Baby boy started fussing a little, hungry for his dinner. I looked at him, smiled, and started asking him if he was hungry.

Asking him while singing in an opera voice.

I didn’t even realize I was doing it until about the fourth time singing, ‘AaaaaaAAAaaAAaaare you HuuuuUUUUuuuungry BoyyyyYYYYyyyYYY?’

I don’t sing opera. Um. Hubby would like to say I can’t sing at all. And before baby Cash was born, you wouldn’t catch me singing…ever. But here I was, standing in my living room, singing in an opera voice to my son.

And then I choked.

I have turned into my mother.

My whole life, my mother sang in an opera voice to children. I don’t think she’s capable of speaking to them, only singing. And I realized, I’ve picked up a lot of traits from my mother. That got me thinking, what traits will I pass to my children? I want them to be good, kind hearted, giving, etc. But what will they find themselves doing that says ‘I’ve turned into my mother!’? What stands out about me?

Will it be my goodness? My kindness? My giving?

Ha.

I have a feeling Cash will be standing in the snack aisle screaming ‘I WILL NOT buy you!!’ to the Lays potato chips when he’s thirty.

I’ve got to start being the person I want my son to become.

I may never shake the singing thing… but maybe that’s not a bad thing. It reminds me that tiny little eyes are watching.

Our mortgage is more than 50% of our income.

My husband and I make nearly the same salary. The math is pretty easy on that one.

Would I stay home if we lived in an apartment? Unlikely. We wouldn’t have daycare expenses, but we’d have to squeeze out rent and healthcare from our current budget and it’s tight as is.

Once we finish paying off debt, we’re looking at two options: 1 – Hubby finds better employment or 2 – We move out of state.

Being debt free has always been so far in the future, we never had to think too seriously on either front. Now that we’re two months away, we are starting to consider both options. Once we save up our 3 – 6 months of expenses, we’ll make the leap.

My sister and sister-in-law have been AWESOME at supplying clothing for baby Cash. My sister shopped garage sales in Kansas and brought two suitcases full of clothing. My sister-in-law has been passing over the clothing from her little boy as he outgrows it. I have purchased precisely ONE top since his birth and it wasn’t out of necessity, it was simply a cute top that said ‘Take Me To My Mummy’ for Halloween.

The recent cold spell illuminated the holes on our kidlet’s wardrobe. The poor little dude, while loaded with adorable t-shirts, pants, and jackets, has no long sleeved shirts. We were ill prepared for our weekend at the coast and needed to grab some long sleeve onesies for the trip. I asked hubby to ‘run by Target for some cheap clothes’ thinking surely, it wouldn’t cost more than $20 for a dozen or so warm tops.

Clearly, I have never purchased kids clothing before. Eek.

$60 later, he had the long sleeved tops he needed, and our clothing budget was robbed for the year.

Needless to say, I plan on hitting up some garage sales in the future and being very, VERY nice to my sister and sister-in-law while begging for hand-me-downs.

Yup. Totally planned to start jogging on my treadmill while the baby slept.

I was hilariously ignorant.

It’s true. I can’t begin to express how tired I am. People visit. I stare. I smile. But I’m not here.

Fortunately, the kiddo keeps me home bound but even then, my finances take a hit. It’s amazing how much damage you can do to your checkbook from your sofa. Suddenly, I don’t care how much 20 more channels are on cable tv. I don’t care how much it costs for drive through dinners. I don’t care how much that nursing item is on Amazon. As long as it makes my life easier. I just don’t care.

I’m hoping this level of fatigue only lasts a few more weeks (ha ha right?), because my finances aren’t ready for the war I’m in.

Registering was no romantic or joyful occasion. We didn’t dance around the store choosing dishware. It was more of a, ‘No honey, you can’t put a lava lamp or camping gear on the list. Necessities ONLY’ shouted to my poor husband to be.

My sister-in-laws are throwing me a baby shower and asked if I had created a registry yet. A feeling of dread filled my brain. Fortunately, I’m trying to get better at the whole, ‘my friends are the sweetest people, would like to buy gifts, and I better keep my self-righteous mouth shut… plus… I REALLY need help’, so I smiled and said I’d get to it.

My husband, remembering the last registry experience, wasn’t too excited to wander Babies R Us wielding a scanner with me. But, as with most registries, the store is willing to give us 10% off anything we don’t receive as a gift so at the thought of saving money on the horizon, I promised to behave.

We arrived at the store, registered our information, and started the trek. We hardly made it into the bottle section before realizing we had made a HUGE newbie mistake…

Neither one of us have any idea what a baby needs.

Sure, Babies R Us provides a list of a million items ‘babies can’t live without’, but common sense tells me the list is slightly exaggerated. Problem? I don’t know which items I don’t need and I’m not about to waste money – mine or someone else’s – on junk.

Two hours and 5 phone calls to my mother, my sister, and my sister-in-law later, we emerged with a concise list of necessary items. Sure there were a few statements I made a bit too loudly like, ‘No honey. I’m NOT putting a teething ring on there. The kid won’t get teeth for like 18 months. Oh. Um. 12? Wait. When do kids get teeth?!?’ To which my husband responded with a firm grip to my hand dragging me to another section while laughing loudly as if I had made a joke, then he’d say through gritted teeth, ‘Don’t EMBARRASS me!’ By the end, I think he was truly terrified Child Protective Services was going to jump out from behind the crib section like undercover CIA agents ready to arrest us for parental stupidity before our child is even born.

Thankfully, CPS didn’t arrest us, the list is done, and no… there isn’t a lava lamp on there. Though, my husband did manage to sneak a Dr. Seuss book on when I wasn’t looking.

Whew!

I loaded my nephew into the back of my car and about 15 minutes into our traffic jammed commute, he started crying. 15 minutes after that, he was sobbing. Sure I understand. Grandma is in the hospital, mom is busy, it’s scary, and he’s tired but…

I have absolutely no idea what to do with a crying kid.

You’d think I’d be experienced at this since I’ve got 11 nieces and nephews, but crying in traffic? No clue.

I gave him my iPod which kept him entertained for 10 minutes, until the battery died. After that, more crying.

We sat in traffic for another 40 minutes until my gas light blinked on. “I’m sorry buddy. I’ve got to stop for gas. We’ll be home soon OK?”

Silence.

