Son thinks we're poor-need advice

[JustinB]

My stepson who just turned 12 thinks we're poor. He's embarrassed that his mom drives an older car. We make good money but we don't blow and go like some people he sees, I guess.

I've gently reminded him of everything he has, which is everything a 12 year old could ask for. However, he keeps making comments about it and I'm preparing to jerk his chain.

Thoughts?

[TexasHunter83]

My stepson who just turned 12 thinks we're poor. He's embarrassed that his mom drives an older car. We make good money but we don't blow and go like some people he sees, I guess.

I've gently reminded him of everything he has, which is everything a 12 year old could ask for. However, he keeps making comments about it and I'm preparing to jerk his chain.

Thoughts?

Take him and show him what poor is...

[Sofee]

Agree with above.

[GarGuy]

Take all his crap away for a week and show him what poor really is. By the way, I was raised dirt poor and never had a clue we were hubbing it untill later in life.

[Playa]

I think the approach above is a good one.

This is a lesson rich opportunity.
Importance of being content with what your have
Taking care of what you own
Saving
Living like nobody else so you can live like nobody else later (delaying gratitude today for pleasure tomorrow)
And it goes on and on

[Black Ice]

Show him you bank account[emoji1]


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[12RingKing]

Take him and show him what poor is...

Perfect response

[BuckRage]

tough one.. I don't know what I'd do to show him how wrong he has it. Maybe take him to a homeless shelter and let him volunteer there for a weekend. If it got to bad I'd probably stop buying him all his "toys". Most of all I'd just talk to him about it. Maybe show him what it means to earn money and what it is to spend it and be a good steward. My son never gave us any grief about it but he goes to a rich school and I could see it in the back of his mind sometimes. That all changed when he got a summer job and I made him spend his own money on discretionary items. Boy he learned what was important enough to spend money on and what was not real quick.

[kd350]

Another vote to take everything away. Driving him around poor parts of town don't hurt either

[Pedernal]

Take him and show him what poor is...

^^^This^^^

? For the OP, did he just start making this type of comments? At his age he migh be getting a lot of ridicule from some of his classmates... Great time to start teaching him about financial matters and the difference between needs and wants.

[Felix40]

Does he go to private school?

[flatlander]

I've driven my family around really poor neighborhoods around my office when we go to lunch and my kids see what they have. I'm not sure the comprehend but they've seen it

I've been to Haiti and can say that there are very few poor people in the US

[Strummer]

When I did that as a kid my parents took me to across the border so show us how good we really had it .

[Slow&Steady]

Time to sit him down and show him the reality of family finances. A little time spent looking at the family accounts and adding up what it costs just to live these days would be eye opening and educational for him. If you want to get creative with it, you could also get him hooked up with an odd job now and again and give him the opportunity to earn some money and see how quickly it finds it's way out of his pockets.

My 8 year old daughter made a similar comment a while back. We live in a middle class neighborhood in a suburb of the metroplex. Her mother is a teacher and I work for a big 4 accounting firm. Our household income is sufficient that I take a beating from Uncle Sam every year, so we are certainly not poor. I sat her down and talked her through the books, then drove her through parts of Garland and Mesquite to show her what poverty looks like. I even offered to let her out near some homeless junkies so she could make some new friends. She hasn't commented since.

[Sparkles]

Son thinks we're poor-need advice

I like the idea of driving him around and showing him what poor is.




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