How To Choose Fireplace Screens To Enhance Your Home Before, Americans used fireplaces in order to provide heat inside the home. With modern heating appliances and central or under floor heating, fireplaces have become more of a pursuit in architecture and made a decoration rather than the primary method of ... Is Your Teen An Entrepreneur? Are you hoping you've got your own Bill Gates in the making in your home? As a parent you can probably tell pretty easily whether or not the entrepreneurial spirit is evident in your child. Some kids make it very obvious that the regular nine-to-five will ... Teaching Your Teen Good Money Management Okay, you want your teenager to be more responsible with money. Do you remember when you were a teenager? Did you act responsibly with your money? What were some of the things your parents did to teach you about handling your money better? In this ...
A Single Parent Finds A Way To Teach Her Kids About Being "Savers" vs. "Over-Spenders"
As a widowed/single parent, I wanted to find a way to financially educate my children and to teach them to be savers first, not over-spenders. Like most children, mine would immediately start whining about wanting everything they saw in the stores and begging me to buy those things. So I decided to start giving my children an allowance to minimize the "I want monster" when we go to stores. But, not just any old allowance! I explained to them that each week I would give them their allowance, but not in the form of cash... but a check. We would go to the bank each week, fill out a savings deposit ticket (which they do, I supervise) and deposit most of the check. They need to give $1 per week in the offering at church; they would also need to deposit, at minimum, half of the check. The remaining portion, they could cash and spend as they like. Now when we go errand running and they come up to me and ask if I will buy them a toy or what I call an unnecessary item, I remind them that they have their allowance money and ask them if they are willing to spend their money on that particular item. The answer is almost always "No." Two important points: First, the reason I give them a check for their allowance instead of cash is because cash can be spent quickly and easily. A check is not really any good until you get it to the bank and cash or deposit it. This one little trip to the bank has forced them to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n their spending thoughts and habits. Especially when they look at their savings log after the bank teller has brought down their balance after adding in their deposit. Their faces just light up when they see how much money they have saved! By the end of the first year, they both had accumulated over $200. Second point, when I asked them why most of the time they decide against buying the item, their answer is usually, "I don't want it that bad." I was thrilled to see that they were learning what they wanted and didn't want and they weren't willing to spend money on those items! They are learning to tell the difference between their wants and needs. With a society consumed with credit card debt, I know that this lesson with handling money will payoff for them well into their adult lives. Copyright(c)2000 All rights reserved. You may reprint this article, I just ask that you keep all text, copyright information and url intact. Julie D. Raque http://www.matrixcoachingservices.com "Look at your life up till now, have you achieved all the goals you wanted to? If not, then you need Coach Raque!" Visit her website at http://www.matrixcoachingservices.com to receive a free coaching session. To learn more about Coach Raque also visit http://www.bestwishesoflouisville.com
About the Author Got Goals? Need Support? Julie is Your Goal-Achieving Coach! She helps women ACHIEVE their goals by guiding them through a 5-Step Program. Her clients can also expect to receive warm and empathetic support, to be inspired and challenged and to leave the session with an strategic-action plan. Together, they will have perseverance, persistence and tenacity in overcoming possible setbacks and challenges. Email matrixcoachraque@aol.com
Allowance News
Health Tip: Budget Your Calories Washington Post, United States - 10 hours ago The discretionary calorie allowance can be used on "goodies" that contain solid fats or added sugars. Examples include whole milk, cheese, sausage, ...
Sensible climate legislation Boston Globe, United States - 17 hours ago With our economy in recession, demand for electricity will grow slowly, if at all, keeping allowance prices low and avoiding carbon-related price increases, ...
