Day 239 - Church giving and tithing

I have decided that, for our family's purposes (and every family is different), for now, our kids can decide who and how much they want to give their DONATION money too.

I'm not going to tell them that they have to give it all every week to our Church. They are having too much fun - and, in 11 and 13 year old language, that means, they are curious and genuinely interested (doesn't happen often to 11 and 13 year olds) - with this experience that for me to start wrecking it now.

As for us, the family has always put something in the basket, usually close to the same amount on a fairly regular basis. But, we've never committed to a number. And, we've never really thought about what that number or percent should be.

So, what's my next step? Increase it by 10% until I get to 10%. Tithing 10% right now, out of the blue would just blow away our "budget" (as it is, which is much better than it was about 8 months ago). I'm estimating what I put in the collection plate for all of last year and increasing it by 10%. That's how much I'm writing on the pledge card for next year. Then I'm dividing it by 12 months - and setting it up for AUTOMATIC debit from our checking account each month.

Yahooo!

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 232 - Daughter begins her Kiva giving

Kiva.org loans to people of small businesses in poverty areas start at $25.

My 13 year old's DONATIONS bank only has a little over $10 in it.

Her MORE MONEY bank, on the other hand, has about $15 in it.

Good question - should we call this a DONATION or an INVESTMENT?

Well, according to Kiva.org, it is a LOAN. So, it's an investment. Now, the likelihood of it being repaid is what's known as RISK - and my daughter will have to decide whether she wants to accept that investment risk, or whether she wants to consider the risk to be 100% non-repayment (which I am sure is NOT the case at Kiva.org) - and just call it a DONATION on her own books.

Either way, she's not ready yet to do that.

[But, I am. I loaned $25 today to a seamstress. I am calling it an investment - one of a growing number of them in my portfolio.]



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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 225

Bank night has turned into Family Night.

Everyone at home - without tv or cell phones or IM.

With games, stories, "funniest thing that happened this week at school," puzzles, projects, family dreaming. I can see that "What if's" will play a part in this - "What if we could go anywhere for a family vacation, where would it be?"

Just us, just for fun, just for sharing.

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 218 - Son's business

We discussed a dot-com affiliate business and a lawn mowing/yard cleaning business.

We wrote down the investments needed for each - time & money.

He's thinking about it, then I'm sure we'll jot down a game plan (aka business plan).

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 211 - Son turns 11 - thinks of owning his own business

So my son says to me this week while we're eating his birthday cake (just the family little celebration after dinner), "I was thinking. What kind of business could I start - and what MONEY bank would that come out of?"

[And I think to myself, "I don't know. And, I don't know," are NOT good answers.]

I pretend needing to chew this melt-in-your-mouth cake - to give me more time to think. I need to scan the Kids' Bank Book for answers to stuff like this, I decide. Didn't it say something about kids and their businesses? about hiring them for work around the house?

"Hmm, good question. Let me think about that and we'll discuss it tomorrow."

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 204 - 13 year old donates to Kiva.org

My 13 year old daughter wants to donate to Kiva.org.

Wow! My daughter is considering helping someone on the other side of the world with microfinance!

She's checking out the different listings now.

[Have you ever heard of such a thing? Donate/lend a minimum of $25 and they'll add the little pieces together and "lend" it to a 3rd world small business. The world is getting smaller - and better!]


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 197 - Son wants to donate to World Wildlife Fund

My son has decided to use his DONATIONS bank money for the World Wildlife Fund.
We're going to print out the form and mail it.

I haven't decided yet whether to have him write a check using one of my checks (and I'll sign it of course) - and I can take him to the bank on Saturday to make the deposit into my checking account.

Or, to take him to the post office and get a money order. I'm leaning towards a money order because there's a small fee for the money order - which demonstrates the costs of MANAGING money better than writing a check does. [By just writing one of my checks, he doesn't see my monthly checking account fee, or the cost of having checks printed, etc.]


