We are always looking for great tips to share with local parents that help make our journey a little easier together! That’s why we are proud to sponsor local consignment events like Just Between Friends and Cradles to Crayons that are so helpful for local families! Here’s a great article on the financial benefits that these events offer our kids from Just Between Friends.
Why Raising A Financially Responsible Child is Important
and How To Start 
Young adults today have opportunities to get into more financial trouble than previous generations. Take, for instance, the sky-rocketing percentages of college students receiving financial aid. A recent study showed that 60 percent of students obtaining a secondary education have taken out student loans to pay for tuition and living expenses. Outstanding student loans totaled over $1.2 trillion in 2015.
Credit card debt owed by U.S. Consumers has reached a staggering $712 billion. This means the average person has around $15,355 in credit card debt alone.
A contributing factor is, no doubt, income growth has been outpaced by the rise in cost of living expenses over the past 12 years. However, it is no surprise that over-spending habits and materialism have continued to expand America’s growing debt problems more than ever before.
There has never been a time when educating children on financial responsibility has been more important. Promoting work ethic and entrepreneurship, and teaching children healthy spending habits when they’re young will help ensure they become financially responsible adults.
And Just Between Friends of Lubbock, TX, a local bi-annual consignment sales event, offers a good venue for parents to start their children’s financial education experience.
“Every aspect of JBF promotes financial responsibility,” says Courtney Kattner, event coordinator for Lubbock JBF. “Consigning your children’s outgrown, un-used items is a great way to start teaching them the importance of getting the full value out of material goods purchased at retail prices and encourages entrepreneurship.”
Lubbock JBF consignors priced, tagged, and dropped off over 35,000 of their own items to the previous Back-to-School 2015 sale in August. Earning up to 70% of their gross sold items, the average consignor check was $409. Kattner, who also participates as a JBF consignor, says she makes enough money selling her own children’s items to purchase the majority of what they need for the next season without spending any additional money.
And the financial value gained by participating in consignment sales events don’t stop there. “Shopping for needed items at consignment sales before buying them from retail stores teaches families to use their financial resources wisely,” states Kattner. “I have been buying about 95% of my kids’ wardrobe at Lubbock JBF for the last 6 years. Because of JBF, I am financially able to provide my kids with almost everything they need, in brands they love, without creating financial stress for my family.”
Effective teaching of financial responsibility includes showing children how to live within your means. And living within your means, is finding a way to meet your needs without spending more than you get paid. If this financial value is not instilled in a child, you end up raising an overactive consumer or someone who is constantly competing with the Joneses. Consignment shopping shows children they can spend less money on what they need, creating more available money for items they want, while staying within their spending limits.
Most consignment sales events, including Lubbock Just Between Friends, give a higher percentage to consignors who volunteer to help work the sale, promoting the idea that work ethic increases higher wages.
“Even the idea of earning a higher percentage in exchange for volunteer hours during the sale promotes solid financial values,” Kattner says. “When you volunteer and work a 4-hour shift during a Lubbock JBF sale, you earn a higher percent of your gross sold items, increasing the return on your initial investment.”
Showing your children the lesson that a little bit of work and time can have large-scale payoffs in the end is a virtue that will help lead them down the path of financial stability for years to come.
The bottom line is this: the best way to raise financially responsible children is to show them a good example. If your financial situation isn’t up to par, you can’t expect your children to pick up responsible spending habits. The good news is it’s never too late to start heading down the path of being a good financial steward. Baby steps lead to walking, then eventually running. And when it comes to your financial stability, running down the right path for as long as possible earns you huge rewards later in life for yourself and your children. Being a good financial role model could quite possibly end up being the greatest lesson you teach your children.
From Just Between Friends – Lubbock
To participate as a consignor or shopper, or to find out more details about the upcoming sale, Lubbock Just Between Friends Spring 2016 Consignment Sale happening March 9 – 12 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, visit their website at http://lubbock.jbfsale.com.
