Posts for September 2011
Re-imagining the 3 Little Pigs
Re-imagining the 3 Little Pigs
By Bob Masterson
Once upon a time there were three little pigs who were sent off by their mother to go out and make their fortune. Mother Pig’s final words were, “work hard, do your best; good fortune will find you, I do not jest.”
Now the first little pig wasn’t buying into this hard work advice. “I don’t have time for all this,” said the first little pig. “I have fun things to do that I just won’t miss.” So the first little pig built his house out of straw because “hey,” it’s the easiest thing to, leaving plenty of time for play.
The second little pig wasn’t too eager to work hard either. “I’m too tired and need my rest,” said the second little pig. “I’ll just build something easy out of sticks and save my best for after I slept a few ticks.”
The third little pig listened to his mother’s wise words and said “I don’t plan to live like the birds. No straw nor sticks will do for me; I plan to build my house solidly.” With his goal clearly defined and a budget in mind, the third little pig developed a plan and a timeline. “With a little hard work and some shopping around, I’ll have my brick house to keep me safe and sound,” said the third little pig.
“Look at how hard our poor brother works,” laughed the first two little pigs. “Every day he toils, while we nap and have fun all day in the sun.” Through weeks of hard work, anticipation, and saving the third little pig was now ready to build. With supplies all purchased and a nice plot of land, he built a fine brick house just like he planned.
A short time followed when along came a wolf, who loved fat, little piggies of which he could not get enough. The first house he saw was the one built of straw. The big bad wolf said “Hey little piggy, let me come in, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your straw house in!” “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” said the first little pig. But being a house made out of straw, it didn’t take much, before the big bad wolf had himself a delicious pork lunch.
The following day while meandering along, the wolf spied a plump little pig humming a song. When the little pig saw the big bad wolf coming, he dashed into his stick house and stopped his happy humming. “Hey little pig, I like your gig,” said the big bad wolf with a smile. “Why don’t you invite me in and we’ll jam awhile.” “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!” sang the second little pig. A huff and a puff seemed to be enough and that plump little pig soon became some tasty stuff.
Liking the town and easy pickings he found, the wolf decided to hang around. The wolf later came to the nice house of bricks and with great confidence proclaimed, “Little pig, little pig, your brothers made it easy and so should you, now open your door, it will be over in a few.” “You can huff and you can puff, until your blue in the face, but this is one little piggy I’m sure you won’t taste.” said the third little pig. So the wolf huffed and he puffed and he puffed some more, but the house would not budge as did the houses before.
But being sly and determined, the big bad wolf was not one to give up easily. “I’ll just climb up the roof and slide down the chimney,” thought the proud wolf to himself quite grimly. But staying one step ahead, the little pig built up a roaring fire instead. Then placing a large kettle of water on top, it wouldn’t be long before the wolf went plop. So with a tumble, a slide, and a big KERSPLASH, the third little pig’s troubles were over in a flash.
While sitting at table enjoying his great feast, he recalled his mother’s sage advice: “Work hard, do your best, and good fortune will find you.” The little pig proved this when put to the test. And the little pig lived happily ever after.
Copyright Re-imagining the 3 Little Pigs © 2011. All rights reserved
What Teens Really Know About Money
By Bob Masterson
How financially savvy are our teens when it comes to money? Charles Schwab recently released their 2011 Teens & Money Survey Findings and I was quite surprised by the results, especially when comparing them to 2007 results. This annual survey polls more than 1,000 teens 16 to 18 years old and provides insights into their money attitudes, behaviors and expectations.
When it comes to being savvy about money, the line between what teens think and reality is as wide as the Grand Canyon. Most teens surveyed believe they are financially savvy. But when asked about specifics such as establishing good credit, balancing a check book or what a credit score is, the majority of teens were in the dark. In fact there is a notable decline in teen’s knowledge of money management skills between 2007 and 2011, especially around how to balance a checkbook or check the accuracy of a bank statement. Of course a key contributor to this decline could be that far fewer teens have saving or checking accounts than they did in 2007.
On the positive side, the recession has had a significant impact on teens especially around the importance of saving and 73% of teens feel it’s important to have an emergency savings. Teens also reported a shift in their mindset with 64% saying they are more grateful for what they have and listen to this, 56% say they have a greater appreciation for how hard their parents work. Another positive from this recession is it has produced more discussions within the family about money and money management.
80% of teens surveyed, up from 53% in 2007, said learning about money management, including budgeting, saving and investing is one of their top priorities with 82% of the teens saying they primarily learn about money management from their parents. Teens stated they would like their parents to talk with them more about investing, establishing good credit, career aspirations and how to budget their money.
So what does this tell us? Most importantly we need to narrow the financial literacy gap between where teens think they are and where they actually are. On the plus side teens have expressed the desire to learn about money management, which is the most important step in moving forward.
Education begins in the home and it’s never too early to begin. Kids are forming their opinions and behaviors around money at a very early age by watching us parents in how we handle and manage our money. This was the primary reason FamilyMint was developed, to act as the modern replacement for the piggy bank, where kids can learn about money management and goal setting in a safe, interactive environment, while emphasizing the importance of saving, setting and achieving goals.