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 190 - Found a Quarter

My 6 year old daughter found a quarter the other day.

Her first reaction - "Can I put it in my MORE MONEY bank? Pleeease?"

Boy, they sure learn fast - get more money by adding to the more money bank.

I wish I had learned to have that reaction to money - as in, "what do I want to invest this money in?" rather than "which of the 10 things that I wanted can I buy now?" - earlier in life!

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 183 - 6 months on the Wealth Habits Path

In a couple days it will be the 4th of July.

This year, we're celebrating a lot more than our Nation's Independence in our family - and it makes our Nation's Freedom celebration so much more special!

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 176 - Kids Tell Friends of their Charitable Donations

Had a couple over for lunch and a Saturday afternoon game of CashFlow 101. After the 2 older kids beat all of us, they proudly showed their well-decorated Abundance Banks to our friends.

Then they proceeded to tell our friends about their Charitable Donations (by which point our friends were telling me that they didn't even think their kids knew the word "charitable" never mind practiced it).

I am a PROUD PARENT today :)

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 169 - I almost passed out from 13 year old daughter's request

Forget jaw dropping or falling off of the chair - I almost PASSED OUT today:

13 year old comes to me and says she's going to the store with her friends and wants to take only $10 with her so she doesn't OVERSPEND, but she only has a $20 bill and a bunch of change in her SPENDING bank - and can I break the $20 bill for her?!!!

I just nodded, opened the Bank of Parents, and handed her the 2 $10 bills. I did it without speaking because I was speechless (actually, I was barely breathing). What Divinities have been visiting my children?


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 162

My son is REALLY getting into record keeping with his Abundance Bank.

He keeps track of how much is in his MORE MONEY bank.
How much is in his SPENDING bank.
How much is in his CHRISTMAS bank.
And how much he has in his DONATIONS bank.

He really likes announcing to us how much MORE his MORE MONEY bank has that the other banks.


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 155

13 year old got a $20 bill in the mail from her Grandma today for her birthday.

[My whole family knows about The Abundance Bank and thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread, so they're all making a point of giving monetary gifts to help the kids gain the experience and good habits of using The Abundance Bank.]

I looked at my 10 year old son and asked him how much my daughter would put into each of the 4 Banks. He, having been practicing his times tables, instantly said $5.

So, my daughter gave me the $20 bill and I gave her a few $5 bills and 5 ones. Gotta love it.
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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 148

I got to thinking today about Good Debt.

All I have is "consumer debt" which is not the Good Debt which is used for investment purposes. It sure would be nice to be Consumer Debt-free and have some Good Debt working for us in an investment (with a good savings and investment account that has no debt against it, first, of course).

All of which got me thinking about what types of investments I'd like to have.

I'd like to start with a few stocks. To get my feet wet.
I'd like to rehab a house and rent it.
I'm thinking about whether I'd like to own a franchise.

I never thought I'd be good enough to have these types of "big money" thoughts. I thought I'd always be stuck with trying to figure out how to pay the light bill this month.

Life is good, even if our financial picture isn't perfect yet, it's own the right path!

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 141

I signed up today for Crown Financial's (http://www.crown.org) Money Map and Mvelopes software to keep our family using ONLY the money that's allocated for that particular expense - no more over spending on things like eating out - at the expense of our financial security and freedom.

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 134

Well, it's the middle of May in our first year of our family's new-born financial literacy and freedom.

I've been paying a little extra each month to one credit card - the one with the highest interest. And, I've been noticing how the interst amount each month is going down, down, down.

Yeaaahhhh!

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 127

Our 13-year old daughter has shared with us at dinner time several times this week about all of the fascinating information she's gotten off the Web about starving children in all parts of the world, and the different organizations that exist to help solve that problem.

My dear Watson, I believe she's becoming socially concious beyond the topic of her, how she looks, and whether her friends think she's cool enough.

