• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Millennial Boss

Follow Julie on Social:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • About
  • Binge
  • Courses
  • Save Money
    • How to Save $26,000 in 7 Months
    • Paying Off Student Loans
    • DIY Wedding Flowers
  • Start a Business
    • Sell on Etsy
    • 101+ Easy Ways to Make Money Working From Home
    • Start A Lash Business
    • Start A Candle Business
    • Start a Lip Gloss Business
    • Start a Lifestyle Blog
  • Sell on Etsy
    • Etsy Shop Ideas for 2022
    • How I Made my first $1000 on Etsy
    • Create Printables to Sell Online
    • eRank Review
    • Sell Wall Art
    • Etsy SEO Tips
  • Printables
    • Free Heart Templates
    • Hot Chocolate Bomb Tags
    • Selling Etsy Printables
    • Gingerbread Man Templates
    • Butterfly coloring pages
    • Unicorn coloring pages
    • Best Digital Planners on Etsy
  • Contact

What 90s Movies From My Childhood Taught Me About Money

Last updated on September 5, 2018 By Millennial Boss 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you purchase through my links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

My friend Emily made $375,000 on Etsy in her first 2 years selling digital products. She's a new coach in the E-Printables online course teaching you how to get started with this side hustle too. She's a mom of two kids and does this part-time. Join us?

My friend Emily made $375,000 on Etsy in her first 2 years selling digital products. She's a new coach in the E-Printables online course teaching you how to get started with this side hustle too. She's a mom of two kids and does this part-time. Join us?

I streamed Blank Check on Netflix the other day.

You remember Blank Check?

The movie from the 90s where a kid accidentally receives a blank check from a bad guy and goes on a wild spending spree.

He hires a chauffeur, buys a mcMansion next door to his parent’s house, and ultimately blows through a million dollars in a few days.

In the end, he realizes that family is what’s important and he goes back to his parent’s house to be a normal kid again.

Well, sort of.

He actually runs out of money, realizes that the 30 year-old he’s trying to date is just not interested, and then the police show up and break up the massive party he’s throwing, sending him running home.

If you want to jog your memory, here is the Thrillist version of what happened in Blank Check –  I Watched Blank Check And My Childhood Is Ruined.

blank-check

The lesson that 90s me learned from this movie was…

I actually have no idea what I took away from Blank Check in the 90s.  Maybe just that being a millionaire looks like a blast.

It looked like one of those Toys R Us contests I always wanted to win.

You know, the ones where the kids get five minutes to run through the Toys R Us store and stuff whatever they can fit into their carts.

#90sKidGoals right there

I’m pretty sure they only got to keep the toys if they made it to the checkout line in five minutes.

Although if that was true, no kid in America would have actually won the contest.

Well played, Toys R Us!

 

That takes me to another 90s kid classic, Richie Rich.

You know, the movie in which Macaulay Culkin is well, rich.

I don’t remember anything about that movie beyond the fact that it looked really fun to have a mansion and a big pool.

Some googling tells me that Richie Rich also had a McDonalds AND a rollercoaster in his house. Epic!

 

What Do You Think Happens When A Generation Wants to Grow Up To Be Richie Rich?

People harp on millennials being awful but these were the movies we were watching in our childhood.

Instead of learning how to deal with being the middle child from Jan Brady, we were watching rich kids go wild.

Fast forward a few years and we were watching shows like MTV Cribs and Pimp My Ride.

We didn’t have the best examples growing up, so give us a break!

 

We’re All Fascinated With Rich People

It’s not just us millennials though.

America in general is fascinated with rich people.

New York Times – Why Do We Like to Watch Rich People on TV And in the Movies?

Time.com – Have We Become Too Obsessed With the Rich?

Bloomberg – Why Are We So Obsessed With Everyone Else’s Wealth?

The last article from Bloomberg actually suggests that we should make a fantasy football league for billionaires because people are so obsessed.

Interesting, but I’ll pass.

I’m already in one for The Bachelorette! 😉

Seriously though, we’re all very interested in other people’s money.

I know I like reading personal finance blogs that reveal very personal financial information.

Rockstar Finance Net Worth Tracker, anyone?

I’m guilty of sorting by net worth and looking at the million dollar bloggers. Have you? Caught you!

 

How Do We Reverse the Culture for the Next Batch of Kids?

It’s too late for Gen Z.

It’s just not going to happen for them. We’ve all seen it. 😉

What about the generation coming up behind them though and the generation after that?

What if we idolized and made kids movies about people like Mr. Money Mustache and not Richie Rich?

Could we make frugality cool?

Although, is that kind of like dressing up broccoli in a McDonald’s bag?

Or like when my Mom would put tomato sauce on meatloaf and call it “pizza meatloaf?”

C’mon, Mom. I know what you’re trying to do!

Can we make things that are good for you ‘cool enough’ that kids will want to adopt them?

 

We Could Scare The Crap Out of Them

I don’t know about you but those 90s anti-smoking commercials were terrifying. 

When I was really young, I didn’t understand the concept of aging and thought that the woman just turned old when she had one puff of a cigarette.

When I was a little older, I could only picture my grandmother with a hole in her neck. FRIGHTENING.

Those commercials were effective for me.

