All in the family!

Yesterday we collected our son from college for the mid year break. The trip is about 4.5 hours each way so we had a long time to catch up on all his news. I was amused to hear my hubby filling him in what's been happening while he has been away.

"Well mate, you're going to get a shock when you get home!"

I wondered to myself what was coming... never would have guessed it!

"There's no takeaway, no videos, no trips to the shop for junk food, no money for a night a the pub with your mates and no eating chicken breast fillets and steak anymore. It's mince and sausages or starve!. You're mothers decided we're going to pay off the mortgage in 5 years so we just all have to go without and do it."

I love the way men explain things. Straight to the point. No nonsense.

Well my gorgeous son took it all on board quiet well. He confesed he had $33 dollars left from his spending and handed it over for 'the cause'.

I have been pleasantly suprised by my kids attitudes. My daughter is now working part time. As of last week we are no longer paying for her medications, her textbooks, or her junk food habits. While they are at college we don't charge them board so long as they contribute in kind. She is great help to me at home with managing the cooking, shopping, washing. If they were not studying they would be paying board.

It's an interesting question of how you manage money when kids are in the young adult phase. Neither were allowed to have mobile phones until they were 16. Then they got $10 a month credit, they knew if it was over that they would have to pay it. They never went over it. They have no debt other than their HECs debt for thier study (a goverment funded student loan). My daughter already has over $3000 saved.

I find it interesting how other parents work out these things with their adult children. There is no 'perfect' solution. Just the solution thats right at the moment, and it's probably quite different for each family.

Meanwhile back to the budgeting!