off campus meant rent, groceries, and commuting to school, as well as working part time. While Kirsten learned from experience how to balance competing priorities, she was able to stay on top of her finances by using what she learned from her parents and setting up a spreadsheet to manage her weekly budget. Online banking enabled her to track her spending quickly and conveniently.

Regardless of a student's financial situation, there are ways to alleviate some of the burden of managing finances on top of an already busy schedule. Before the last slice of pumpkin pie is eaten, parents and students should have an honest (and non-judgmental!) discussion. 

 A Thanksgiving Dinner at Home with Kids.