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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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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05.30.08
Posted in Children's ID Theft at 12:51 am by CreditMom
This week, we may have been the victims of identity theft. We are having renovations done in our house which means there are unattended workers during the day. Last night, my 10 year old claimed to have “lost” his phone. Of course I reacted very calmly (NOT!…since it’s not even a month old) while we tore apart every inch of the house. Then, I noticed my Ipod missing from my night table. After that his twin brother noticed his Ipod missing from the computer where he had left it charging. Also missing was my old mobile phone that I left with my boys as a spare.
Of course my first reaction was to blame the kids. After all, their room tends to look like gale force winds passed through it even on a good day so it’s no wonder something could get lost….but 4 things in a row? Something wasn’t right. Well, I’ll never be 100% sure if one of the workers actually stole the items or whether they’ll turn up in a sock drawer, the dog’s crate or even the plumbing for the toilet but what I do know is lost or stolen, there was a ton of personal information on those phones.
So what was on my phone? To start, about 80 or so contact ID’s: names, phone numbers, photo ID’s and email addresses. In addition to that was my call history and uncleared text messages. It gets even better - I thought I was pretty slick and input all of my rewards point programs and passwords into my notepad - wait, it still gets better….I input all of the combination lock codes into the notepad as well. Want a bike? The code is there. My son input his 2 locker numbers and combination codes into his phone. Then there are the pictures…all with clearly labeled file names. Any one can tie the picture back to the contact list. It goes on and on.
As I write this I am beginning to feel more and more violated. If someone wants to they could pretty much piece my family’s life together. Imagine if it was a blackberry? People store physical addresses, activate auto logins to their emails, bank accounts, etc. It’s just endless and we wonder how we become victims of Identity Theft!
Has this ever happened to you? What did you learn from it and how do we protect ourselves and our families?
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05.25.08
Posted in Children's ID Theft at 7:39 am by CreditMom
I have to admit, children’s Identity theft has never been top of mind for me. In fact, when it comes to children related theft the first things that come to my mind are lockers broken into or stolen bicycles. But, kids and ID theft seem to be making the forefront of the news lately.
According to the FTC, 400,000 kids per year have their identity stolen. Who would steal a child’s ID and how would we even know it’s stolen? Unfortunately kids are the best targets for identity theft because their credit is completely clean. A care taker, relative or even a parent is typically the culprit. What’s worse is most times a child doesn’t even know their ID is stolen until they apply for their first car loan or credit card or even a student loan for college. By that time, they might have multiple credit cards with credit lines in the thousands of dollars and they might also be in major debt.
A few tips:
- Don’t carry any social security cards with you
- Beware if your child begins to receive pre approved credit card applications in the mail or cannot open up a checking or savings account
- Also beware if your child is denied car insurance or drivers license renewal
- Teach your kids not to give out their social security number to anyone without your approval and be especially aware of phishing type emails on the internet
So the next time my kids leave the house do I need to make sure they lock up their ID’s as well as their bikes? Has any one’s child ever been the victim of identity theft? Could you please share your experiences and what you have learned so others may take precaution?
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