THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY

HOW BUSYKID HELPED BREAK THE CYCLE

I once bought a car for a “rapper” I was dating, after he told me he was making a song with Snoop Dog and would “pay me back as soon as it dropped.” I know this is going to be shocking, but the song never happened (and the relationship didn’t last).

So there I was, a sophomore in college, stuck with a $322 monthly car payment and no way to pay it off. I mean, I couldn’t tell my parents; I was busy proving them wrong in all the pertinent categories, including how I was mature enough to make my own financial decisions. So I resorted to the only option that seemed to make sense: I ignored it.

Needless to say, I’ve made some bad financial decisions in my life. (And that wasn’t the only one… I’ve got stories).

However, at some point, one must put on her big girl pants and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I think we’d all agree that adulting is hard, but ignoring it is even harder, because your debt always finds you. It doesn’t discriminate and at some point, we’re confronted with the dead end that is: PAY OFF OR BUST.

Now, as a 30-something­ year­ old mother of two, I’m proud to say that I’ve made leaps and bounds when it comes to my financial literacy! What helped me crack the code?

There’s an app for that.

I was first introduced to BusyKid when an associate suggested I use it to help my kids do their chores. (Kids doing chores? Ummm… sign me up!) Like most lessons I teach my children, when I downloaded BusyKid I ended up teaching myself a thing or two.

See, the app is all about showing your little ones how to spend, share, save and invest responsibly. You do it by selecting chores that need to be done, paying them allowance when they’re completed, and then giving them the opportunity to manage their money earned through a fun and easy­ to­ navigate app! It’s financial literacy through the lense of modern day technology.

Navigating this app with my toddlers and seeing the value of the education helped my snap out of my lukewarm, spend whenever, “what budget?” mentality.

Sure I’m tempted to be embarrassed by the fact that it took me 30­-something years to learn these lessons (from an app), but I’m proud of myself. Let’s face facts, the average American household has at least $135,000 of debt (according to NerdWallet’s latest analysis https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/average­credit­card­debt­household/). Don’t let the Range Rover fool you, people are desperately faking the funk in order to keep up with the Joneses. But here’s the thing, the Joneses don’t care if you go into debt!

If you don’t stop the cycle of financial indifference, no one else will. Okay, I think I’ve said my piece.

Oh wait, the car situation for the rapper boyfriend allegedly doing the song with Snoop! Well, he wouldn’t give me the car back so I had it towed from his house in the middle of the night. Maybe I should send him the BusyKid app…

Kristin is a mom, television personality and host of “Too Much Mom” a recently­ launched vlog. Having dreamed of being a news anchor since elementary school, Kristin got her big break in 2005 when she was given a shot at NBC in Yuma, Arizona. She never looked back and has since hosted shows on The CW, Fox and the Hallmark Channel, eventually landing in Los Angeles. Ironically, as Kristin grew in front of the camera as a professional storyteller, becoming a mother (times 2) would prove to be her biggest source of inspiration yet! The rigors of parenting continue to provide plenty of material as Kristin shares her experiences through her writing. You can follow Kristin’s journey on social media @KristinSmithTV