Long drawn out sniffle.

“Can I get candy in the gas store?” he whispered.

“Sure buddy. Anything you want.”

“Can I get TWO candies?” he asked, the tears drying in his excitement.

“Possibly cause diabetes? Contribute to childhood obesity? Sure. Why not?” I replied.

“How about a large soda too?” he asked.

I was willing to buy part ownership in Shell gas station if that’s what it took to make him stop crying.

He picked out the two largest bags of candy, filled up a soda cup the size of his head, and off we went to sit in traffic again. There wasn’t a single tear the rest of the way home and I got a huge ‘Thanks Auntie Beks!!’ with a hug before he left (I didn’t mention the sugar overload to my sister – I value my life far too much).

I can say no to myself all day long but to kids? I’m putty. If this experience is any indication of my future financial and health dealings with my own children… I’m dead.

Zac stands by state colleges instead of private colleges and supports the financial decisions of students who attend community college for their freshman and sophomore years as a way to save loads of cash.

I graduated from a private college and I loved it… but sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I hadn’t paid $26K a year. My degree would be the same… but I wouldn’t be carrying student loans.

Thanks to some awesome scholarship opportunities and grants, I graduated with ‘only’ $15K in debt. My friends did not fair nearly as well. Most have more than $100K in student loans.

If you have a child in high school, buy his book and read his articles at: http://www.dailyfinance.com/writers/zac-bissonnette/

You’ll need the help.

You can thank me later.

Perfect.

She’s debt free other than her mortgage – and even then, she’s paying it aggressively. I’d love to tell you that her husband makes loads of money and that’s how she’s able to be a stay at home mom to four kids and remain debt free but…

He doesn’t.

My sister has found ways to live below her means and actively seeks new methods to spend less. She purchases clothing and toys for the kids at garage sales in nice neighborhoods then resells them when the kids outgrow them (sometimes, she actually MAKES money on this!), doesn’t waste money on cable TV or other ‘necessities’, drives an older yet reliable car, and she cooks fabulous inexpensive meals at home (my home cooked meals are inexpensive but they are far from fabulous).

She’s the annoyingly good at being frugal but not cheap.

Naturally, I spend this time around her basking in her infinite financial wisdom, asking questions, and learning from her example…

…and I am also the queen of England.

Sorry folks, sibling rivalry is alive and well.

So, I do the second best thing, I make my mom ask the questions and I pretend not to listen.

My advice, befriend someone frugal – even if it is your sister. I find that I don’t learn as much from the books or the internet as I do from those who may not have it all figured out, but they do a pretty darn good job.

But that’s not the big part of the story.

I was listening to the radio last week and the announcer spoke of the success of the fundraiser to not only pay the travel expenses of the team… but for their families as well. In this economy, where everyone is scraping nickels and pennies, residents were able to pool together well over $100,000 to be a part of a life changing event for those young boys.

The city actually STOPPED accepting money because they had MORE than they needed.

Congratulations to the Chula Vista Little League team but more importantly…

Congratulations to those who made the dreams of those boys and their families come true.

So here’s an open note to my mother – and I’ll try my best not to sound like a Boyz to Men song.

Mom,

Thank you for teaching me that children don’t need money to be happy. You made sure I knew love from my family was worth far more than the cash so frequently doled out to my friends from their uninvolved parents. I had the happiest childhood (and heck, adulthood) a kid could ask for and it was never because you showered me with the finest things in life – you knew you couldn’t buy joy. You showed me love, compassion, kindness, and at times… the back of your hand when I deserved it.

Thank you for teaching me responsibility. You didn’t teach me how to get into a financial mess, but you taught me how to own up to my mistakes and pay for them no matter how much it hurts. And speaking of taking responsibility… um… yes, I was the one who left the candle burning and set the counter on fire 11 years ago. Sorry about that.

Thank you for your faith in me. When we went on that college campus tour and I saw the $26,000 a year price tag, I told you it was a nice dream but it would never happen. You looked at me like I was insane and spent the next few hours with the financial aid department. They told me I had to keep a nearly perfect GPA and you told me you knew I could do it… and I did… but only because you believed in me more than I believed in myself.

I wish every kid could have a mother like you. The world would be a great place.

I love you mom

Mike D. asked:

“Are teens today more aware of the economy, and more aware of how important saving vs. spending is, compared to 10, 20, etc. years ago. Is this trending in any way (more aware, less aware).”

Our nation’s current economic crisis clearly demonstrates the need for financial literacy for our children, hopefully through our schools. Junior Achievement is so committed to ensuring that the next generation grows up with a fundamental foundation of financial literacy that we have created free, downloadable classes aimed at children in grades 5-12 and created lessons for parents and kids to do together. These resources are available at www.ja.org.

Here is the second part to Mike’s question:

“What do they think this recession will mean for that generation. Will it be more like the generation that came out of the great depression where they are less wastefull and got everything they could out of an item before getting rid of it, saving more, and using less debt? Or will this generation continue a lifestyle similar to what is in the economy now where people consider credit cards a way of life?”

It is difficult to know the ultimate outcome that our current economic crisis will have on the younger generation. The survey that we recently conducted in partnership with The Allstate Foundation shows that teenagers are feeling anxious about the economy and the poor economic situation is having an impact on their daily lives. For example, nearly half (49 percent) said their parents had discussed family finances with them as a result of the economy and 12 percent are contributing financially to the family budget.

SmileyGirl asked:

“As teens growing up in today’s economy do you feel it benefits your personal growth to have to pay for part of your expenses (car insurance, gas, spending money, etc.) or should we as parents reward you more for saving your money. As a parent of a teen and two pre-teens, I struggle with the right balance of teaching my daughters to be responsible with their money by saving and at the same time showing them that life costs money and it is a priviledge to do things like drive, eat out, etc. I want them to realize that life is not a walk in the park where you can spend carelessly with no consequences but at the same time I don’t want them to feel so strapped financially that their years of youth are spent agonizing over money. Any advice?”

The way you choose to teach your children about money is very personal and often different for each family. What may work for one of your kids may not be as effective for the other. The most important thing you can give them at this age is a solid education and set an example through your own behavior (that is visible to your kids) in the basics of personal finance so that they can make responsible decisions as adults. If you yourself only talk the talk but don’t walk the “financial walk” it can be difficult for children to take your money management lessons seriously. If they’re not getting the financial education they need at school, take matters into your own hands. There are resources on ja.org that can help parents teach their children about money management.

