More on KidsWealth Program

I have now received the KidsWealth kits for my kids.

I am really impressed!

Even my daughter, who can go through her allowance at warp speed, is quite interested, after reading the information and talking about how it will work, in participating in this program.

We've decided to set a start date of January 1st.

The way the program works is that you calculate how much you would normally spend each month on differnet "wants" for your kids. This would be allowance, computer software, video game rentals, school trips, restaurants, movies, designer clothes, spending money, souvenirs, etc...

I estimated I spend about $100 per month on each kid, total, if averaged over the course of the year. (Wow! I had no idea...).

You then agree to give the child HALF of that money, once a month, on their "payday". So, I will be handing over $50 to each child, on the first of each month.

If they do well with the program, eventually this amount may be increased (yikes!....).

They then divide this money into one of 4 "wallets". The kits come with a little calculator for them if they need help in figuring out how much money goes into each.

30% goes into their "wealth" wallet, to be saved. After 4 months you set up a bank account for them and they put that money in there each month, so that they can learn about banking and interest, etc...

20% goes into their "plan" wallet, set aside for things they are saving up for. An example might be a larger item, like a new bicycle.

20% goes into their "learn" wallet, for educational things like school trips, educational software, and other childhood learning opportunities.

20% goes into their "fun" wallets, to be spent however they choose.

10% goes into their "angel" wallets, to be donated to the charity of their choice.

My kids are quite excited about this new plan, and truly, so am I. Although I've never been one to just hand them money or buy them things for no reason, I like the idea of them taking more responsibility for managing finances and making choices and setting priorities - with supervision, support and education.

I just see so many people with major spending problems and debt, and I really don't want that kind of a future for my children.

I'll post periodically after the plan has been ongoing for a bit so people can check in and see how well it is (or is not!) working. I feel good about it so far.

They even readily agreed that the money they have right now (a signficant amount, because several relatives give them money at Christmas, and my son just had his birthday as well so has money from that...) will get divided according to this plan.

Now instead of just hearing Kevin and I talk about growing wealth and prioritizing how they use their money, they will learn it in actual practice - a much more compelling and "real" lesson.

Merry Christmas!

I have had the most wonderful Christmas day with my family.

Our tradition is to have my mother-in-law and father-in-law over for our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.

Then on Christmas day we have a family rule that we don't go anywhere and we don't have anyone over. It's the only day of the year that my husband's business is closed, so the time is sacred for us.

We hang out with the kids, play with the stuff they/we got, and just have fun and eat leftovers.

I have to say for Canadians, a product that is new this year that I highly recommend is the President's Choice pumpkin cream pie. It is outstanding!!

I am not a huge pumpkin pie fan but this is lighter tasting than the traditional pie and has a graham cracker crust - it's just wonderful. I discovered it one day when they were giving out free samples at our local Loblaws and I immediately purchased one for Christmas (so did everyone else who I saw having a sample, and sure enough when I was at the store again just 2 days before Christmas, they were completely sold out).

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas (or any other winter holidays that you may celebrate) and a Happy New Year!

New Money Managment Program for Kids!

I very frequently have adults contacting me for help in addressing their issues and patterns of emotional spending.

Anyone can experience emotional spending - purchasing things to help cover up or avoid upsetting emotions - at times, but I frequently hear from people who are very seriously in debt because they simply feel unable to manage and control their spending.

While I have never struggled with debt personally, the extent to which I hear about this from friends, family and colleagues, sometimes makes me worry that my children not fall into these patterns.

I was really excited when a friend told me about the Kids Wealth Money Kit and can't wait to test it out! I'll keep you posted on how it goes. I have one child who is excellent with managing money and one who is...not.

A bit I wonder if this program will help the child who can save to do even better, and yet the one who is not interested in saving will not be interested.

I'll see - it looks like it is designed in a way to appeal a great deal to children. It comes with a calculator which my little spendthrift has been asking about anyways, and it has different books available geared to different ages.

It has also won awards as one of the best toys for 2006, and one of the most health conscious toys.

I noticed in the testimonials on the website - some written by parents and some written by children - that kids seem to love it and people are reporting dramatic changes in their childrens' thoughts about and use of money.

I'll see how it goes!

Maggie the Great Halloween Pumpkin

Okay this is seriously late but I just noticed I'd forgotten to post this earlier!

Maggie the intrepid, ever lovable trick-or-treater, went out this past Halloween as the Great Pumpkin.

Sadly, very few houses (in fact ONE - ours!) were giving out doggie cookies.

If your impression is that Maggie looks....well, less than HAPPY in this picture, you are correct.

Poor Maggie was positively despondent when her costume was first put on. She would not move, even to eat said dog cookies which normally get an unbelievably enthusiastic response. What do they put in those things anyways, crack cocaine?

Luckily I figured out pretty quickly that she did not like the hood. After the picture we pulled the hood back and then she was quite content and trotted along looking somewhat surprised when people paid more attention to her than usual.