Search Results for: blog should we force our kids to save

Simple Sanity Savers

Believe it or not, summer vacation just started for students attending Chicago public schools.  Last fall’s highly publicized teacher strike, which affected nearly 400,000 students, forced kids to stay in school through the end of June. But, now they are free and can join the rest of their compadres in making the most of summer… or what’s left of it. If you are looking for ways to keep your kids busy during their break from school consider the following simple and affordable projects: FLOWER POWER Rather than letting fresh flowers go to waste after they’ve sat pretty in a summer … Continue reading →

Save Me Sink Fund

If it wasn’t for our sink fund, we would be in a lot of trouble this week. In fact, even with the sink fund, things are looking a little shaky. This week alone, we lost our water to our house faced with a major repair costing a few thousand dollars to a truck we just bought, after already sinking $500 into this same truck.  Sigh. It has not been a good few days financially. We’ve only owned the truck for about four weeks, did all of our homework, bought it from a relative, and did everything we could have to … Continue reading →

What Not to Do in Front of Your Kids When It Comes to Money

Children learn what they see. It is a true statement for any kind of behavior including money management. Children’s attitudes toward money and whether or not they will be able to make it work for them as adults has much to do with their parents. If you are married, think about any differences that there might be between you and your spouse, regarding any issues having to do with money. Is one of you more a saver than a spender? Do you approach investing or debt the same way? Chances are that you may each have different ideas about handling … Continue reading →

Free Websites that Teach Your Kids about Money

Teaching kids about money, where it comes from, how to make it grow and how to use it responsibly is one of those things that many of us mean to get around to doing, but don’t often seem to complete. In fact, money lessons should never really come to an end. As society, the economy and technology changes, it is important for us all to keep up, and pass on the skills, knowledge and advice to our children. Fortunately, we don’t have to do this alone. There are a few really good websites out there that will help us teach … 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 →

Moms Stink at Money Matters

Hey, I’m just the messenger. Personally, I think most moms rock at finances, but according to the gurus at LearnVest (a personal finance website for women), most women with kids fall short when it comes to making wise financial decisions. And why do the brainiacs at LearnVest think moms stink when it comes to handling money? We’re. Too. Nice. Apparently, sugar and spice and everything nice is a very bad combo when it comes to money. LearnVest experts claim that because moms are “too nice” and “too nurturing” they end of falling into an abyss of money problems. Competition is … Continue reading →

Where to Find the Toy Catalogs

What do your kids want for Christmas? This is the time of year when children start mentioning the things that they are hoping to get as gifts this year. Parents will want to check out the toy catalogs from various stores in order to find the best deal. Walmart has a toy catalog for you to check out. I don’t think that Walmart has always done this, but they do have one this year. Their toy catalog comes with a “Christmas Price Guarantee”. It works like this. You shop in a Walmart store (in other words, not from their website), … Continue reading →

Parents Are Wasters

According to the National Retail Federation, parents are a bunch of wasters. The group maintains that the average American family wastes nearly 15% of its purchases, from food to household supplies, gifts to apparel. Guilty as charged. I just trashed a half-empty container of hummus because it expired before my family could finish it. I despise wasting food, and would have downed the remaining chickpea spread myself had it not smelled like sweaty feet. I’ve eaten expired food items in the past, but didn’t want to chance it with the hummus, since the container was compromised. Apparently, it had slid … Continue reading →

DIY Kids’ Photography

In a previous post I shared my excitement about scoring a manager’s special coupon to Sears Portrait Studio. I was told that I would be saving hundreds of dollars by booking a session to get my daughter’s photos taken—-so I did. Turns out, I didn’t save hundreds of dollars. In fact, whatever I saved, I ended up spending in order to purchase extra prints for various family members and friends. I’m pretty sure Sears planned it that way. That’s okay, though, I knew the coupon was incentive to book the session, and the employees at our local portrait studio didn’t … Continue reading →

Tween Make-Up Drama

Thank heavens for little girls… who couldn’t give a rip about make-up. That’s my daughter. The kid couldn’t be more uninterested in eye shadow, lip gloss or face shimmer. Thank heavens indeed. Of course, she’s only six years old, but given that many of the girls in her first grade class have hosted princess parties complete with make-up mini bars, I’d say I’ve got a good thing going. I hope it lasts until she’s 25. Okay, maybe 23. Personally, I don’t think first graders, tweens or teens need to be painting their faces to look “pretty.” What’s wrong with what … Continue reading →