Ken asked:

“What 2 or 3 basic things can I do to begin to teach my 2nd grader about money?”

Budgeting and money management can be abstract concepts for a 2nd grader. By this age, they are often very capable of identifying things that they want. Once they’ve identified a goal, be it a new toy, snack or a movie, work with them on a way that they can earn that item. Whether they have chores around the house, have extra good behavior or forgo other items they may want, help them understand the actual worth of the item they want.

Begin to exercise comparison shopping with your child as well. Next time at the market, give them a few items they’re in charge of buying, such as breakfast cereal, pasta sauce and juice with a set budget. See if they come within that budget, and then you can discuss comparing prices and when to splurge on a brand name and when a store brand can be just fine.

I also asked a few questions:

“The facts shared about teens and money concern me. Especially how some are stressed due to the economy. I can only imagine that stress can spread through an entire family(young children included) during rough financial times. How do you recommend dealing with rough times with children? They will notice that things are different than they once were.”

It’s important to begin teaching children financial literacy from an early age, as you’re never too young to begin learning how to manage your money effectively. That lesson is very different for a five year old versus a teenager versus an adult, but the vital action is opening that dialogue so that money doesn’t become a scary, taboo topic in your household.

“Do you have any suggestions for free learning material to print/download for children?”

Junior Achievement recently created new series of free, downloadable teaching tools to help parents talk to their children about smart money management called Junior Achievement $ave, USA. These lessons are divided out by age group and discuss topics such as budgeting, the importance of saving, understanding the cost of credit and how to use it, and planning how to pay for college. The lessons are sponsored by The Allstate Foundation and are crucial for children’s financial literacy education.

“If one was interested in volunteering with Junior Achievement and working in their local school, but there were no Junior Achievement offices nearby, what could they do?”

While a Junior Achievement office may not be located in your city, there are offices all over the country. By contacting the office nearest you, there should be local opportunities for you to participate in so that you can help make a difference in local children’s lives. To find the closest office near you, visit ja.org and click on the “JA Near You” button to find local volunteer opportunities.

I’d like to thank Junior Achievement for answering our questions!

Our son is a big example of that. Sometimes we forget that he is like a big sponge – soaking in our actions and words. I’ve been grabbing quotes from him here and there and I have few to share with all of you.

Here’s something he said to me while I was drinking some water.

“We don’t drink pop anymore. We are saving money and getting healthier.”

Here’s something he says when he finds something he wants in the Lego catalog.

“Ooooh, I can save up my money to buy that big set!”

Here’s something he says in the grocery store.

”Mom, how about getting this one instead? It’s on sale.”

Here’s something he says when an infomercial is on TV.

”You don’t get the free one for free. It’s a trick to get you to buy it.”

I’m proud of how far we have come with reducing our credit card debt. But I hear my son say these things and I am proud and so happy that we are becoming better financial role models for him. That should have been included in the list of motivators I wrote a long time ago. It is going to serve as motivation for us for years to come.

On a side note, I can’t help but wonder what financial wisdom our son is now sharing with his friends

First of all, I should let you know more about Junior Achievement. From their site:

JA Worldwide is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.

I realize now, more than ever, how important it is for children to learn life skills related to money. I try to fit in some personal finance tidbits when I can with our son and we are trying to be good financial role models. Sometimes it’s tough. With the economy the way it is right now, kids are feeling some of the stress.

Junior Achievement sent me some facts to share:

• 14 percent of U.S. teens 15-17 years-old report the need to contribute financially to the family budget.
• One-third of all teens report less job availability.
• 53 percent of teens surveyed say they’re choosing activities that cost less money.
• More than 50 percent say they talk about the economy with their friends.
• 18 percent of 15 -17 year olds polled said they have lost a job due the economy.
• Nearly three-in-ten teens (29 percent) said that the economy is causing them anxiety.
• More than three-quarters (77 percent) of the teens polled say that their parents are talking about the economy more than they used to.
• Nearly half (49 percent) said their parents had discussed family finances with them as a result of the economy.
• 15 percent of teens said they have reduced extracurricular activities as a result of the economy.

With that, I’d like to open up the floor to you for asking Junior Achievement any of your “kids & money” questions. Just leave your question as a comment below. I’ll keep the comments open until Tuesday (04-07-09) at 11:59pm and then I will send them over for them to answer. Depending on the response – they might not be able to answer them all.

I have a letter similar to that from my mom. It wasn’t related to finance but it was related to being a responsible adult. I still have that letter today, and every now and then I take it out and read it. It means a lot to me and you can bet that when my son is old enough he will get a similar letter from me.

A Letter to My College-Bound Daughter

Thank you Beverly for the tip and thank you mom for the letter you wrote me way back when

Chris sent me an interesting article that suggests that you let your kids make money mistakes. It’s definitely something to keep in mind as our son gets older:

A $5 or $50 misstep as a kid or teenager may prevent a $500 or $5,000 mistake as a college student or a young adult.

The key: you can’t bail the kid out. As difficult as it is for you, the child must live with the bad decision – even if it crimps other activities.

[Via Minianville.com]

Boy, it will be difficult to let our son make mistakes. I will want to intervene before they happen. But the article has a great point about letting kids learn from their mistakes when they are young – and the stakes aren’t so high.

Thanks Chris for the link!

Mr. Mailman didn’t disappoint me today. I finally received the payment I was owed from an advertiser. It was postmarked a week ago so it was definitely sent late. I haven’t received a reply to my emails, so I have no idea if they just sent it late or if they ended up sending a new check. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye out for next month.

With that check, we are definitely okay this month. While our spending freeze has been nice, I am pretty glad the money came in. Quite a few months ago, I told my son we would go see Pixar’s Wall-E (which opens tomorrow) in the movie theater as a special treat. He’s at that age where he 1.) Remembers everything we say and 2.) Really understands ads that state when a movie is opening. So deep down I was hoping our financial situation improved so we could partially lift our spending freeze so we could go see the movie. I’m not sure if we’ll see it this weekend, but at least I can set the money aside now.

