That comment came from my 16-year old son, Ryan, as we were driving home from his sports medicine appointment a few weeks ago.  Ryan is a runner.  And recently he’s been experiencing extreme lethargy after his races.  So, naturally, as a parent, I want to figure out what’s going on.

After confirming with his pediatrician, the cardiologist, and the sports medicine doctor that Ryan is healthier and in better physical condition than most kids his age, it was recommended that he talk with a sports nutritionist.  That’s when he was asked to keep track of what he was eating.

Makes sense to me.  So I was surprised when he made the comment on the car ride home.

“Is keeping a record of everything you eat that much of a hassle?” I asked him.

“It’s not that,” he said.  “It’s just too much information.  I don’t want to know everything I eat.  Sometimes I eat my friends’ potato chips at lunch.  It’s not exactly healthy.”

It occurred to me that ignorance is bliss.  But ignorance often has a way of catching up with you.

“Why do you suppose she asked you to keep track of what you’re eating?” I asked.

“Because that’s the only way I’m going to know if I need to make changes.  And, yes, mom.  I am willing to keep track of what I eat if it means I’ll be able to run a stronger race.”  I could feel his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

“Hey,” I practically yelled, hoping to startle him for the eye-rolling.  “That’s the same reason why we need to keep track of our income and expenses, so we can know if we need to make changes.”

No doubt about the eye-rolling this time.

But this brings up an important point.  If Ryan’s goal is optimal race performance then the more information he has, the better chance he has of getting there.  As much of a hassle as it can be to write everything down.

It’s the same with money management.  If we want our money to perform optimally for us, the first step is to figure out what’s currently happening to it.   That means keeping track.  And even though kids don’t spend a whole lot of money, you’d be surprised at how little tracking it takes before patterns in spending behavior appear.

For example, discovering that the $5 he spent each week on Pokemon cards translated to $260/year was a real eye-opener for Ryan, who was 7 years old at the time.  He became even more impressed after we showed him how that money could grow into even more money if he invested part of it.  Knowledge is power.

As we were leaving the sports nutritionist’s office, she left us with this:  What Ryan eats the day before a race or on race day doesn’t make that much of a difference.  What’s important to his overall conditioning and performance is how he eats every day.

And isn’t it the same with money?  It’s our daily choices with money that impact our overall financial health.  If we can begin to teach our kids to pay attention to what they do with their money, assuming they get money on a regular basis accompanied with a set of expectations, we’ll be setting them up for a healthier financial future.