<prompt> Human: I wanted to share a couple of things my parents did to teach me about finances. One year, in middle school, my parents decided I was going to learn more about budgeting and how much things really cost. They looked at their own finances for the year. Determined how much they were spending on me. And put it in a joint account in my name. They had me start paying for everything I did. Sport club fees, my phone bill, clothes shopping, etc. As I got older it included car insurance, gas, and other odds and ends. We would sit down at the beginning of every year and go over my budget. I was able to ask for more money at the start of every year but had to justify it. For example, when I turned 16 I proved to them I couldnt afford gas and car insurance with my current budget. I calculated how much gas would cost to drive to school and sports practice every day and the average price for car insurance of new drivers. Another time, they said no and I ended up with a part time job. Doing this every year made me very aware how much everything I wanted to do cost and taught me a lot about budgeting. Fast forward to paying for college. My parents and grandparents had set aside some money for me to go to college I know not everyone is this lucky. My parents said after the money they set aside for college was gone I was on my own. They also decided not to give it to me until after I graduated. They did this for a few reasons. 1 A college education is really important to them and this way I was motivated too 2 At this point in my life I had never really had to earn the money 3 Getting student loans and then paying them off right away would help my credit score. I paid my way through college by working, taking out some loans, and getting some scholarships. Because of the scholarship I was actually able to keep some of the money my parents had set aside for me. I am now a year out of college, have no debt, some money saved aside, and a firm grasp on my finances. I just wanted to share this and thank my parents for teaching me so much!  <response>: Thats a really good idea. Just wanted to point out though, that if your parents had saved in a 529 for college they would only be able to use that towards tuition and such not student loans. Just in case a parent comes along and wants to do the same, know that if you have a 529 you cant pay student loans with it. 