I should have done that when I first told him we could go see it but I am still trying to adjust to the “setting money aside thing” for occasional treats like entertainment. If I was really on the ball, I should have set up a jar to place money in every week as we saved up to go see the movie (for the three of us, a matinee will cost $17). We tell him all the time at the store that he needs to save his money to get the toys that he wants. But seeing mom and dad actually saving money will have a lasting impression on him, I think.

We really need to be doing more to help our son learn the financial habits that we are learning as adults. I think that as a family we should determine our next “treat” and save up for it. I think it will be a nice and rewarding experience for all of us.

Kelsey Malecha is only 23-years old and she is going around to schools in her free time and teaching financial literacy to students. My reaction? I think what she is doing is absolutely awesome!

To top it off, she’s competing in the Miss Minnesota pageant (she’s the current Miss Midwest-Minnesota) and using financial literacy as her platform. What a great way to put the issue of teaching personal finance to students in the spotlight.

She can speak to the students from experience. She overcame poor spending habits in college that left her in debt:

I had about $5,000, which to me was a lot because having debt in my household is something that’s frowned upon. I didn’t tell my parents until this last year. I paid it off with my internship and after working with this appraisal firm. I was so embarrassed about it that I didn’t tell anyone.

Via [StarTribune.com]

She has spoken to 42 schools so far and her audiences have ranged from first graders to high schoolers. Just think, if only one parent from each school volunteered to speak to students about personal finance…it could make a very big difference. Once our credit card debt is paid off, perhaps I will look into speaking at our schools.

Kelsey…I wish you the best during the pageant and I hope the Miss America competition is in your future. I think what you are doing is awesome!

Playbook for Life

The Hartford collaborated with the NCAA to produce a 36 page book that is geared towards teens and personal finance. How much information could they get into 36 pages? A LOT. There are sections about budgeting, interest, credit cards, evaluating job offers, insurance taxes, etc. I read through it and it is a great overview centered around a sports theme.

By itself, the Playbook would be a great resource for teens. What makes this Playbook even better is the accompanying 27 page Parent’s Guide that can be downloaded as well. The Parent’s Guide is full of tips on how to discuss personal finance with your son or daughter and even offers conversation starters. It reminded me of a teacher’s manual with how it followed what was in the Playbook.

Both books can be downloaded immediately or you can request multiple hard copies in the mail. Both methods are free. For further reading, there is even more information on the website that I linked to above.

While I was contacted by a representative of the Playbook for Life program to bring these books to my attention, I was in no way obligated to write about them. I think they are a great resource and they have the best price tag of all (free!). Kudos to The Hartford and the NCAA for providing them.

Financial-literacy programs have sprung up in all 50 states, many of them launched by lawyers and bankruptcy judges who have had a firsthand glimpse of the social wreckage debt can cause. “Bankruptcy judges have realized in the past few years that there’s a gap in education, that many high schools aren’t teaching students about personal finance,” said Judge Feeney, who presided over the mock hearing. “We’ve decided to fill that gap.”

[Via Boston.com]

After reading the reactions from some of the students that were interviewed for the article, it sounds like the program is working. One student learned that credit card interest rates can rise as high as 25% when he thought it was only 5%. As of right now, 750 students have attended the program.

I don’t know about you, but if I was a teen and had to attend a bankruptcy hearing, I think that would have made me think twice about getting my first credit card in college. It also would have been beneficial to learn the other things that they covered in the first four sections of the program (budgeting, taxes, wants vs. needs). It would be interesting to follow up with the students they interviewed a few years from now to see how they are doing financially.

Thanks Jen for the link!

Moneywise Kids (aff. link) is a game geared for children age seven and older. My son is six, but he’s catching on quickly and he gets excited when we play the game.

There are two games you can play:

Moneywise Bill Maker – With each roll of the dice you earn money and the goal is to reach $100. The learning portion here is that your child will learn how to count money and will learn how to cash in smaller bills for larger bills. You should see my son’s face when he finally can cash in two fifties for a hundred dollar bill!

Moneywise Bill Breaker – With this game, each player starts out with a $100 bill. They continue to roll the dice to earn money like in the Moneywise Bill Maker game. With each roll, you select a marker and decide whether to buy it or to put it back to buy it later. Markers include life events like buying food, housing and even medical care. Each time a marker is purchased, the player must work to make change. The first player to reach $100 and buy all of the six markers is the winner.

My son is learning how to exchange bills thanks to the Moneywise Bill Maker game. He is still getting the hang of the Moneywise Bill Breaker game. It was interesting the first time we played it because he spent all of his money to buy markers right away. This game gives us an opportunity to discuss saving some money first before spending money. It’s a good to save up some money in case you pick one of the “bad luck” markers that come up where you have to pay money and don’t get one of the six markers you need to win. It’s a great learning tool to plant the seeds of saving and budgeting with your children.

Regarding the actual game itself, for the low price I was surprised at the quality of the game. The two game boards that are provided are heavy duty cardboard. The money is very realistic looking and nothing like Monopoly money. The play money mirrors real money (although smaller size and darker green) and is printed on the front and back. The markers are also thick cardboard circles and can withstand some kid abuse. For some reason, kids love to throw circular shaped things around so I was pleased at the thickness of the markers.

Overall, I think Moneywise Kids (aff. link) is a great game to play with your kids to help them learn money management skills. It compliments my son’s money savvy piggy bank very nicely.

It turns out that I had some troubles writing up an explanation of a savings bond and I felt it may be too much for my son to understand. I toyed with an idea of a Tooth Fairy Bank and tried to work out an “interest” scheme, but that didn’t work out well either. In the end, the Tooth Fairy gave my son a nice letter and left the dollar bill. My son was very happy at that.

I do think it’s important to try teach our children some personal finance and I believe one of the best ways is to discuss it is when the opportunity arises. I thought the Tooth Fairy idea would be a good one, but it didn’t materialize. But there are other ways to sneak in some lessons. For example, when my son has money to spend and we go to the store, I mention to him that he doesn’t have to spend his money now. He can always save it for later.

I thought that my words were falling on deaf ears because my son would spend all of the money he had with him, but my son proved me wrong. Yesterday, he had three dollars in the “Spend” portion of his piggy bank and he wanted to go shopping. We stopped at a dollar store and he was looking through everything. I didn’t say a word this time about saving his money for later. He picked up a box of $1.00 crayons and said, “I could buy these for $1.00 and then save $2.00 for later.”

