The education system has long been criticized for not teaching kids about finances .
Some schools are too busy teaching kids about things that don’t really matter in the real world, like the mitochondria of a cell. How does that help us do our taxes?!
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This has left it up to parents to educate their children about budging . But one family may have taken things too far , as evidenced by their “hygiene budget” that’s causing people to give them dirty looks.
Jess and Dub McCorkle do parenting a little differently.
For starters, the parents of three kids don’t even live in a traditional house. There’s no suburban cul-de-sac or white picket fence where they live.
Instead, they travel around in their RV and document their adventures on their social media account, @family.of.nomads.
Attending school when you’re constantly traveling wouldn’t be easy, so the parents opt to homeschool their children instead.
This gives them control of what they teach their kids.
Since they’re obviously scrimpers and savers, one thing they want their kids to be educated about is finances.
Jess explained the purpose of this in one of their viral videos.
“We homeschool our kids on the road, and it’s very important as part of our homeschooling to teach our kids about finances,” she said. More parents need to heed this advice!
“When our kids grow up, we want them to be confident in making good financing choices. One thing we want them to know is that it’s important to meet your needs before your wants.”
While this makes perfect sense, there is one budgeting category that doesn’t quite add up: the hygiene budget.
In another viral video, the mom explained that their kids have an allotted amount for hygiene products every quarter.
They’re also responsible for keeping track of the inventory of items . For instance, for her 11-year-old daughter, this amount is $115.
She can buy things like toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, and fun things like hair ties, face masks, and press-on nails.
One video even showed the mom shopping with her daughter for some of these products. Her nine-year-old receives $100 every three months.
There is no room for loopholes in the budget.
If her son tries to spend less on hygiene products and pocket the rest of the money, his hygiene budget will be less next quarter. “This does not mean that they will not have access to hygiene products,” the mother of three explained.
“It just means that they will not get the money that’s left over at the end, and I will pick out the hygiene products for them.”
While the concept of teaching children about budgeting is good, some people believe that it’s taking things too far.
“I understand this more at a [high school] level but they’re lil kids dude let them live,” one wrote.
“Did you ever consider that the kids may actually enjoy this?” McCorkle responded.
“You see budgeting, I see a future of the kids ending up on extreme cheapskates,” another wrote.
“Kids don’t get to be kids anymore,” a third commented.
“I would’ve been so embarrassed,” a fourth added.
Some had a problem with the budgeted amount, especially when the daughter gets her period. “Girl what about girls with pads and tampons? They better get more than 100.”
Thankfully for the parents, the comments were also filled with people who loved the idea of a hygiene budget for kids.
“Teaching kids that everyday necessities cost money is great, even adults have a budget we all have bills to pay so learning more about that as a kid,” one wrote.
“God I wish I was taught how to budget and save money that young. Now I’m almost 20 and have no clue how to survive off my tiny paychecks,” agreed another.
