10.16.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 11:19 pm by CreditMom
Nestled in between the economic crisis and the election is this little “holiday” named, Halloween. I admit, I am so not focused on Halloween right now which is kind of tough since my 3 boys live for trick o treating and the hordes of candy they bring home. I am more focused on saving money and putting something aside for the holiday season.
But I can’t disappoint the little devils so what are some ways to save money this Halloween?
- Costumes - This is pretty easy. There are so many ways to save on costumes. First, you can recycle ones from last year. I have 3 boys - they can swap costumes from year to year and change them up with a few cheap accessories. Or, they can swap with friends. Also, use your creativity and make your own. This year with a few accessories we’re making our own costumes. Look around your house. It’s amazing the things you might find, or go to the Salvation Army and pick up odds and ends. There are so many sites that will lend ideas on making your own costumes. Here are just a few: Robinsfyi , DisneyFamily, Family Crafts.
- Decorations - Over the years we have purchased many decorations so I don’t need any more. But, if you don’t have much, use your creativity here as well. Years ago, we made our own scare crow out of old jeans and a work shirt. We stuffed it with newspapers and stuck a plastic pumpkin head on top - when they were young it looked so sweet; now my boys cover its head with a bloody mask, stick an axe in the poor guy’s neck and put fake rats in all sorts of sordid places. And speaking of masks, use the old ones as decorations…just take some rope, string together and hang from trees. If you still have the costumes you can stuff and hang as well. Go through your house and be creative…and buy some fake blood…it’s amazing how much you can accomplish with a little bit of blood!
- Pumpkins- Surprise, surprise. Pumpkins are CHEAPER at the supermarket than the farm! When you go to the “pick your own” farm you pay by weight. A pumpkin that costs $5 at the supermarket can be almost $10 at the farm. But, if a fun family day is what you’re after then it’s worth the price. If savings is your goal, opt for the supermarket, AND if your kids aren’t too picky you can always have Peapod deliver! Get more out of your money by carving them into designs and roasting the seeds. It’s a messy, smelly job but let the kids do it - they’re used to sticking their hands in funky places. We carve them into some pretty incredible designs and light with candles.
- Candy- I have a bit of a problem here because candy expectations are high when you have the best dressed house on the block. How can I say this with out bragging? Well most people on our block do not decorate, that’s how. We also live on the school block which means hundreds of kids stop at our house every day marveling at the display. If we disappoint on the candy we will most certainly get egg’d and whipped creamed. Oh like you never did this as a kid? So I just buy everything in bulk at stores like Walmart and Costco, shop the sales and mix up the more expensive chocolate candies with the cheaper non-chocolate ones. If I run low I just take candy out of my children’s trick o treat bags. Oh yes, they are thrilled with that one, but come on, how much candy can they really eat? And one other thing on candy, DON’T bother buying those silly little candy bags. Do you really think they kids appreciate the time and money spent? It is just more work for them to get to the goods…save the cash and the time!
- Parties - My advice for parties is DON’T HAVE ONE! If your child is invited to a party (I’m assuming you’re like me and would rather be dipped in fake blood than throw one in your own house), they can bring a little token without spending too much money. Get a box of brownie mix, container of frosting, and some candy corn (from your trick o treat stash). Voila - Halloween brownies for about $3 and you look like a hero, plus the kids have a ball decorating them. I’d even be a sport and spend $5 just for the privilege of shipping my little devils off to some other poor parent’s house.
Did I leave anything out here? How do you intend to save money while still providing your sweet little pumpkins with a smashing Halloween this year?
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09.26.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 4:06 pm by CreditMom
There is much debate on how much to tell your children about the current economy. It’s the main focus of the news, it’s talked about in school and we live in an area where many parents work for major financial institutions.
I feel it is important for children to understand the current economic issues in an age appropriate fashion. But how do you explain the economy without instilling fear and insecurity? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting post on explaining the current economic mess to children. Below is their age appropriate guide to communication. Personally, I read through it and feel it’s a bit too vague and over protective for the older ages. In fact, the messages really don’t vary that much by age…go ahead and read for yourself….