That was a super-proud-mommy-moment. Even though I thought he wasn’t listening, he really was

Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray sponsored a bill that would make it mandatory (yes, mandatory!) that all high school students take a personal finance class. If he were here right now I would hug that man!

This won’t be implemented in Ohio until 2010, but it is a wonderful start. I sure hope other states follow Ohio’s lead.

[Via WTOL-TV, via Consumerist]

He already has a piggy bank designed to do that, so I need to find something else for this holiday season. I know some of you thought his piggy bank was pretty neat so I went searching for “piggy” banks that are similar in nature. Here are the ones I found, from least expensive to most expensive. Note: Prices are of time of publication – please check to see if the price has changed.

My Giving Bank – This bank has three compartments – Save, Spend and Give (centered towards tithing). The compartments are three buildings: Bank, Store and Church. Blue transparent plastic. Price: $13.59 at Amazon.com (aff. link)

Money Savvy Pig (aff. link) – This is the one that my son has. It has four compartments – Save, Spend, Invest and Donate and kids decide where their money goes. Blue, Pink, Red or Green colors available. Plastic. Price: $15.99 + shipping & handling.

Money Savvy Cow – The cow is made by the same folks who developed the Pig. It also has four compartments – Save, Spend, Invest and Donate and kids decide where their money goes. Clear see-thru plastic with black spots. Plastic. Price: $15.99 + shipping & handling.

LearningCents Bank – This larger bank has plenty of opportunity to personalize with stickers and the lids have a dry erase surface for keeping track of the amounts in each compartment. There are three compartments – Save, Spend and Give (or you can get one with Tzedakah instead of Give). Pink or blue colors available. Plastic. Price: $21.99 + shipping & handling. The pink one is on sale right now at Amazon (aff. link) for $19.99.

Moonjar Classic Moneybox – This hexagon-shaped bank has three compartments – Save, Spend and Donate. It even comes with a little passbook to track the money deposited into each compartment. Tin with acrylic lids. Price: $24.95 + shipping & handling.

Money Momma Piggy Bank – This piggy bank works to teach kids money management by applying the 10/10/10/70 concept to their money. Every dollar is split: 10% to charity, 10% to investing, 10% to saving and 70% for everyday expenses. Ceramic. Price: $29.95 + shipping & handling.

Now, you don’t have to go out and buy one of the above to help teach your child about money management. With a little bit of time and creativity, you and your child can make banks in the compartment-style spirit. TheMint.org has some suggestions on how to make these banks for very little cost using things around your home. They also offer suggestions on how to talk to your child about spending, saving, donating and investing.

Thanks to another blogger holding a contest, I was able to get a Money Savvy Pig for my son for free. This special piggy bank has four slots where kids can put their money: Spend, Save, Invest & Donate. It has been fascinating to watch my son divide up his money. I thought he would put everything into the spend slot, but he has put money into all of them. He’s a little confused as to what it means to donate (he keeps trying to give Mom and Dad the money in the Donate slot LOL), but hopefully with the Christmas season soon upon us, he’ll understand it a little bit better. We’ll give him choices as how he can donate his money.

I’m also planning on giving him a special extra bonus when he loses his first tooth. Along with a gold dollar (if I can get a hold of some), he will get a $25 savings bond from the tooth fairy. When he’s older, he can see how much money that savings bond grew into.

Probably the hardest part (but also the best part) is to teach him about spending money wisely. He often sees toys on TV or in the store and says, “I want that!” Times like those, I try to point out similar items he may already have at home. If it’s construction related, that is pretty easy to do. Other times I may try to show him similar items that are more affordable. Another thing that I do is to point out things I would like, but I do not buy them. I try to show him by example that sometimes there are things Mommy and Daddy want as well, but we do not buy them. I also now talk through my thought process when comparing what items to buy so he can listen in and be an active participant.

This older article from Forbes agrees about the role model part:

“As a parent, the best way to teach a child about finances is to be a role model,” says Edward Powell, chief consumer officer at LendingTree.com in Charlotte, N.C. “You should show restraint with money. Your child should see you budget, comparison-shop and make regular contributions to a savings account. It’s not enough to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.”

[Via Forbes] (thanks Amy for the link!)

There is a balance, though. While you want to make sure your children understand spending limits and budgeting, I don’t think you should let them in on your specific financial situation. For my son, he has no idea right now about our debt situation and he likely won’t know about it for some time. He still has the right to be a kid and not be burdened by our financial problems.

For those of you with children, is there anything special you are doing to try to teach your children about money?

That reminds me, it’s almost time to do a little personal finance interview with my son again (we did one when he was four and did another one when he was five). I love hearing his answers

“My tooth is loose. That means the tooth fairy is going to give me money for my tooth.”

You’d think I’d be prepared for this milestone in my son’s life. Although I noticed some of the kids in his school with missing teeth, it never connected in my mind was it was soon my baby’s time to lose his teeth. Scratch that…he’s not a baby anymore. But sometimes I regress and can’t help but remember when those precious teeth peeked through his gums and the joy that came with it.

Here’s the dilemma. His tooth fairy is in debt and is trying to dig out of it. So how much money should she leave under his pillow?

The majority of people who responded to a poll at BabyCenter.com give their child $1.00 per tooth. Since a child has a total of 20 baby teeth, $1.00 a piece would cost the tooth fairy $20 over 4-6 years. I think for now, that is what the debt-ridden tooth fairy will leave. However, she has something else up her sleeve.

She is going to leave something extra special for that very first tooth. She’s thinking of leaving a savings bond for $25. Since she’s in debt, she thinks it would be a great learning lesson for the little lad to learn about how money can grow. He’ll have the option of redeeming the bond when he loses his last tooth (at around age 10-12).

The tooth fairy could keep that money and put it towards her debt, but she knows the value in helping children to have healthy financial habits when they are older. That $25 will be an investment in that child’s life that will hopefully bring a great return. That thought alone brings a large smile to the tooth fairy’s face.

Sunday we started going through all of his toys and books. There were toys that I thought he should keep but he wanted to sell them. In all, he’s probably only keeping a tenth of his toys. He really surprised me with how much he wanted to sell.

Today while I was working, he came into my office and asked if he could price a few items that we didn’t get to yesterday. I showed him how to write the price on the masking tape and how to cut it and let him have at it.