I'm sooo proud of her :)


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 120

Now the 7th grader wants to show off her math prowess with money too. I had to give some thought to this, and here's what I came up with - WORD PROBLEMS.

I hated them, I think every kid hates them (except those math nerds who actually buy books on them and do them like other people do crossword puzzles and sudoku).

But, with money and THEIR stuff, it's so much easier.

Okay, I tell my daughter, how many starving children in Africa could you feed for one day if it cost $1.05 to sponsor a child for one day, using the money in your DONATIONS Bank?

She went right to town with that - and the pride at her math work - AND her new-found realization that she could PERSONALLY help to save a life - just brightened up her whole being. I haven't seen her that truly happy about herself since she turned 13.

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 113

Had a brainstorm today and used it at Money Day time:

The 10 year old is in 4th grade and learning times tables - which is essentially, counting by [fill in the blank number].

I had him exchange a bunch of change - starting with the 11s tables. It was easy - just had him make 12 lines totalling 11. He can count money well - just can't count by 11 very easily or quickly.

So, he had one line of a dime and a penny (11 cents). The next line had 2 nickels and a penny (11 cents). And so on.

Then, when he first counted it, he had to add each piece of the line - as in, 11 cents for the first line, plus a nickel, equals 16 cents, plus a nickel equals 21 cents, plus a penny equals 22 cents. Then, after a little practice he could just count from one line to the next 11 - 22 - 33 - 44 - etc.

If it's with money, they're interested. When I told him he had just learned his 11's times tables he was in shock! [and so was I - no tears, no fussing, no begging]

Yahooooo!


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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 106

Enthralled with her new-found counting abilities, the little one counted to 100 by 10's (dimes) several times. Now she's got her 10's memorized.

[The times tables in a few years should be a snap for her!]

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 99

Had another one of those "fell off my chair" experiences on Money Day this week -

6 year old daughter decides she wants to exchange pennies for a dollar bill. She counted to 100 all by herself!

Oh my gosh! Her sister and brother were so proud of her :)

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 92

This is going to be fun! In line with the kids making their own banks, I took the kids to Staples and let them get their own Investment Notebook. I got one too - the kids seem to like it better when I can simultaneously guide them, while not appearing to be a "know-it-all." So, this way, I can EXPERIENCE it with them - they seem to be comforted and supported by that.

[I could have let them enter the numbers and info into an XL spreadsheet, but I think WRITING BY HAND makes your brain work better - as in, make better connections and deeper memory patterns.]

I had them do their own search online for their companies and find today's stock price. We'll start with just one company (that way, later, when we add other companies to the portfolio, they'll learn the benefits of DIVERSIFYING).

I had them count their MORE MONEY Bank money. They wrote that balance, and the stock name, symbol and price in their notebook. They did the math to figure out how many whole shares (no fractional shares) they could buy. They wrote that down. They made a chart in the next page with columns for the date and that day's closing price and a column for total value of their shares.

Our son "bought" 1 share of Nike.
Our daughter "bought" 3 shares of Gap.
I "bought" 2 shares of Disney (symbol DIS).

Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 85

Okay, so, the 10 year old wants to buy some Nike shares and the teenager wants to buy Gap.

They're looking to me for leadership, but I've never invested in stocks before - just my 401k mutual funds at my work. I feel like the "Little Engine that Could" - I can do this, I can do this.

I think I'll open the paper at work today and find where these actual symbols are listed and how I can their prices. What am I thinking? The kids would be able to look that stuff up online in 5 seconds. I'll go on line when I get to work today and figure out how to find all this stuff quickly.

Breath, breath.

[I wonder how I EVER thought that my kids would grow up smarter about money when I have to use so much courage and energy to just do these few small steps to teach them. Wow! Am I glad we're doing this now, together, as a family!]

Found it (hey, I didn't realize the Google search can give you the stock quote without having to even go to any stock market page or anything!).