At some point you need to involve your children in family finances. How do you prepare them for life situations by just comforting them and saying every thing is ok? There is an example in the WSJ article in which a father explains to his daughter they need to trim back a bit. His daughter made a list of all the things she could cut back on (movies, etc). The father reacted by telling her they weren’t that bad off instead of complimenting her for her foresight. I would be thrilled if any of my children were mature enough to do that! Yes, you still have to reassure your child you are in control of your financial situation but children also need to do their share as part of the family unit. I’m not saying you send a 10 year old out to work but there are many ways a child can help out when times are rough. For example, if you cancel the lawn mowing service to save money, your child can take on that task etc.
We explained the economic crisis to our children the best way we could, afterall it’s not that simple for even us to understand. I thought this post from the NY Times was helpful (although a bit slanted) when speaking to our children because it’s written in layman’s terms. Do they get it? Not fully but they do understand conceptually we are in a time of major belt tightening and we all need to do our share. So now when we shave a bit off their allowance and curb our dining out events they at least have a basic understanding of where we are coming from and are part of the “team”. They may not like it but quite frankly, we’re not loving it either.
Life is about ups and downs. If we keep telling our children everything is ok how will they ever learn to manage without us?
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09.06.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 11:25 pm by CreditMom
I’m learning about children and allowance as I go. There are a lot of people that pay money for chores for children, others require their children work outside the home to earn money and another parenting style is to provide allowance for no return in responsibilities at all. I don’t pass judgment on any one because I believe what works for one family may not work for another. We have chosen the allowance tied to chores approach and through some bumps and bruises it seems to be working. Here are my tips if you decide to go this route.
- Identify chores with clear deliverables. Chores should not consist of making beds and cleaning up after themselves. Chores are responsibilities above and beyond the day to day such as laundry, picking up after the dog, taking out the trash, cleaning up the kitchen.
- Have your child “own” their chores. With 3 kids we like to avoid as much conflict as possible. Therefore it’s one person to a chore and that chore is consistent from week to week. They each might have more than one chore but there’s no sharing. At some point they may want to rotate, but as my husband says, “let’s leave well enough alone.”
- Set a regular payment schedule. Our kids get paid every Sunday. This forces them to budget their money for the week so they have something left for next weekend. Make sure you pay the promised amount and you pay on time. Responsibility works both ways.
- Teach them to budget their expenses. Our children put aside money for savings and spending (bus fare, lunch, ice cream, snacks, etc.). Our 14 year old enjoys going out on the weekend and parses out his money into 3 envelopes labeled, “Savings”, “Spending”, “Weekend”. This has been working well and gives him ownership of his finances. In fact, this week, the ice cream truck stopped at our house and instinctively my kids ran outside expecting me to give them money. They looked at me, I looked back at them and they said, “oh right, our allowance.” Let’s just say 2 ran back for their wallets and the 14 year old decided he wasn’t really in the mood for ice cream after all. Priorities are very interesting when it comes from their own wallets.
- If they don’t do their chores, don’t pay them. This is pretty simple but some think I’m nuts. Bottom line is do your chores and you get paid. You don’t do your chores and you don’t get paid. Learning involves consequences. My kids all learned by having their allowance deducted for chores not done. There was one situation when twin A did twin B’s chores. Well….twin A received twin B’s allowance and twin B got nothing. Now twin B is working his little butt off. Develop good habits now and they will be good employees later.
- Open up bank accounts. Take them to the bank to make deposits. My kids love watching their savings grow. This week each of them took their piggy banks to Commerce Bank and cashed in all of their coins. Between all 3 they saved up over $200. I allowed them to spend $10 each and the rest went back into savings. This is one of the best lessons in showing kids how saving even as little as pennies a day adds up.
- Don’t leave home without it! It took a while but they finally know they must always carry a wallet. We do wallet checks before we leave the house. They’re finally figuring it out.