He decided he wanted to sell his Tonka road grader. I was surprised at that because he loves his trucks, but I let him price it…$30.00. Mom will change it before the sale, because no one would pay that much for something that cost $15.00 new. I can’t blame him for thinking big!

That went out the window, though, when he told me what he’s selling his train set for. It’s a Geotrax set that mom and dad went WAY overboard with buying additional pieces. In all, I have never seen a set of this size on eBay and it has well over 300 pieces. When put together it takes up an entire room. It’s insane. Anyways, he said he was going to sell it for 99 cents. We’ll have to work a little bit on his pricing skills

After I got off work, one of the first things out of his mouth was, “You ready Mom for more garage sale stuff?” I think I created a little garage sale monster! It’s a good thing, though, because he’s helping to keep me focused with doing a little bit every day and it’s giving us a chance to discuss a few things related to finance. A key point…we bought way more than we needed to.

I know I usually highlight a few posts on Friday, but since it will be pretty busy here on Monday, I only picked one that I really enjoyed.

Michael from Money Musings was inspired by my personal finance interviews with my son (first one & second one) and had a little interview with his 4 year old daughter.

Very cute

1.) How old are you?

Five.

Previous answer: (no answer, just a gesture of four fingers)

2.) Do you like money?

Yup.

Previous answer: Yes.

3.) What do you like about money?

Because I want to buy something.

Previous answer: That why I can go somewhere with dollars.

4.) How much money do you have?

One hundred thousand.

Previous answer: One hundred.
He added on a “thousand”…I love it!

5.) How much money does mom and dad have?

Zero.

Previous answer: Zero.
Not sure what to think of this repeat answer

6.) How much money is there in the world?

One hundred thousand eighty ninety thousand.

Previous answer: One hundred eight in all the world
LOL – sometimes I wish I could get inside his mind.

7.) How do you get money?

From the bank and from mom and dad.

Previous answer: From Grandma.
To his Grandmas…breathe a sigh of relief, you are officially off the hook now

8.) What is a bank?

A bank is a place you can make dollars out of pennies and make your money bigger.

Previous answer: Keep your pennies safe.
Yay! He’s learning!

9.) If you had $100 dollars what would you do with it?

Buy stuff.

Previous answer: You can buy a four wheeler.
Well, he still wants to spend it, but at least he’s out of the four wheeler stage LOL.

10.) How much money would you like?

One hundred thousand eighty ninety thousand.

Previous answer: One hundred.
I guess my little guy wants all of the money in the world (Question #6)

I was working at the time and I immediately stopped what I was doing. I know kids sometimes say the darndest things, but I’ve seen their house. It’s large and extravagent with playground equipment in the yard and even a trampoline. My first thought is that the parents are rich. Now that I know a few things, I am more inclined to say that they are in a lot of debt

Anyways, our house, on the other hand, is standing and the roof doesn’t leak so that’s a good start. It isn’t close to a mansion but it provides what we need. The decor leaves much to be desired and many things haven’t been updated in years. It has a lot of problems cosmetically and sometimes it does bug me that our home doesn’t look better, but it is our home and it provides the essential needs. I am content with it for now because our small mortgage ($323) is letting us pay more towards our debt.

Hearing what those boys said to my son did bother me. People can tell me I have a poopy house all they want and I’ll let it go in one ear and out the other because we have this house for a reason. But I remember as a child words like that always hurt. My son acted like he wasn’t bothered by it and I only hope that he really wasn’t. I hope he learns that the biggest house in the world won’t make you happy. Other things do.

Part of me worries that our financial situation will have a negative effect on our son. The other part of me wants to believe he will grow up to be a well-rounded individual because of the life we live. One that realizes that money doesn’t make a person who they are. Their debt doesn’t define them…their wealth doesn’t define them. What matters are the things that money can’t buy: compassion, understanding and a good heart.

The contest was straight forward. You had to to write down one thing that you wished for and why (up to $25) and had to name your favorite post at that blog. So, what did I wish for? Here’s the comment I left:

“I wish for the Money Savvy Piggy Bank for my son (http://www.msgen.com/prod/assembled/money_savvy_pig.html).

The best actions I am taking to ensure a better financial future for our family are paying off our debt aggressively and learning how to live a balanced life of spending less than we earn.

Since the Money Savvy Pig is for my son, I would like to work with him with it so he can learn the value of saving and investing at an early age (he’s 5). So far, I’ve read nothing but positive results about this piggy bank.

My favorite post is probably no surprise to anyone: “How I Killed My Debt and What I Learned From It”“

True to his word, the blogger offered to purchase the Money Savvy Piggy Bank and ship it to me, or he could send $25 to my PayPal account to cover it. I chose to have the money sent via PayPal and I finalized the order tonight. I ended up purchasing it through Toys R Us because the shipping was a little bit cheaper than through the company that makes the piggy banks. As a bonus, I was able to sign up for Google checkout and get $10 off my order.

It’s only fitting that the money left over (almost $15.00) will be the seed money for my son’s piggy bank. When the piggy bank comes in the mail, I will explain to him what each chamber is for and hopefully it will spark his interest in saving money.

Thank you Golbguru from Money, Matter and More Musings for the contest!

Last summer, I was tickled pink when there was a couch on the side of the road with a free sign. We needed a couch so my son and I picked up the couch and brought it home.

While we were out driving this weekend, I saw a couch on the side of the road.

“Oooh, a couch,” I proclaimed.

“Does it have a free sign on it?” my son asked. Then he said in a matter of fact way, “If it’s free that means it doesn’t cost any money.”

My husband and I couldn’t help but bust out laughing.

There’s no doubt he’s my son

Next to it was my son. He had banged into the wall rough housing and that caused it to fall down. Thankfully it didn’t hit him, but my eagle was destroyed. Now, I don’t even remember where I bought it or for how much, but it was such a find for me. It was a life size sculpture of a bald eagle head.

I went back upstairs to work and let my husband take care of disposing of my eagle. I soon hear little feet coming up the steps. My son came over to me and with the saddest face and told me that he was sorry. He gave me a hug and asked me if I would like him to make a picture of an eagle. I said I would like that a lot.

A few minutes later, he came back up with his creation…

He started crying and said, “Now I won’t have my family there.”

