5 Tips Teach Children About Money

Our Fiscally Fit Chicks meeting was really great this month.  We had some visitors and I was lucky to get the most knowledgeable businessman, philanthropist and wealthy person I know to present for us...my dad.

As a father of nine and grandfather of 23 (so far) he was the perfect guest speaker for our topic-  

How to Teach Kids about Money. 

Dad holding newborn Beckett.

The theme of his advice started with the idea that wealth is not just about money.  We need to teach our children that they can be very wealthy even without money in their pocket.  Wealth comes from friends, family, happy attitudes, education, kindness, etc.  In that same vein many financially rich people can also be very, very poor in character and spirit.  It is our role as parents to teach children the true meanings of these words.


He followed that up with 5 tips to teach children about money.

1.  Work for what you receive.  As parents we should present opportunities for our children to work and never just hand them money.  As a child, if I wanted something my question to my parents was never, "Can I have $20 for the movie?"  It was, "Do you have some work I can do to earn $20?"

2.  Teach contentment and DO NOT COVET.  Don't keep up with the Jones' just to look like everyone else.  Recognize your blessings and help your children feel them. The next time you hear, "Everyone in my school has an iPhone- why not me?" you can respond with the gratitude of your life instead of wanting what everyone else has.

3.  Money is not for showing off.  Be sure your children know that having money does not give you a free pass to "show off".  Money should be used responsibly.  If you ever hear your child telling their friends, "My family is sooo rich. We buy whatever we want."  You need to re-think character development.

4.  It's OK to say "We can't afford it."  Some experts suggest using the words, "I don't want to spend my money on that right now." or "We haven't budgeted for that at this time." The idea is that it is OK for our children to know we can't buy everything we want.

5.  Tithe and Save.  Every financial expert I have studied suggests paying a percentage of money to church or charity and saving a percentage of money.  I have been taught to pay a 10% tithing since I was a young child.  It is a habit now and one that I never question.  Teaching these skills at a young age helps habits form and gets kids prepared for their life on their own.

Strike a Power Pose

 A couple of weeks ago while doing laundry I found this great Ted Talk about Power Posing. 

Amy Cuddy shares research on how our body language can actually change the outcome of our day and futures.  Just by making a Power Pose (opening our arms and bodies, looking up, puffing our chest, etc.) we can become more powerful! 

Did you know it works even when you don't feel powerful?  It is a perfect way to "Fake it till you make it." 

I ran after my children when they were walking to the bus stop to tell them their day would be better if they walked with their arms up in the air for a little while.  I then watched my 3 boys powerfully march down the road, arms spread in high V's and lunch bags dangling from their palms.

As a fiscally fit chick, I will now be channeling my inner Wonder Woman before speaking to any solicitors, insurance salespeople, telemarketers, medical account services, the cable company and men in general. 

You should try it!

Law of attraction got me a furnace guy

I can't believe it worked!
My January resolution of using the law of attraction and visualizing what I want worked today. 

Here's the story:
Last summer, Sonny replaced the thermostat in our sun room.  Shortly after, the furnace quit working.  Since there is a separate unit for that part of our home, we managed with ceiling fans and windows. With the cold weather Sonny had every intention to fix that furnace and even climbed on the roof (that is where it resides) and ordered a part for it.  Since there is a gas fireplace in there also, we have managed through the winter by turning on the fireplace when we are in there and keeping the doors closed when we are not. But it has been annoying. The gas smells and makes my eyes burn a little and the leather couches are like thin layers of ice, ready to crack when you sit on them.

I have said to Sonny MANY times, "We need to fix the furnace."  Every time I walk in the room I think, "We have got to fix the furnace!  I should call someone."   But we never did-hoping that Sonny would get around to looking at it again or breaking down and calling someone.

Today, there was a knock on my door.

I opened it, seeing a kind looking middle-aged man dressed in a blue uniform with the name "Dan" embroidered above the pocket.  On the street behind him sat a work van with a local heating and air company name painted all over it.

