Every parent wants their children to grow up and be successful. Let's face it though, we don't all have a clear understanding of what success really looks like. In our busy lives, we as parents sometimes forget to educate our children about the things that they'll need to use as foundational skills such as cooking, home maintenance, and creating budgets.
During the past week my teenage daughter told me that her car's check engine light came on. We had changed the spark plugs a few weeks earlier for the same reason and identified a potential problem, and I knew it was time to get dirty and fix the issue. I knew I could have done the work myself, but how would that be equipping my daughter for issues like this in the future?
According to thestreet.com, vehicle owners can save thousands of dollars per year by doing their own maintenance. This number can go up significantly when the same vehicle owners build their skillset and can perform more advanced repairs on their own.
When I helped my daughter buy her first car I told her that the condition to me helping was that she would do her own repairs. She has since learned to check all of her fluid levels, change the oil, repair a dented bumper, clean the battery terminals, and change her spark plugs. This weekend we had to replace the valve cover gaskets which is a job I've never done before myself.
Had we taken her car to a shop to have this repair done it could have been as much as $340, and because the car is older and hasn't been well-maintained before we bought it, they likely would have found more things that needed to be repaired along the way (yes, we found some of those too). However, because I had her do the job herself, the total cost of this repair was $30 and about 3 hours of our time. We could have gone a little faster, but I used the open engine as an opportunity to teach her what some of the other parts are, why oil is important in that section of the engine, and how combustion engines work.
We saved 90% of the repair cost by doing it ourselves!
By teaching my daughter how to do her own repairs, I'm helping to remove some of the stress that she'll have during her early adulthood before she has a well-established career. Not only will she understand how to save money, but she is also gaining confidence and the pride of ownership in her vehicle which will also help to make her a more responsible driver.
Parents, take the time to teach your kids life-skills that will save them money. If you don't know these things yourself, it's never to late to learn, and it can be something you can do together.
Teach them to cook healthy foods at home rather than dining out
Basic auto maintenance and repairs
Household maintenance (unclogging drains, replacing lightbulbs and switch covers, patching holes in walls, painting, etc.)
Creating a balanced household budget (T. Harv Eker has a Great Model for this in his book, "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind")
Imagine how successful your children will be when they enter their adult lives with these skills. They'll have pride, save money, and be free to focus on more important aspects of their lives so they can launch themselves toward Success!
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