Search Results for: blog cash for kids

Put Kids to Work

My parents were huge proponents of the idiom:  “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” In other words, my mom and dad hated seeing their offspring sit around when there was work to be done.  And when you’re living in a home occupied by six people, there’s never a shortage of tasks to be completed. For me, summer meant tennis camp, swimming lessons and plenty of chores.  In my dad’s eyes, no job was too dirty for his little girl.  Looking back, I don’t begrudge my father for keeping me and my brothers busy during the dog days of summer.  In … Continue reading →

Make a Splash Without Spending a Ton of Cash

There’s no better way to cool off this Memorial Day weekend than hanging poolside with your friends and family.  Fortunately, you don’t have to drain your wallet to keep your clan entertained in the water.  If you are tight on cash, skip the fancy pool toys and try these splashtastic games instead: Fish, Fish, Whale:  This simple yet fun game puts a spin on the classic “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  To play, have kids stand in a circle in the shallow end of the pool.  Select one person to be “it.”  That player then goes around the circle and taps each … Continue reading →

Kids Can Barter Too

“You mean I can trade chocolate cake for Lego Friends?” my daughter asked following our conversation about the benefits of bartering. “If you can find a Lego-loving chocoholic who’s willing to part with some of her sets, then you’re in business.” Little did I know that my response would turn my 8-year-old into the next Kyle MacDonald. Cash is tight for my third grader, but the kid makes up for her empty wallet by coming up with some solid bartering bargain chips. Or, in her case, cake. Bartering is not just for adults; rather, kids can get in on the … Continue reading →

Ways to Keep Kids Busy During Their Holiday Break

  Tis the season for parents to rack their brains coming up with ways to keep their children busy during the extended holiday break from school. Whether you will be home alone with two kids or you’re hosting a house full of hooligans in the days leading up to Santa’s arrival, consider the following holiday-themed boredom busters to keep your sanity intact: Activity Pages:  Print out free Christmas coloring pages from the Internet.  Not only do the jolly images provide for hours of holiday fun, but also, they’ll save you precious cash during a time when most moms and dads … Continue reading →

Protecting Your Holiday Cash

Happy Cyber Monday!  The day many of us celebrate finding phenomenal deals on holiday gifts for loved ones, and then wallowing in mild discontent knowing that even though we saved some dough, we’re still out a good chunk of change. Like it or not, Cyber Monday has morphed into the biggest online shopping day of the year.  This is great news for tech-savvy individuals, but if you are a parent or grandparent, who hasn’t embraced the convenience of online shopping, today can be bittersweet.  While you’d love to take advantage of the amazing online sales, there’s a bit of hesitation … Continue reading →

South Carolina’s Healthy Connections Covers Kids

South Carolina has a Medicaid program that will cover children from low income families. It also has a Healthy Connections program for kids under age 19, and a program that covers children who are disabled. Medicaid is a public, or government run, form of health insurance. It is designed to cover individuals and families who are low income and who cannot afford to buy a health plan from a private insurance company. Medicaid is funded in part by the federal government and in part by the government of an individual state. In South Carolina, the Medicaid program is administered by … Continue reading →

With Three Kids, Saving is a Little Harder

We are in somewhat unique (in our area) position of having three children, not two not four but three. Most people don’t understand three. It isn’t an even number. Why stop at three, why didn’t you stop at two? A family of five bothers people because they don’t know what to think of it. Is it a large family or a small family? For us it is a just right family, of course, but the world at large doesn’t see it that way. For example, if we want to book a hotel room, we are mostly told that the maximum … Continue reading →

Kids And Sugar – A Sticky Situation

Kids like to eat foods that taste sweet. That is a simple truth, and my son is no exception. My husband and I would like to think that we can prevent him from eating candy, cookies, ice cream, and other sweets until he is a bit older and, even then, very infrequently. It is not easy, though, and sometimes I wonder whether we are being unrealistic or unfair and whether our efforts to keep him nearly sugar free will have a lasting impact on his health and on his food choices. As a general rule, we don’t keep sweets at … Continue reading →

Keeping Kids Humble

We have a saying around our home: “Miracles do happen… to other people.” Okay, so it’s not featured on a needlepoint canvas and displayed in a wood frame in our entryway, but I’m pretty sure I utter the phrase at least seven to ten times a day. In fact, I just said it again a little while ago. ABC News just ran a story of a New York teen who hit it big on a $2 scratch-off lottery ticket. Eighteen-year-old Robert Salo is one very, very lucky kid. The teen scored a million bucks just days before his high school … Continue reading →

Summer Cash Savers

Don’t let the calendar fool you—summer is officially here, at least in my neck of the woods. We have been sizzling in 90-degree (plus) heat for more than a week. Despite the crazy hot temperatures, my daughter and I saw a man cutting his lawn with a push mower at 11 a.m. yesterday when the mercury had to be pushing 89 degrees. Come to find out, the guy is not as nutty as I thought. In fact, he’s probably smarter and richer than most of us who use a power mower to cut our grass. According to the Environmental Protection … Continue reading →