Somehow, I was hoping he would be more okay with it, but it wasn’t okay with him at all. I reassured him that Daddy would be there.

“But I want Momma and Dadda to go.”

I tried not to cry myself, and just tried to be reassuring and I told him I’m sorry. After he left, then I started balling. I don’t like letting my son down and I’m not happy about missing something that’s important to him. I also just want to be there.

After I quit crying, then anger set in. Anger at myself for letting our debt get so high in the first place. Anger because life would be so much different right now without debt. Just anger at that nasty four letter word!

One thing about anger that can be a good thing, is that you start thinking of ways to “get back” at what is angering you. For me, I was angry at my debt because without it I wouldn’t have to work as much or I could have the freedom to start my own business and make my own hours. Then I could be there for my son. How could I “get back” at my debt (e.g. free myself of it)?

My first thought was to sell much of what I own. While I could make money from that, it would be no where near $25,000 worth. Then I thought that I would work more. That wouldn’t work because I’m pretty stressed out as is and I’m actually reducing my hours to only 40/week come January.

It’s time for me to sit down and make a better game plan. Before, it was just a matter of making as much as I could and sending as much money as I could towards our debt. It technically was a plan, but not a very fine-tuned one. It’s time to figure out the nitty gritty details.

1.) How old are you?

(No answer, just a gesture of four fingers)

2.) Do you like money?

Yes.

3.) What do you like about money?

That why I can go somewhere with dollars.

4.) How much money do you have?

One hundred.

5.) How much money does mom and dad have?

Zero.

6.) How much money is there in the world?

One hundred eight in all the world.

7.) How do you get money?

From Grandma.

8.) What is a bank?

Keep your pennies safe.

9.) If you had $100 dollars what would you do with it?

You can buy a four wheeler.

10.) How much money would you like?

One hundred.

Dinner Knives: 7
Dinner Forks: 6
Salad Forks: 6
Teaspoons: 4
Soup Spoons: 6

All of the above had an original count of 8. Where did they they all go?

I’ve come up with the following theories:

1.) Swiper from Dora the Explorer jumped out of my son’s TV screen and decided that my silverware was his target for the day. I’m just waiting to catch the episode and make a positive ID on my spoons. “Swiper, no swiping!”

2.) They fell deep into the cavernous pit that is the spot in the couch between the cushions and the back of the couch. I haven’t looked in there recently…that is a scary…scary place to go.

3.) My son is starting early with “borrowing” things getting ready for living on his own. Yes, he’s only 4 but sometimes I wonder. He seemed very excited and said, “Oooh, look how nice” when I first put the silverware in our shopping cart.

Anyone else have any other theories?

Remember back when we you were young and either your mother or father would try to get you to save electricity by saying…

“Turn the light off when you’re done. Do you think we own the power company?”
“We don’t have stock in the power company, turn the lights off.”
“Every light in this house is on. Do you think we get paid by the power company to have our lights on?”

Or probably a dozen variations of the above?

My son is only 4 so I changed the above sayings around a little bit to make it more age appropriate.

“Make sure you turn the light off when you are done. That way, we save electricity and save money.”

My son would go and turn the light off because I told him to, but I’m sure the second sentence would always go over his head. I figure, if I keep reminding him about these things I could hopefully instill some frugal traits in him.

Well, low and behold, my son went into the bathroom and I had left the light on from the last time I went in there. I was washing dishes and I could hear him telling me…

“Momma…you left the light on in the bathroom. You need to turn it off to save money.”

I didn’t know whether to be embarassed because a 4 year-old is telling a 29 year-old how to save money, or whether to be proud of my young son for listening to what I say and learning.

I’ll just be a proud momma

After talking with my husband, we decided to go shopping to add a few more things to my son’s wardrobe since he did need a few things. Trying to keep it as inexpensive as I could – here’s how we did:

3 long sleeve shirts = $9.00
1 pair of jeans = $4.50
1 pair of pants = $3.00
1 pair of fleece pants = $4.97
1 fleece hooded jacket = $6.97
10 pairs of socks = $6.46
7 pairs of underwear = $3.94
1 pair of shoes = $9.87

Total clothing: $48.71

Wondering how much we’ve spent on my son’s clothes year-to-date, I looked back and including this recent trip, we’ve spent $82.43. I guess we aren’t doing too bad for his clothes this year.

Of course, while shopping my mind wandered and started thinking about what it will be like during his teen years.  What will be in style?  When I was in high school I remember I.O.U. shirts being the “thing” to have.  My mom did buy me a few of those I.O.U. shirts after I begged, but we waited until after the year was halfway over because they would mark them 1/2 off

I’m not sure who created the idea that children should have brand new clothes the first days of school, but it sure bothers me. It probably has roots with keeping up with the Jones’ and it poses a dilemma for parents who do not want to or cannot buy into the “tradition.”

My son could care less what he is wearing. As long as it fits, it’s fine with him. That sort of follows mom and dad’s way of thinking so we are proud of him there. He hasn’t bought into the notion of needing cartoon characters on his shirts.

I wouldn’t have a problem sending him to school with clothes that are a little faded or shoes where the white is now off-white. But, as a parent, I worry about him. I wonder if the other children in his class may make fun of him because he isn’t wearing a “Cars” t-shirt or he doesn’t have brand new shoes where they still light up when you walk.

Things have changed a lot since I went to kindergarden and I wonder how much the kids have really grown up. When I started school, I learned the alphabet in kindergarden. Now, they are expected to have already learned their letters in preschool.  Do the five year-olds today care what other kids are wearing? And if they do, and start teasing my son, how will he react to their words?

Unfortunately, I know what I would like to do – march into the school and give those teasing kids a little lesson on personal finance .  But for him, will he hold his head down and feel bad because he doesn’t have everything the other kids have?  Or will he be strong enough to know that it isn’t what you wear or what you have that makes a person…it’s who you are and how you treat others?

Of course, I hope he is strong enough.  But I know that I need to help get him there. 

Whoever said parenting is “the toughest job you’ll ever love” sure hit the nail on the head

 

The other night we talked about bats. I asked him what he would like to talk about next and he couldn’t think of anything. So I snuck in there, “Why don’t we talk about another word that starts with the letter “B”?” His eyes widened. “We’ll talk about banks.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said.