Nike - symbol NKE - price $53.03
Gap - symbol GPS - price $18.34
___________________________________________

Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 78

Our 10 year old son wants to start experimenting with investing his money in "virtual" stocks. I feel very under-educated about this stuff, but I'm excited to learn right along with him. Our entire family's views about money are getting more and more positive. I can feel the age-old pessimism ebbing away, and the excitement of a new-found sense of financial freedom and courage breathing new life into our home.



Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 71

The 13 year old just blew us away at Cashflow! As a janitor, she was off the Rat Race within 30 minutes.

The youth have such an advantage - lack of years (years? who am I kidding? DECADES) of dysfunctional habits and subconcious harmful beliefs, not to mention the daily stress of juggling work and family responsibilities.
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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 64

I wonder if our 13 year old is old enough to play Cashflow and if she would enjoy it?

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Theresa Markham, Esq.
Author, The Kids' Bank Book

Day 57

Yahooo! Oh man, this Cashflow game is GREAT! If feels sooooo good to get off the Rat Race. I never knew that just doing it virtually - in the game - could feel this good. Imagine how I'll feel when it happens in my real life - and how my family will feel!

Who am I going to invite over next week to play Cashflow with?

Day 50

Yesterday I witnessed the most amazing MIRACLE. My 13 year old daughter walked up to her Sunday School class room and proudly took her church gift envelope out of her purse and deposited it into the donations box - and SMILED.

I don't understand this behavior - we didn't even have to nag her.

(I gotta practice catching my jaw before it hits the floor.)

Day 43

Ordered the Cashflow 101 game today. Can't wait to get it. The kids are having all the fun watching their MORE MONEY add up so quickly. And, my 9 year old son is researching save the animals charities to send his donation money too.

Day 36

Yahoo! I get it now! The stuff that I learned in The Kids' Bank Book - and that the kids are just naturally doing with their Abundance Banks - I get it all on a much deeper level now. I can see the big-picture wisdom behind it all.

Day 29

Okay, I'm seriously thinking about "INVESTING" in Kiyosaki's CashFlow 101 Game (www.richdad.com) because I need some sort of fun outlet like these kids have that will get me in the groove with smart money habits. Managing the budget still seems like such a struggle and ROI just seems like a foreign concept. Maybe I'll start with Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" on CD and listen on the way to work.

Day 22

The 13 year old now starts off the "banking evening" with, "Show me the MORE MONEY money!"

Day 15

The 9 year old found a quarter today and shouted, "I'm putting this in my MORE MONEY bank." Boy, he caught on fast. I wish it had felt that obvious earlier on in my life - and that much of a FUN habit (rather than a difficult challenge) - to me to put more money into investments to get a bigger ROI.

Day 8

Enjoyed playing with the 6 year old while I gave her paper dollar bills in exchange for her coins that she counted out HERSELF. Hey, maybe this will help her practice her math skills without me pulling my hair out (like I did with the older kids) . . . hmmm . . .

Day 4

It was amazing! The 6 year old was just having a blast putting a coin in each of the 4 parts - and singing while she was doing it. The 9 year old wants to know all the details of when he gets more and how much more. The 13 year old wants to know when we can go to the Mall for her to spend her Spending Bank money.

Day 3

Finally! Got the question today - "When are we going to get to use our new banks?" Ahhh, I'm starting to see the benefits of attraction not pressure. Tonight after dinner. Hey, maybe our once a week bank night will become our everyone-absolutely-eats-together dinner night.

Day 2

The kids went wild decorating their 4-part Abundance Banks. I didn't even get a chance to give my long-winded speech about the purpose and importance of wise money management. They just kept decorating the different bank parts and looked at us with pride at their works of art.

Day 1

Okay, I got the eBook "The Kids' Bank Book" and now am going to read it - probably quickly because I'm anxious to get going. It's a New Year, time to get this family on a path to prosperity and good money habits.
. . . a little while later . . .
ROI? What the heck is ROI? Oh sure, Return on Investment. Okay, I get it. But, are MY kids really going to be interested in learning about ROI?