Financially Responsible Kids

photo found here

This post is in response to the following questions I was asked last week:

How have you/do you/will you teach your kids to be financially responsible? (Rebecca)
Do your kids have allowance? How do you teach financial responsibility? (Blogful)

First of all, we don't give our kids an allowance. We believe that, as a part of a family, it is each family member's responsibility to help with housework and chores. If the kids stay on top of their responsibilities and contribute when asked then Allen and I are happy to help them out financially when they have a need. If they want money for something that is simply a want we have them earn the money for that on their own - either by doing extra projects around the house or in working for our neighbors by babysitting or doing yard work.

Financial responsibility is something I think about a lot. We want our kids to understand that debt is never a good thing and that saving is important. I think the best method we've used in teaching our kids financial responsibility is living a financially responsible life. In other words, we hope we are teaching them by example.

For instance, when it comes time for back-to-school shopping the first place we go to look for clothes is second-hand stores. The kids have learned that we can find some great, practically new items at these stores for a small fraction of the price we would pay in regular stores. Our kids actually request shopping at thrift stores now - they see it as a sort of treasure hunt and love showing off their bargain finds.

The kids also see how I do my grocery shopping. I always look through the ads we receive and plan our meals around some of the great deals I will find in them. When they come to the grocery store with me I will ask them to help me find the lowest priced items on the shelves.

We also pay cash for everything. If we can't afford to pay for anything up front, we don't buy it.

I think the best way to sum up what we teach our kids about financial responsibility is to wholeheartedly recommend Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan. Allen and I were able to participate in Dave's Financial Peace University through Allen's work and it was amazing.

All in all, I think that the key to having financially responsible kids is teaching them by example.

My Neighbors Would Probably Hate Me If They Knew

photo from maps.google.com

Tomorrow is voting day. I'm not generally too political, but I do have a strong opinion on my city's proposition this time around.

Signs started showing up around my neighborhood in support of our city's Proposition 1 almost a month ago. Like, seriously, all over my neighborhood. I had never heard of Proposition 1 so I looked it up in order to make an informed vote. The gist of it is this: my city would like to build a new, updated recreation center to replace 3 existing facilities; the much older existing recreation center, senior center and the old armory where community classes and events occur.

And here's my deal. I am not against a new recreation center. But I will NOT be voting for it, and here are my reasons why:

1) I am against raising property taxes. We already had our property taxes raised not too many years back in order to build a newer public library. Here is the information sent to me by the city regarding the increase in property taxes I can expect if this Proposition is passed:

The owner of an average $195,000 home would pay $2.61 more per month, or $31.32 more per year, in property tax. Together with the portion of property taxes that is currently paying for the library bond, that would come to $6.37 per month or $76.45 per year. (In three years, after the library bond is paid off, the full $76.45 would go towards paying for the recreation center for the remaining 17 years of the bond.)

So, if I understand this correctly, they are going to continue charging us (via property taxes) the same money I am paying for the library bond after it is paid off in 3 years but use that money instead for the new recreation center in addition to the extra $30 or so per year that the vote would approve.

What are they going to build after the recreation center? All I see is a continued increase in my property taxes with no end in sight. I'm not cool with that. Once the library bond is paid off, that should be the end of that tax. It's not right to tack that existing expense on to a new project.

2) I am irritated that the location of the new recreation center (the baseball fields for my kids' high school) is already being cleared out for building. The new ball fields are already being set up just down the street from my house as if the vote has already been won and the bond approved. Sort of makes me feel like my vote isn't going to matter since they've already got things in the works. That doesn't seem right to me.

3) I think that if property owners are the ones who will be paying for this new recreation center, we should be the only ones who get to vote for or against it. I don't understand how it is fair for those who will not be taxed (non-property owners) to be allowed to vote in favor of this. Basically anyone who is registered to vote can approve an increase in my taxes while they get to enjoy the new recreation center without having to pay for the bond. In addition, I would be even happier with this if only those who approve of the bond are charged for it. If they don't get enough votes to collect the money that is needed, then too bad.

4) My family would not use the new facility. The only thing my family does through the city's recreation center is take swimming lessons at the city's outdoor pool and it is more than adequate.


I would love to hear your opinions on this, especially if you live in my city.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!

Third Grade Economics

Last week Cowgirl's school had a Market Day for all of the third grade as part of a unit on economics. In order to get a grade for completing this unit each student was to create 30 or so of some inexpensive, homemade product and bring it to school to sell from their own store. Prior to the big day the students had varying opportunities to earn Market Day money for spending as well.

Cowgirl and I went online and looked up a whole plethora of kid-friendly, inexpensive crafts that she could make. She finally decided on paper purses and felt pencil toppers since we already had most of the supplies on hand.

We found a template online to make the purses, printed them off and cut them out.


She wrote up a huge list of all of the pencil toppers that she wanted to create... and then Coolister broke his leg. So I ended up making all of the pencil toppers while sitting in his hospital room. (Cowgirl was cool with that.) It turned out to be a lot of fun to come up with patterns and ideas.


(Answer me this: Besides just looking cutesy, what is the purpose of a pencil topper?)

The morning of Market Day, Cowgirl and I glued the purses together, added a button and tucked a little candy ring and lipstick inside.


We realized that she only had 20 items to sell as she left for school, so I used some of the leftover felt to whip up a few pencil cases as well.


There was a happy buzz of chaotic excitement as I arrived at the school. A whole sea of third graders were happily visiting each others' classrooms to purchase some Market Day treasures and also peddling their wares at their desks.


When it was all over Cowgirl was excited to show her brothers and sisters what she had purchased. "How much money did you make?" All-a-Boy asked her.

"Don't know," she responded, "but it doesn't matter. We could only spend the money we earned before Market Day. Everything we earned today just went into a bag that we gave to the teacher. But, hey! Look at all the stuff I bought!"

Economics is so much more simple in the third grade.