Good. He was excited. I asked him what he knew about banks. He said that you get money and suckers from them (our bank gives suckers to the kiddies).

I was a little nervous, because this was the first time I’ve really discussed this concept with my son. I approached it gradually. “You can also take money to the bank and they hold it for you. They put it in a big safe.”

Oh, he loved the idea of a safe. He said, “Me lock up my money at the bank so no bad guys can get it.”

I continued on. “And when you put your money in the bank, you can make money by doing that.” (it is so very hard to try to put everything in words that a four-year old would understand).

“You make money?” he asked.

“Yes, you make money. It’s called interest.”

He repeated what I had said, like he was explaining to me what banks were and he seemed to understand.

The next day, I prompted him to tell Daddy what he learned about banks. He said, “Me put my money in bank and they lock it in a safe so no bad guys get it.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Mmmm…no” he replied.

He did forget the whole part about interest and making money by saving money. But that’s okay. The door has been opened and we have many more bedtimes to discuss

He said, “One hundred.”

I asked, “Would you like a million pennies?”

He said, “No, that’s too many. They can’t fit in my pocket.”

You know what, I think he’s right. Here’s a neat illustration of one million pennies.

Part of me feels like I missed the opportunity to talk to him about how he can put his money in a bank and they will hold it for him. Then explain how he can make money by doing that. After hearing his simple answer, I could only smile because it was just that…so simple. But perhaps I should take opportunities like that to introduce finance related things to him. But is 4 years old too early??

The book referenced in the article will be coming out next month. I must say it has stirred my curiousity so I think I will have to check it out.

I by no means am saying that every child who gets a free-ride to college will screw it up like I did. I have known some students who excelled and didn’t have to pay a dime for their education. And just so everyone knows, I had great parents. After all, I did well in high school. They did something right.

I’ve reflected back on my life often, and tried to decide what made me lose it when I went to college. I feel a big part of it was that I didn’t want it enough and I didn’t have to work for it.

I didn’t mention it in the other post, but I had NO CLUE what I wanted to do with my life when I was 18. I applied to three different colleges and for each one a different major (criminal justice, music and mechanical engineering – if that isn’t a smorgasboard of majors – tell me what is! – LOL). The decided factor was whatever college gave me the best financial package and that’s where I would go and what degree I would pursue. I hope my son has more drive than I did 11 years ago.

There also was a great comment from someone who didn’t have any help at all, but had the desire to go to college. It adds another view to the story worth reading about.

In the end, as parents we just have to do what we feel is right for our child. And I think one of the most important things to do is to support them in what they do. When you at least have a cheering section behind you – that can make a big difference as I sort of mentioned with my answer on whether I have support from my family.

While at work at the grocery store, I was asked by a co-worker why I don’t have any kids yet (I had been married for a few years at this point). I just replied that I don’t have enough money to have a baby just yet. She just said, “If you wait until you can afford one – you’ll never have one.”

You know what? She was right and it made perfect sense to me. Much of our lives are spent getting to some point that we feel we are financially secure (and that point varies by person). There comes a point where you have to remember to live life at the present and not just live life for the future. After all, none of us really knows how long we will be here on this earth. Might as well make the best of the time we have here.

It probably wasn’t but a few months after that before I became pregnant. Although I was scared out of my mind on how we would afford diapers, formula, etc. – it all went away when I held my son for the first time. Do I regret not waiting until we had better jobs? No way.

No amount of money could ever compare to the first time your child gazes into your eyes.

And if you are wondering – I think it is nearing the right time to try to add another member to our family. My clock is ticking

I was fortunate enough to be at the top of my graduating class and as a result I received a full tuition scholarship to a great college. My parents were generous enough to pay for my room and board. So here I was going to college and didn’t have to worry about anything except for some discretionary spending money.

It didn’t take me long to start screwing everything up.

Drinking, drugs, partying – you name it I probably was doing it. It’s an area of my life that I am not particularly proud of because I basically lost some valuable months of my life. I am also lucky that I didn’t die or have something horrible happen to me because I was just asking for it by my actions.

I probably don’t have to say it, but my grades were horrible. A 1.9 GPA my first quarter and a 0.75 GPA my second quarter. I was on “academic probation.” Then I received a letter stating that one more time on probation and I would lose my scholarship and be kicked out of college. At the same time, my mom and dad couldn’t afford to pay more room & board (unrelated to my grades because I tried to keep that hidden from them). Everything I was relying on to be able to party and have fun was being taken away from me.

Long story short – I did end up getting my act together and I didn’t get kicked out of school. I don’t want to make it sound like every kid that gets his or her college education paid in full is going to screw things up. My point is that with my experience – I took advantage of the situation and didn’t appreciate what I had in front of me. I wasn’t paying my way so it didn’t mean as much.

I want the best for my son when he’s old enough to go to college (if he wants to). I think a valuable life lesson is learned when you contribute to something that you want to do instead of having it given to you. It means more and you value it more. I want my son to have a good life, but he has to want it and be willing to work hard for it.

Mom and Dad will definitely help, but he will need to do his part with paying for college. I think he will be an overall better person for having to do so.

Post included in the Carnival of Debt Reduction #47 at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

Tags: learn, money

He’s been obscessed lately finding spare change around the house and raided my computer desk. He found a dime and a penny and claimed it as his money.

He received a gift in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa. It was a wallet complete with ten $1 bills. He was overjoyed after seeing the money and quickly was bragging that he had “more money.”

I told him while he was sleeping, I was going to take my money back.

He said he was going to sleep with his new wallet.

It’s already begun – the money obscession

Technorati Tag: money

I think schools now-a-days are too concerned about “book smarts” and less concerned about “street smarts”. You know, tools on how to live your life. I think back and feel it would have been much more beneficial to my present day life if we had discussions about how to handle your money.

I’m not placing blame on my high school for my debt. I will honestly admit that I got myself into it. But it would be nice to see a shift to some coursework that will help you live your life once you leave high school. I think that would do wonders once for teens once they hit the “real” world.

Technorati Tags: debt, personal+finance

I am a work-at-home-mom (WAHM). My job does entail working normal business hours, so my husband is responsible for the child care when I am working.

My son comes in my office and tells me “Momma no work no more. Me make the money!”

The way he said it almost convinced me. When I am older, I would welcome him making the money for me

Technorati Tags: work+at+home, wahm