What Can Isla Fisher, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, and Krysten Ritter Teach You About Financial Management?

On Sunday night I went and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic, a movie where Rebecca Bloomwood (played by Isla Fisher) takes us through her journey of being a binge-shopper to becoming a financial management guru.  While it’s probably not hard to see how this movie has a strong message about financial management from the trailer below, there were a few un-expected tips throughout the movie.

So what are these financial management tips?  Well the first one is pretty obvious – you need to be able to figure out the difference between things you need and things you want.  In the movie, Isla’s character is constantly plagued with having to decide whether she really needs those new Gucci shoes, or whether she needs to pay rent.  Unfortunately for her, she always picks high-fashion over the essentials like rent.  It’s not only important to understand this difference, but you also have to know how to get there – how much money can you spend on clothes each week, and how much money do you need to save for food and rent?

Lesson number 2 is that it’s never too early to start teaching your kids about financial management.  There is this one scene in the movie where Isla’s parents (John Goodman/Joan Cusack) are standing around with a book on how to teach your children financial management, asking themselves, is it too late?  Well, if they need help, it’s never too late, but at the same time, it’s never too early.  Parents, start a conversation with your kids today and tell them why they need to understand the difference between something they want and something they need, then teach them how to create a plan to meet their needs and desires.  Kids, ask your parents what a budget is, and how you make one, after all, you don’t want to end up 28 and broke, living in your mom’s basement.

Which brings us to our final lesson.  There is a scene in the movie where Isla’s character is trying to unfreeze her credit cards from a block of ice so she can go shopping – in order to curb her wild spending habits, she froze her credit cards.  This is a great example of the need for balance in life.  No matter what you do, whether you like to spend or save, you need to have a balance in life.  Learn to save your money, but at the same time, learn when it’s OK to spend it.

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