- Be flexible. Don’t forget they’re kids and learn best when having fun and taking ownership. So be flexible, if your child absolutely despises taking out the trash give him something else to do…it’s just not worth it…don’t lose site of the overall message you want to achieve. There are so many ways a child can help out…we have one son that likes to clean up the dog poop!
Like I said, this approach seems to be working for us right now, but we’re certainly open to suggestions and hearing about your ideas for teaching your children about financial responsibility.
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08.30.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 9:10 am by CreditMom
After much discussion about whether or not we could financially justify a summer vacation, we decided in favor and took a trip to the shore this week. We cut our vacation down to 4 nights because we spent a lot of money sending our 3 kids to summer sleepaway camp this year.
When going on a family vacation, there are certain things that I will compromise on and other things are non-negotiable. Obviously the room has to be super clean (the key word being “room”, thus camping is definitely out of the question). Aside from that, if we’re going to the shore, the hotel must be directly on the beach, the room large enough to accommodate a family of 5 (we don’t want to pay for 2 rooms) and it must have a pool. A washer and dryer is nice too but I can deal without it if needed. We have long ago realized that the words “luxury” and “family vacation” do not belong in the same sentence. So aside from those few things, we feel we’re pretty simple and budget conscious.
So what did this simple 4 nights/5 days mini vacation cost us? A whopping $1800!!! That doesn’t include the back to school clothes we purchased for the kids at the factory outlets we visited one rainy day. How did we ring up an $1800 bill? It was really quite easy. Actually what was hard was not ringing up a $2000 bill! Here you go:
Hotel $665 (4 nights)
Gas/Tolls $140
Food $650 (including dining out, groceries, snacks)
Entertainment $137 (go karts, mini golf etc)
Dog Sitter $200
Total $1792
Was it worth the $450 per night? Definitely. Our children are getting older and soon won’t want to go on vacation with us, in fact our 14 year old came along kicking and screaming because he wanted to stay home and “hang out” with his friends. But more importantly, these are the experiences and memories they will remember forever and reminisce about with their own children. They’re not going to remember the latest PS2 game or I touch or the latest style of sneakers they just had to have. Those are just things that will fade as fast as they came in. But the experiences we provide them with now will shape and mold their future and hopefully make them finer individuals (ok I can be hopeful!). If these little “mini vacations” accomplish that then they are definitely worth it. What do you think? Do you sometimes spend ridiculous amounts of money on “experiences”?
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08.28.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 8:48 pm by CreditMom
Our 14 year old just completed week 2 on a budget. To recap, week one he was given $50 to do a list of chores outside the typical “clean your room responsiblities”. Week 2, he was given $40 because he missed 2 chores on week one. We gave him the money on Sunday in order to teach him to budget his money for the next weekend. On week one, he had money left over to roll into week two.
During the 2nd week he bought an ITunes gift card, saw a movie and bought some miscellaneous snack items. When Friday came, he had $8 left in his wallet (the $8 was in addition to the money he is required to put in the bank each week). This posed a problem since he had already made plans for both Friday and Saturday nights.
On Friday he asked me for his weekly allowance and I reminded him that he doesn’t get it until Sunday. For some reason he drew a blank on this one - that was a fun conversation. I told him he has $8 left to stretch over 2 days and to be creative because he was not getting any money from us until Sunday. In addition, he was not permitted to take money out of his savings. Thankfully he did all of his chores this week so he could expect the full payment of $50 on week three.
So, he figured out how to have his cake and eat it too. He went to Starbucks to hang out with his friends Friday and only spent $3. On Saturday he went to Rockwells Restaurant and only ordered an ice cream dessert for $5 while every one else ordered dinner.
Did I feel bad? I must admit for a second I did feel bad but I got over it pretty quickly. The reason? We just taught him his first real life budgeting lesson and I saved myself money because a couple of weeks ago I would have just fished out another $20.
How disciplined are you with your approach to allowance? Do you find it hard to hold the line?