Instead of showing the heroes, maybe we need to show kids images of people who have been wrecked by poor financial decision-making.

Scare the consumerism right out of them!

Although, something doesn’t seem right about that, either.

 

Maybe Times Are Changing On Their Own

If you saw 21 Jump Street, you would see that high school nowadays is pictured a bit differently than it used to be.

It’s now cool to care about the environment among other things previously seen as uncool.

I LOVE THAT.

It’s also cool to be geeky and to label yourself a geek!

YESS!

(Although, the geeks are getting mad about that. If you want to get fired up about an article, read this one about the “Fake Geek Girls.” Apparently, being a true geek is an exclusive club in 2017. Who would have guessed?!).

 

What do you think?

How do you instill good financial values in kids?

Do we have to make it “cool” in some way? Scare them? Let it be?

 

The Surprising Money Lessons I Learned from the 90's Movies of my childhood!

 

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Follow J
Millennial Boss
Julie paid off nearly $100k of debt and is on her way to financial independence. She is the creator of the Make Money with Printables side hustle course where she teaches people how to sell printables on Etsy and blog as a side hustle.
Follow J
Latest posts by Millennial Boss (see all)
  • How to Make a Backyard Movie Theater with a projector screen - September 19, 2020
  • HONEST Passive Income Planner Girl by Michelle Rohr course review - May 25, 2020
  • 35 Pink Aesthetic Wallpapers with Quotes and Collages - May 20, 2020
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Money

About Millennial Boss

Julie paid off nearly $100k of debt and is on her way to financial independence. She is the creator of the Make Money with Printables side hustle course where she teaches people how to sell printables on Etsy and blog as a side hustle.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mrs. Adventure Rich says

    June 16, 2017 at 11:01 am

    This was a little walk down memory lane for me… you reminded me of so many movies/shows! I never made the connection between all of the “get rich” movies of our childhood that led to the “MTV Cribs”/”Pimp my Ride” shows. We were really bombarded with a consumeristic culture!

    I hope I can teach (and exemplify) frugality to my son over the next few years. Growing up, my parents limited TV time quite strictly and rarely took us to the local mall (I was never the kid who “hung out” at the mall in the 90s!). I never realized it until later, but the side effect was that I was less exposed to the commercials and advertising targeting children and teens that encouraged a “I want more!” mentality.

    With a shift away from cable TV and towards streaming options (sans commercials in many cases) and online shopping vs store browsing, I see fewer and fewer commercials and ads. Yes, there are plenty of ads online and many shows on Netflix glorifying the rich life, but I find it easier to ignore. Maybe that will play a role in our next generation’s spending habits 🙂

    Reply
  2. Frugal Millennial says

    June 17, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    I wish frugality would be shown more in movies/on TV. What I find interesting is that on TV, things are (usually) what they seem. If someone is broke, they drive a crappy car, live in a small house, etc. and if they’re well off they have tons of nice stuff. In real life, broke people often don’t seem broke because they’re financing their stuff with debt…and many people who drive old cars, etc. are frugal, not broke. I wish this would be shown more often on TV.

    Reply
  3. Colin @ rebelwithaplan says

    June 20, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    Wow, Blank Check is on Netflix? I need to go and rewatch it! I don’t know if you watch the Netflix show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, but in an episode of season 3, Kimmy goes to university. All of the students there are really “woke” and care about money, social class and more. It was really funny, haha.

    I do wish frugality and showing the effects of poor money management were more represented, but I guess that doesn’t make for exciting TV :/

    Reply
  4. Mr. TYMP says

    June 26, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    1. MMM as an idol, hah! not sure who would play the starring role as ‘Pete the money savvy Canadian’…. maybe this macho Bollywood star, Ranveer Singh: http://in.askmen.com/style-grooming/1111156/topten/how-to-sport-a-moustache-like-ranveer-singh

    2. meatloaf is delicious

    3. fear is a great tool, I fully plan to use it to convince my [toddler] son to never take out a loan, maybe make a super B horror film: ‘The Nightmare on Wall Street’.

    3.1. seriously though, you’re right; we do need to impress upon the ‘youths’ the importance of dumping consumerism and excess

    4. pimp my ride was ok, I was always on team Overhaulin’, much more sensible – but still ridiculous – car modifications

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About Millennial Boss

Julie paid off nearly $100k of debt and is on her way to financial independence. She is the creator of the Make Money with Printables side hustle course where she teaches people how to sell printables on Etsy and blog as a side hustle. Learn more..

Footer

Please note that Millennial Boss has financial relationships with certain merchants mentioned. Affiliate links may be used and commission earned in this post. While all attempts are made to present correct information, it may not be appropriate for your specific circumstances and information may become outdated. Copyright © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

About Millennial Boss

Millennial Boss is a lifestyle and personal finance blog created by Julie, who paid off six figures of student loan debt and is now on the path to financial independence and early retirement through side hustles. She lives in Seattle and teaches others how to start blogging and sell printables on Etsy.
Learn more here.

About Millennial Boss
How to Pay Off Debt
Save More Money Faster
Start a Blog that Makes Money
Sell Printables on Etsy
Disclaimer & Privacy Policy

Looking for something?

  • Selling Printables on Etsy
  • Disclaimer and Privacy Policy
  • Media
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · Wellness Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in