"Hi, um, I have an appointment with you, but I'm not sure what for.  It isn't in my notes."  Said Dan.

"I didn't make an appointment.  Are you sure this is the right place?"  I said.

"Yes, Carolyn, right?  Well do you have a furnace problem?" He asked.

"I do... Yes."  I told him I thought my husband must have made the appointment and forgot to tell me.  I showed him the furnace and while he looked it over, I called Sonny.

"I didn't call anyone." Sonny told me.  "I have no idea how he got there."

Dan saved the day.  He found a blown up part of the unit, ordered it, and will get it installed tomorrow.  We both kept marveling at the oddity of him just showing up.  He showed me his work order and there was my name and address, clear as can be.  No notes, but another person's phone number.  Somehow there was a mixup- but it was a lucky one for me.

Did I attract Dan to me?  Maybe.

I definitely sent the thought out a few hundred times into the universe.

The experience has renewed my excitement to this month's experiment into the law of attraction.  New found faith in the idea made me a little giddy and helped me recognize 2 other possible attractions today.

1- When I opened the bank statements to my boys' savings accounts, I saw that the accounts all had a monthly $5 service fee.  I was bugged that a kids account would charge a fee.  Especially since I am pretty careful about watching for little financial  jabs like that.
I decided that after Beck got home from Kindergarten I would go to Wells Fargo and talk to them about it.  I saw myself walking into the bank and telling the banker that I was not going to keep the accounts there with a fee as large as this in a child's account.  I saw him apologizing and waiving the fees.
After an hour I picked up the statements again and my eyes were immediately drawn to a sentence I hadn't seen before:

The bank has waived this fee.

Fantastic!

2-  I took Beck and Cohen to the library this afternoon.  I have been wanting to get some more audio books and I was hoping to find some resources on where I might send an article I'm writing as another one of my goals this month.  There is a book called "Writer's Market" that is the best compilation of publications, publishers and information on getting published in the universe.  Every time I go to the library it is missing.  (Our small town of 16,000 has a pretty little library.)

Today, I walked up to the section and found not just the out-dated 2012 version, but a brand-spanking new 2014 edition sitting there, waiting for me.  

Awesome!

I think I'll keep this positive thinking and visualizing stuff going.  Small victories lead to big wins, right?

 

Attracting a New Year

We're in it now.  2014 is official, my kids are back in school, and life is moving on.  I think New Years Day might be one of my favorite holidays because of my weird love of goal setting.  (Thank you father.) But I accept my quirky passions and hope to see them work for me (and all Fiscally Fit Chicks!) as 2014 rolls along. 

As I walk/jogged on the treadmill on January 1st, I searched Netflix for a good documentary and found "The Secret".  I had read the book a year ago, a new-age type book that discusses the law of attraction as the secret to prosperity, health, relationships and happiness.  If we think it, we can achieve it sums it up pretty well.

Here is the Secret link if interested : http://thesecret.tv/thesecretfilm/ 

Obviously this is not the only book to examine the power of the mind.  In fact, Napoleon Hill's,  "Think and Grow Rich" was written decades before and covers much of the same ideas.

So, after watching and re-reading segments of both books, I decided that this month I would actually do the exercises that they suggest and really try to focus on "attracting" what I want to myself.

• I wrote a journal entry in the present tense depicting my life exactly as I want it to be in my successful future.  
• I wrote down what I am grateful for, I have been repeating this gratitude list every day.  
• I am also using my meditation time during yoga class to visualize myself as this person in the future.  (I've tried visualizing checks coming in the mail- an example they share in the book- I'm still working on that.)

I like the exercises.  As a gymnast I would always take time to visualize my routines and skills.  I would see myself sticking my landings and being awarded perfect scores.  Even my husband came home from playing basketball this week, happy about his performance in the game.
"It is so mental." he told me. "I was able to actually see myself hitting the shots before they went in, and then they did!"

Whether you believe in Karma/universal energy or not, I think this self experiment is a good one.  I'll keep you updated as I go.  Happy New Year!