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08.24.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 11:13 am by CreditMom
As I sit here preparing for my last post before we go on a much needed family vacation, many ideas run through my mind. Do I blog about my son’s struggle budgeting his weekly allowance? Or the pile of bills waiting to be paid before we leave? What about the $200 I just deposited at Staples for the twins’ school supplies (we haven’t even gotten to the 14 year old’s supplies yet) or do I write about how we’re going to pay for our vacation without going into credit card debt? What is it about taking a vacation that creates a pool of stress?
The underlying theme is the same. How do you manage when the cost of your everyday expenses keeps increasing? What do you cut back on? I feel we live a pretty simple life but I guess it’s all relative. We don’t drive luxury cars or live in a luxury home. We don’t take exotic vacations (this one is a road trip to the Maryland shore). Our weekly food bill has increased by over $20 a week , gasoline prices are…well we won’t even go there, and even school supplies have increased exponentially! I mean what happened to the Staples August sale this year??
How do you do it without getting into credit card debt? I swear by my debit card because I feel it’s the closest thing to cash. If I don’t have it in the bank, I can’t put it on the card, plain and simple.
Well, in reading over this post I realize I DO need a vacation! So I’ll leave you with that and when I return I’ll let you know how we managed this vacation on a budget.
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08.15.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 10:19 pm by CreditMom
All of 3 of our children have cell phones - even the 10 year old twins. Why did we decide to buy them mobile phones at such a young age? It’s pretty simple. We want to be able to contact them at any time. Call us helicopter parents or over protective. We really don’t care. We want to be within earshot of our children whenever they are not home.
So, here are 6 things you should consider before purchasing a cell phone for your child.
- Cost of Cell Phone - Adding 3 lines to our plan was not cheap. It cost $10 extra per line plus some pretty hefty taxes when added to the family plan. But this is a good way to tie in allowance and good behavior. If they don’t do their chores they lose their phones.
- Added features - Your child likes to text? Add $10 per month for unlimited text messaging. Your loved one likes to surf the web, e-mail, download music and games? The sky is the limit on that one, ranging from a couple of dollars per month to another down payment on a house! Much to our children’s disappointment we have blocked all web access and digital download applications from their cell phones. Our teen has unlimited text and the twins have no text at all (if you listen closely you might be able to hear the fighting in our house).
- Phone Privacy - We immediately listed their phones on the National Do Not Call Registry but it didn’t stop the credit collectors from repeatedly calling our 10 year old because his phone number was originally registered to someone that didn’t like to pay his bills. Thankfully he didn’t erase the phone numbers and we were able to get his number off of the calling list. Also, we don’t allow our children to store any personal information (addresses, passwords, locations etc) in their phones in case they are stolen.
- Safety - Kids and cell phones are a haven for sexual predators who are looking for a receptive chid on the other end. This happened to my friend’s daughter and she was smart enough to not engage in the conversation and not erase the phone number. Our children answer calls from their contact list only and ignore un-recognizeable and restricted numbers. We also make sure our chidren do not erase unknown numbers. In addition, many companies like Verizon offer parental GPS tracking which notifies the parent when their child has left the zone they have pre-programmed. We haven’t added it so I’m not sure how effective this is but if any one uses it I would love to hear about your experience.
- Using the Phone in School - This is a really tough one. Most schools do not allow cell phone usage. Besides being a distraction and downright rude, the schools do not allow cell phones because some kids use text messaging to cheat on tests, send bullying messages to others and even take unauthorized pictures of other kids in the bathroom. However, our older son takes public transportation to school. So what do we do? We allow him to leave his phone on while commuting and he must shut it off when he arrives at school. Does he listen..NO WAY! And that would be why the dean once confiscated his phone. Let’s just say life was not very good for him when I got that phone call at work.
- Responsibility - My favorite. We learned the hard way about setting ground rules. Let’s face it, having their own cell phones makes it easier to make phone calls at will. I don’t know whether it’s independence or novelty but something comes over them when that phone is in hand. Like the time our 10 year old called his best friend’s house for a play date at 1 AM and his friend’s father automatically started getting dressed because he thought there was an emergency in our house. Or when we caught our 14 year old doing his homework, reading and sending text messages at the same time. The good thing is the cell phone is very portable and easy to confiscate for quick (and very meaningful) punishments.
