A SUCCESSFUL MONEY 101 FIELD TRIP: BUDGETING

I wrote a while back about some of the money-related topics we've been covering this summer for our personal finance/economics discussion. You can read the initial post here. 

One topic we've introduced is the idea of budgeting. Budgeting is something that adults use both in their homes as well as in various career fields. It's not just adults that need to know this, though, it is applicable for pretty much any kid who is old enough to go shopping.

Let me share with you what budgeting means to my 13 year-old:
  *Number One Answer: Budgeting is useful "so you can have money". (This is interesting, because it shows a positive attitude toward budgeting, versus something that's a dreadful chore.)
  *Budgeting is a plan for "knowing what to spend and what not to spend".
  *It includes "keeping things in reserve".
  *You need to "spend less than you bring in".
  *"If you don't budget you have negative money." (Debt)

As today's title suggests, we had a real-life experiment with budgeting a few weeks ago, when we took a six-day field trip. Two days of driving were followed by two days of touring and another two days of driving.

The logistics, discussed the week before the trip:
  *Each child had a certain amount of money that they were given to spend.
  *Each could add some of their own money to that amount if they wished.
  *They planned out how much money they would want to have for driving days as well as days at the actual destination (six days total).
  *They added up the amounts and found that they either would go over their amount or they could actually add more money to their budgets on some days.
  *They took this information and made their final plans for how much money they could spend per day.
  *Each time they spent some of their money on the trip, it would be logged so they knew how much money they had left for that day as well as whether they were running over- or under-budget.
  *Each child came in under-budget. Since the money was theirs to spend, they kept it for something that they might want in the future.
 
This planning only took about ten minutes before the trip, and about a minute each time someone spent money. 

One great thing about this method is that it really prevents arguments about money during the course of what is supposed to be a nice trip. We all know what we have and we can make decisions along the way about the things that are really important to us, versus things that are less important. Another positive thing is that knowing how to set limits for ourselves is not just for kids. If they can determine needs versus wants now when the stakes are small, maybe it will help them make decisions when they are adults and the stakes are a little bigger.

We have also explored ways to introduce the concept of budgeting (planning, making choices, evaluating along the way) with non-money opportunities. The kids have explained that you can budget tickets at a carnival, the number of hours you have on your day off, and the set amount of electronics time you're given. It's also similar to making plans to finish a book by a certain date, choosing x number of your favorite hot lunches for the month ahead of time, and making those cookies last all week. I love the idea that budgeting can be a positive experience. It doesn't have to be about restrictions and disappointment. Instead, it's about figuring out what's really important to you both for today and tomorrow.

Is budgeting part of your personal finance discussions with your children? What has worked and what has been less succesful for you? This is one area that sharing ideas can really be useful to others!
 

Money 101:Talking to kids about money

This summer, the family has embarked on an adventure we're calling "Money 101".

Why "Money 101"?

• We're talking about the "basics" of money: needs/wants, saving/spending, getting/keeping money, and lots more!

• It sounds so official (though really, a lot of what we're doing is just chatting about something the kids LOVE to talk about anyway).

• It's really about developing knowledge and skills regarding money that prepare us for life.    

So far, "Money 101" has provided some neat and practical discussion in our household.

I started out by asking what my 11-year old and 13-year old know about money. They shared things like: 
                             -Money is valuable
                             -It's important to know how much you have
                             -Don't spend too much/Don't waste it
                             -Government controls many things about money (what it looks like and how much it's worth)
                             
I then asked about what they'd like to know more about regarding money. This will help guide where we go from here.


How do you get your kids thinking and talking about money? 

How often do you talk about it together? 

How do your kids feel about money?

 

Edible History "Report"

My kids are a little young yet to do formal history reports. Yet they are old enough to learn a lot of good information about the history we read. So how do they share that information?

Last week we learned about Martin Luther and the Reformation. I happened to find some cookie cutters at an estate sale this summer that were perfect for a tie-in: Robin Hood (probably the person sent in UPCs from Robin Hood flour years ago).


We used the Friar Tuck cookie cutter to make Martin Luther the monk as well as John Tetzel. The castle and the knight cookie cutters became Martin Luther as Knight George hiding at the Wartburg. The Maid Marion and lute-player cookie cutters became Katie and Martin the family man. To fill in some dates the kids used number cookie cutters. We used a knife to cut out a church and a paper for the 95 theses.


We took the cookies to a get-together (with good friends) and they presented the recap of Luther and the Reformation. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures *before* we started eating them. It was great oral-presentation practice. Yummy, too!

Life Skills--Sous Chef

It often seems easier to just do things for the kids instead of taking the time to clean up their food preparation "mistakes". (We've had a couple good puddles of milk and juice which stand out in my mind.)

I know that in the long run having them as helpers truly will save time.

At 5 and 7 years old they truly do seem more developmentally ready now to tackle more kitchen chores.

Ds7's new sous chef chore this week was learning how to peel vegetables. He did well and we didn't find any fingernail shavings in the dinner, either!

Christmas Countdown--24 Days until Christmas

Today we'll be making some Christmas goodies as part of our Christmas countdown. I picked a couple of easy treats (chocolate dipped pretzels, Kiss cookies) for which I can get their part ready easily or even beforehand. They can help measure as their attention allows (we'll see).

The Bible reading is from Genesis 15:1-6 (God's promise to Abraham). We'll sing "A Great and Mighty Wonder" with its "...and peace on earth to men" refrain. Our book will be "Cranberry Christmas" by Wende and Harry Devlin. It goes well with our baking theme. If the kids would enjoy the Cranberry Cookie recipe included in the book we'd make those, too. Much of the book's theme revolves around the community skating pond, but unfortunately we don't have one of those to get out and use.

Foreign Language and Life Skills 1

Grocery Hunt

When my kids join me for grocery shopping, I like to keep them busy. I usually give them a list of things to find with the corresponding price to look for (if it's something that was advertised in the flier). The kids look for the items on their lists while we shop together.

In itself, I think this provides great lessons in economics, healthy foods, and financial literacy.

Whenever I write their lists in Spanish, the trip also lends itself to some extra vocabulary review.

I might send them for:

manzana (apple)
uva (grape)
cheese (queso)
pan (bread)

Or I can send them for a certain number of an item:
apples: seis (6)
grapes: more than veinte (20)

If I was at a department store I could even give them a list with words like lapiz (pencil) and quaderno (notebook).