Even accounting classes teach kids how to add up the numbers and how to tell a debit from a credit, but fail to mention a thing about budgeting, calculating the overall cost of an item when interest is added on, and the high cost of over spending.

Instead, kids barely out of high school are offered credit cards and encouraged to spend and spend some more.

I think every elementary school should offer a course on budgeting geared to the age of the children. Then every Junior High School should do it again, and every High School should require at the very least a semester with a class called "Money Management."

Kids don't realize the importance of a balanced checkbook - so don't learn to keep track. Thus they're often stuck paying huge overdraft fees. I remember one young woman who came in to a store where I worked. Over 2 days she wrote 3 checks - the total of which came to just over $10. But they all bounced, costing her an additional $29 each - $87 dollars down the drain for lack of record keeping.

Those same kids fail to recognize the importance of paying credit card bills on time, and no one has ever told them that they should stay within 30% of their credit limit.

The result, many young people are going out into the world, trying to purchase homes or even rent apartments, and having a terrible time of it. Their credit scores are in the basement, and many of them don't even understand why.

One young man, upon being told that he couldn't rent a house because his credit was shot, said "But I'm young. I have to have fun." He simply couldn't understand why the rental agent was discriminating against him.

Their schools - and their parents - failed to teach them that a good credit rating will make their lives much easier. Lenders will look favorably at them, offering lower interest rates, lower minimum payments, less paperwork, and more borrowing options.

If schools and parents taught the value of sacrificing just a little in the interest of saving and the value of a stellar financial reputation, young people would have a far easier time getting started in life.

But it's never too late to start. Check your credit score today, and if you find you've gotten off track, start today to build your financial reputation and your credit score.