Take a Look at Your Financial Resource Family Tree

Families can be wonderful sources of support, especially financial support, and for as much money as they can sap from you at times, they can also help you save money as well. I'm not necessarily talking about moving in with your parents or what family members buy for you in the way of gifts, but rather certain skills, abilities or knowledge that they can impart to you or the things they can offer other than direct financial support.

As with most families, there is usually a particular member who is great at math, or who is a wiz at science, or who knows the family history in detail. Well, often the same goes for family and finances. While no member might be perfect when it comes to personal finances or frugal living, as a whole, a family unit might be able to rely upon its various parts to create a strong financial core.

Here are the things that my own family is good at or helpful with when it comes to personal finances and how they have helped save me thousands of dollars in the process throughout the years.

Mothers

A mother who knows her stuff could be one of your best money-saving resources in the family tree. From food and shopping, to clothing to creative solutions to home repairs, my mother does it all. She grows much of her own food, fixes many issues around the house on her own, sews, weaves, finds great bargains at resale shops, makes money through her artistic endeavors, and best of all, as an educator by profession, passes much of this money saving information along to me.

Spouses

Spouses can also be huge factors in one's money saving endeavors. As they say, "opposites attract," and it's certainly no different with my marriage. While I am the money saving and financial leader in our small clan, my wife certainly does her share. My planning, saving and organizing skills lead the way for our personal finances, while my wife handles the majority of the healthcare issues (certainly not my area of expertise). With healthcare a growing part of many family's financial lives, this is a great benefit of having her around.

The In-laws

In all honesty and with due respect, my in-laws are wonderful people, but not ones from whom the rest of the family should be gleaning valuable financial and especially saving advice. The great thing about in-laws however, is that they can often provide a more unbiased opinion regarding certain financial matters.

While a parent might not tell you exactly how it is, you may be more likely able to count upon an in-law to do so without holding back as much -- at least that's my experience.

Grandparents

While there may be a significant generational gap between grandparents and younger family members, this doesn't mean that they don't have valuable financial input to contribute to the family. This gap may provide a completely different -- and sometimes needed -- prospective to family financial discussions. And it's important to bear in mind that age often equates to wisdom and experience that younger generations may have yet to achieve.

Your Own Abilities

Family resources can only do so much in the contribution to your personal financial skills and abilities, and letting them handle all your financial issues for you can have dire consequences. At some point, you will more than likely have to venture out from under the protective family wings and be able to count upon your own financial knowledge.

As a member of a younger generation though, you may be able to make valuable contributions toward the furthering of the family finances and help to guide them to and through technological advancements and newer forms of investments and investing.

As a Whole

You may find that within a family, each individual may have their own particular and hopefully valuable financial contribution to make. However, to find out what that contribution is, you must often open the lines of communication, which could be the most difficult aspect of sharing financial knowledge within a family.

It might only take one person -- which could be you (as it was in my family) -- to open a dialogue and begin discussing and sharing financial ideas and knowledge. And you could be surprised what comes from such exchanges of information. You might end up transforming the whole family into a more well-rounded and financially stronger unit.

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Disclaimer:

The author is not a licensed financial professional. The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. For financial advice, readers should consult a licensed financial advisor. Any action taken by the reader due to the information provided in this article is solely at the reader's discretion.