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In this issue: The "loud budgeting" trend, financial literacy in schools and getting off the hedonic treadmill.

"Working to help parents raise money-smart kids."

​​3 Ideas to Share & Save​
​(Click the link above 👆 to read this week's edition on the web.)

Hello, friends!

Today I'd like to talk with you about loud budgeting, my next podcast guest and hopping off the hedonic treadmill.

So without further ado, please enjoy this week's "3 Ideas to Share & Save."

— 1 —

It's Getting Loud: Someone has been turning up the "loud budgeting" fad volume to eleven. Gen-Z influencers are making frugal choices because, well, they have to. Everything is more expensive, as Lukas Battle, who is credited with starting the trend, emphasizes in this TikTok:

(FYI, his video has been viewed over one million times! 😲)

Fad or not, I agree with Robin Taub, the author of The Wisest Investment and a friend of The Art of Allowance Podcast, who was quoted extensively in a recent Canadian Business article:

While I remain slightly skeptical that loud budgeting will be more than a flash in the pan, it does open opportunities to chat with our kids about smart spending.

Personally, I'd also like to see a "loud tracking" trend. If the members of Gen-Z are anything like their predecessors, then most of them won't stick with budgeting. They might do better with consistent tracking instead. For more on budgeting and tracking, check out this short essay.

— 2 —

Schools and Parents: Vince Shorb, the CEO of the National Financial Educators Council, recently joined me for an Art of Allowance Podcast conversation. While our full discussion drops next week, I want to tease our back-and-forth about money smarts in the schools. In this video short, Vince shares the interesting idea that perhaps "schools should be reinforcing things that parents are teaching [kids]":

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As a heads up, the Council for Economic Education's Survey of the States will come out in the next few weeks. (I'll share it with you when it does.) It will show solid progress, as more states are upping their financial literacy game. This is a wonderful development!

But it's not enough. 😐

To put things into perspective: How much of your one to two years of foreign language do you even remember, let alone speak? Probably very little and certainly nowhere near fluency. So while a required one-semester financial literacy course is terrific, how much of that learning will stick without putting it immediately into practice? Again, very little.

This is why we're always discussing the importance of starting money conversations and money practice early. Money habits form way before your kids reach high school, so The Art of Allowance Project is here to help you help your kids learn the sharing, saving and spending habits they'll need to thrive as young adults. And if they're fortunate enough to take a financial education course in high school? Even better!

— 3 —

Enough Treadmill Time: In a world where most folks are trying to get ahead, we can give our kids a gift by letting them know that what we have is enough. Striving is okay, as long as we take time to recognize when we have reached a comfortable station. Author and New York Times columnist Carl Richards illustrates this sentiment in one of his famous napkin sketches:

You must hop off the hedonic treadmill at some point because it never stops. And it's better to be purposeful about this dismount, right?

Will people think you're weird? Yeah, they might. But as Paul Graham, one of the clearer thinkers of our generation, wrote in this 2010 article on how modern humans are susceptible to addictive behavior:

At the time, he was talking about our addictions to tech, the internet and nascent social media platforms. But the same point is true about conspicuous consumption. We have paleolithic brains unequipped to deal with modern technologies and conveniences. (No wonder you might be perceived as weird by your fellow apes! 🙈) But maybe if we step off the treadmill, and risk being seen as controlled consumption "weirdos," then perhaps we can help our kids do the same sooner.

Thank you for being a part of The Art of Allowance Project. And as always, enjoy the journey!

John,
Chief Mammal

P.S. Please consult with a financial or investment professional before engaging in any decisions that might affect your own financial well-being.

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