Of course at the end of the day, purchasing a cell phone for your child is a personal decision that may not be right for every one. Most children want one because it’s cool and certainly not to stay in touch with Mommy and Daddy. There is a compromise however, and as a working mom with 3 children wanting their independence, it is our well worth it peace of mind.
So what do you think of cell phones for kids? When would you allow the first cell phone and what limitations would you impose?
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08.02.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 10:40 am by CreditMom
I know, the summer is only half over (or half begun for the optimists) but it’s hard not to notice the ads for discount school supplies in the Sunday newspaper. My 10 year old twins received their 5th grade “suggested school supply list” on their last day of school so it makes it a bit easier to pre-plan back to school shopping for that joyous day in September.
Last night I finally decided to read the list that has been posted on the refrigerator since June. After my eyes glazed over, I decided I would share this absurdity: Read the rest of this entry »
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07.24.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 10:51 pm by CreditMom
My kids go to a midweek sleepaway camp. They get on the bus Monday morning and come home Friday night. My 14 year old has been going for 4 years and this year for the first time we sent the 10 year old twins. We decided to send the twins for only two weeks because we were a bit nervous how one of them would adjust — plus it just costs so much money!
Well, by the 2nd day the twins called home (they’re allowed daily phone calls…a curse and a blessing at the same time) and asked that we extend their stay for another 2 week session. Now remember, everything we do is double…well actually triple if you count our 14 year old. But the 14 year old was staying 5 weeks so how could we say no to 4 weeks for the twins? I mean isn’t that saying we love the 14 year old more than the twins? (At least, that’s the typical guilt trip they give us).
So my husband and I discussed it and decided to give in and extend camp another 2 weeks. Now I would love to say we did this out of our undying love for our children and enormous generosity but that would be a complete lie. We did it because it’s so darn peaceful in our house and we’ve gained back our FREEDOM! We’ve been going to the beach, dining out and just doing whatever we want when we want….imagine that concept?
During the weekend he was home, my 14 year old said, “I can’t believe you’re sending the twins another 2 weeks. How much is that costing?” So when I gave him the figure, he stared in disbelief and said, “How do you guys even make enough money for that? How do you pay for it?” At first I was taken aback but then I realized this was a good thing. After all these years he was finally developing some financial awareness.
I told him we start paying for next year’s camp the week camp ends this year. So in August 08, we will begin paying for Summer 09 and we’ll get a discount by signing up early. We pay the camp fees monthly throughout the year, just like any other expense and when one of us has extra cash we send an extra payment, just so we don’t have to go into credit card debt. It’s all a matter of budgeting and priorities.
I hope some financial awareness is beginning to settle in and they appreciate this privilege. But judging from my conversation tonight, I think the only awareness the twins have is self awareness. In fact, when asked why he didn’t call home last night one of them said, “Because I had nothing to say to you and I was surrounded by girls.” Oh my…what should we expect when they all come home????
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07.21.08
Posted in Kids and Money at 11:22 pm by CreditMom
We’re all huge Batman fans in my family so Friday morning I purchased 5 tickets from moviefone.com for the evening show of the Dark Knight. It cost us $100.50 for a 2 1/2 hour movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was awesome. We all loved it, in fact we all would actually see it again…well, if we didn’t have to pay for it!
So here is the cost breakdown of our little family Friday night treat:
Movie tickets (2 adults, 3 children, $1 ea online surcharge): $50.50
4 Popcorns $24.00
1 Candy $ 4.50
5 Sodas $17.50
Parking $ 4.00
GRAND TOTAL $100.50
Gone are the days of the drive in movie when your parents used to pack you into the car in pajamas and make you hide under the blanket in the back seat so they wouldn’t have to pay for you. Gone are the prices too! At today’s prices you have to be really selective in the movies you choose. How does any one afford to take their family to the movies these days?
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