Paper Money
Shopping Alarms About Kids & Money: A Grocery Store Lesson
However, when her pre-school son watched the exchange of plastic for food and cash, a siren sounded. “Mommy,” he shouted. “You won a prize.” Alarmed, Yael decided it was time to teach him more about money.
Nationwide, other parents are finding gaps in their children’s financial education. For instance, according to a recent T. Rowe Price survey, nearly 60 percent of parents feel as if they should be doing more to school their children about finances. Here are a few lesson plans:
Child labor and allowances: My school-age children get a boost when they earn money from household chores, baby-sitting or lemonade stands, and it’s not just about the cash. Earning and managing a few dollars improves their common sense and self-esteem. Such lessons can begin with toddlers, with small chores and rewards.
Shopping trips: Going to the grocery store with children typically leads to higher food bills. But the short-term detour around sugar cereals and other treats can create long-lasting “teachable moments” about unit-pricing, marketing gimmicks and nutrition.
New age tools: The Internet has a wealth of finance games for kids. My daughter, for example, has spent hours at http://www.webkinz.com/ and http://www.neopets.com/, which offer imaginary financial systems in which children earn salaries, build homes and make virtual purchases. The money is not real, but the lessons are valuable. Other sites include: http://www.thegreatpiggybankadventure.com/ and www.ustreas.gov/kids/ (from the Treasury Department).
Old school tools: A game of Monopoly can last for hours with lessons about saving, spending and investing. Over that board game, my kids have become savvy about the value of budgets and delayed gratification. It’s not just about paper money or color-coded blocks of real estate.
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Weekly Roundup: Bad Car Luck Edition
If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I am nearly finished paying off our family vehicle. As luck would have it, my old van died again today in the work parking lot, so it looks like my final push toward car loan freedom may be in jeopardy.
Of course, I’m also nearing the point where I wonder how many more usable months the old van has in it. At twenty years old, some of the parts are beginning to look pretty bad and there are parts of the exterior are nearly rusted through.
This presents a dilemma - without a fully funded “car fund” I can’t buy anything else with cash. On the other hand, as repairs become more frequent, I’m paying nearly enough for a new (used) vehicle in accumulated repairs. My mind is made up though; I refuse to borrow money for another car. So it looks like I’ll either be repairing the van again, hitching a ride, or commuting by bicycle.
The Fab Five
Amish Finances. I’ve always been intrigued by the Amish culture, particularly their frugality. This is a great piece from someone with first-hand experience living and working closely by the Amish community in Lancaster County, PA. (@Houston Chronicle)
Best Places to Retire Cheap. I am not a world traveler. In fact, I’ve only been out of the country once, and that was to Canada. Though I don’t personally aspire to see the world (I’d still like to explore my own backyard), I recognize that there are some incredibly beautiful places to live on the cheap (in US dollars). (@The Digerati Life)
Create a Financial Mission Statement to Stay Focused. It’s funny; we often suggest people create a written list of goals to accomplish a given task, but how many of us think to put our financial mission down on paper? (@Money Relationship)
Don’t Wait for Things to Get Back to Normal Because Normal May Never Return. People will argue the future success of the markets, and the broader economy, but I like the overall tone of this post. Don’t sit around for things to “get back to normal” to get on with your life - get on with it now! (@Generation X Finance)
Is There A Downside to Gazelle Intensity? Short answer, yes. I think there is a downside with to being too intense chasing any goal. It often involves sacrificing a natural balance in your life required for some level of happiness. I tend to get really gazelle intense when within striking distance of paying off a debt (i.e. our car payment), and then back off a bit while continuing to move steadily towards my goal. (@Being Frugal)
Best of the Rest
- Credit Card Tips for College Graduates
- Save Money with Yard Sales
- Debt free
- Readers Share Lending Club Returns
- A Brief History of General Motors
- 8 Ways to Keep Your Kids Busy this Summer Without Going Broke
Site of the Week
Ten Practical Uses for Your Credit Card. This was an amusing post over at Scavenging, a site I recently discovered. I’ve heard there is a new card out that is supposedly safe for landfills, which sounds like a pretty good place for them.
Post from: Frugal Dad
Get many copies of the Sunday paper this Weekend!
This coming weekend will be one of those weeks where you will want to buy additional copies of the Sunday paper and your money will be very spent. There will be (5) different coupon inserts, (3) Smartsource inserts and (2) Red Plum (Valassis) inserts. Just by buying an additional one or two copies of the papers you will be adding hundreds of coupons to your collection.
To see a complete listing of all the coupons that will be in this weekend’s paper, visit Taylortown Preview.
