Sleigh bells ring. Are ya list’nen?

I’m not.

In the lane, snow is gliss’nen…

Snow. What snow. I’m looking out the window at my wheat field and wondering, is it really time for the tree? It’s 60 degrees for heaven’s sake. 

A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight… (well some of us are.)

W is almost ten and is wondering is Santa for true. Barney is frustrated with him for not believing. I just wink and say, “You’ve gotta believe, Love. You just gotta believe.”

Truthfully as I say this, I wonder if I still do. Or. Am I caught up in the trivial things of life? How do you keep the wonder of Christmas alive in a meaningful simple way?

Author Jason F. Wright has a wonderful suggestion. Christmas jars. He wrote this book about taking a jar and filling it with change. Maybe adding a  buck here and there, maybe even a twenty or fifty or hundred. Then the week before Christmas get the family and go walk through the winter wonderland and leave the jar and a copy of the book on some one’s door step, to be discovered later. Maybe at a home where someone has lost a job, or where someone is sick, or where someone simply needs a hand up.

A simple gift.  A blessing to a stranger. Just like the first Christmas. One star. One promise. One Savior. One gift. A small gift that absolutely changed the world, one person at a time. One family at a time.

If we just believe…

and fill one jar.

We could too.

Join me.

Love,

Sis

Kids and money. Two things that go together like…cats and dogs, water and oil, bailouts and capitalism, or me and skinny jeans. They ‘phidn’t dit’ I mean they didn’t fit. What I’m trying to say is, they just plain old don’t work.

Regardless of whether it’s a good idea to put them together or not, it is necessary. Money lessons now, may save little Jr. and Missy from living with you later. We love our kids, but try to get them a little closer to the door every day. Much to my chagrin, that will come sooner than I really want it to.

So, how do you teach kids about money? It’s like that kids book, “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie,” or as W used to say ‘read a mouse a cookie…’. If you give a kid a dollar…he’s gonna want a five to go with it…If you give him a five…it will remind him his allowance commissions are due and he’ll want ten…the ten will remind him of his birthday money from Grandma and he’ll want a fifty…That sounds too much like a stimulus package. We love capitalism here in our house, so there are only three ways to get paid: Earn it, earn it or you could earn it.

That breaks down into chores, grades, and bonuses. There are chores you get paid for, and chores you do because you are part of this working family. Some paying chores we have, are hauling wood, stacking wood, weeding garden, dumping the stink bucket, making beds, etc.. Cleaning room, picking up your toys, and hanging up your towel in the bathroom doesn’t bring forth wages, but does keep you from getting into trouble. Hows that for a bonus? Doing your best in school, gets you cash. A–$2 B-$1 C-$.50 D-$.25 F $0. If you get all A’s…we double it (a bonus). If your kids drive you may get a discount on auto insurance for A’s. Check it out.

So first, make a chore list and pay them like clock work. On pay day: sit down with each kid and do three things. Tell them what they did right, what they need to work on and pay them. You did this…you get paid this. You didn’t do this…so you don’t get paid.  

Help them get a plan for their money. According to personal finance guru, Dave Ramsey, there is three thing you can you with money: give, save and spend. Give some. Let the kids decide to who. School, church, local food pantry or homeless shelter are some ideas. Our kids like to feed some school kids in India.   Save some: they will need a car someday, and we will match anything they save now.  Spend some: the rest is theirs to do with what they want. 

Our kids use the envelope system (just like their parents do). The picture above is of Barney’s homemade  money envelopes. After they put the money into the envelope to give or save they can’t spend it. If they can’t learn to stick to plan now, how well do you think they will stick to it later?

We don’t bailout our kids at the checkout counter. We feel they will have a bigger “I did it all by myself” feeling and take better care of their purchases if you don’t ‘rescue’ them. Case in point. We were at Game Stop the other day and W was a little short on his much wanted PSP. We were discussing what he could sell to get the money faster and he said, “I know, why don’t you pay the rest and I’ll pay you back…”

That sounds an awful lot like a credit card company. Last time I checked that didn’t describe me. Sorry, if you don’t have the cash, you won’t be going home with the PSP.

I know I’m a meaner. These are simple principles but if learned at an early age…your kids could easily retire RESPONSIBLE millionaires. Time is on their side. Then who is the meaner?

What are you doing to teach your kids about money? I would love to know!

Simply,

Sis