Copyright What Teens Really Know About Money © 2011. All rights reserved
To Negotiate Life Successfully is All about Negotiation
By Jayne Berkaw
I’ll admit there have been several times over the course of our 31 years of marriage that I have had to walk away as my husband has negotiated for carpet, appliances, furniture and cars. I’ve gotten much better at negotiating as I’ve learned from the “master,” but he is still our go-to guy when it comes to making deals. Luckily, all of our kids have observed him in action and taken away at least some of this mastery.
Every day in life we are presented with opportunities for negotiation, and doing it successfully and where everyone walks away satisfied is an art worth learning at a very early age. Kids are natural negotiators (“I promise to do my homework right after dinner, if you let me go to Andy’s after school,” “I’ll get right up in the morning, if you let me watch one more TV show tonight,” “I know I already take dance and piano and play soccer, but I want to try tennis too!”). If you view their little “nags” as opportunities to teach them how to negotiate, first with you and siblings and then branching out to friends, teachers, coaches, vendors, etc. , you are doing them a tremendous favor.
Here are a couple of ground rules to go over with your child deal-makers:
- First and foremost, always aim for your negotiations to result in a win-win, i.e. you walk away happy and so does the guy you’re negotiating with. This means you have to think out what you really want and what you are willing to give up to make the deal. It’s all about compromising – a trait you most definitely want to encourage in your kids and one that would make the world a better place. “I need a raise in my allowance to umpty-ump so I can… I will use the money to…and you will be proud of me because…” FamilyMint provides a fun, structured way for kids to think through how to parcel their allowance toward goals they set and manage, an excellent way to build confidence and budgeting skills.
- No put downs! Remain calm and always respect the opinion and ideas of the person on the other side by truly listening to their views. No saying: “You’re so stupid!” and lots of: “I understand where you’re coming from. Here’s what I think we can agree on…”
And a few hints for you parents out there:
- Don’t jump in even when you’re bursting at the seams to add your two cents. Letting your kids work out their own deals and differences is GREAT experience!
- Lead by example. Let your kids witness your own constructive deal making – at garage sales, in the carpet store and the auto showroom, and chat with them about it afterward. Ask them what you could have done better, what they would have done in the same situation, etc.
- Praise their negotiating successes when it is done with grace and respect, positively point out how less successful outcomes might have been better and NEVER be judgmental! They learn from everything they do.
You never know when you have a little Henry Kissinger or Madeline Albright in the making, so help your kids develop their inner negotiator and make their way through life in the best possible way.
Copyright To Negotiate Life Successfully is All About Negotiation © 2011. All rights reserved
5 Tips for Money-Smart Back to School Shopping
By Bob Masterson
Did you realize the average parent spends $603.63 to get each of their children ready for the upcoming school year? That’s for clothing, supplies and electronics. According to the National Retail Foundation, this is down slightly from last year as more and more families are sticking to tighter budgets. Budgeting is becoming even more crucial as schools are looking to parents to pick up more of the burden for extracurricular activities at school such as sports and band – things that used to be free. But no worries! Here are 5 really simple ways your kids can help you cut down on back to school costs.
- First and foremost, check existing inventory. A good pre-fall clean up can help here. As you clean up and sort out rooms, gather up all pencils, pens, notebooks and other miscellaneous supplies and sort and inventory these items. Make a list of the items needed. This goes for clothing as well. Sort out and try on to see what fits and what doesn’t. For those good condition items that don’t fit, hand them down. If there are no younger siblings, offer them to friends that might be able to use them. This is a good opportunity to get hand me down items from friends and family. Hand me downs may not be as cool to your own kids as new duds, but can sure save a fortune, and nobody outside the family will be the wiser.
- Create a budget. Now that you know what you need, create an overall budget that you want to stick within and then break that budget down for each child. Break items into categories, (i.e. clothing, books, misc. supplies) and assign an amount to each. This helps the kids see the big picture and how their budget fits in. Now here begins the fun part. Challenge each child to meet or beat the budget. If they are under budget they get to keep the difference and if they go over, it comes out of their pockets.
- Buy in bulk. Pool your list with friends and family and then shop at bulk stores. Split the costs and save the difference. This can save a lot of money. This works on many other items besides school supplies.
- Buy refurbished. With more schools expecting kids to have laptops in class, refurbished is the way to go to save on expensive electronic items. All computer manufacturers sell refurbished computers and laptops through their outlet centers and you can easily save 25 to 50% or more off the price of a new computer. That’s cash in the bank! You can also find many refurbished electronics at Amazon.com and through eBay.
- Be thrifty. Thrift stores like Salvation Army or garage sales are great places to pick up slightly used clothing, back packs, desks, chairs, lamps along with many other needed back to school items. You’re looking at 70% or more in savings over buying these items new and giving back to the community at the same time.
The key to making this a learning experience for the kids is getting them involved in the whole process and giving them spending responsibilities appropriate to their age. The best way to learn is by doing and making small mistakes now can help prevent larger mistakes later down the road.
Copyright 5 Tips for Money-Smart Back to School Shopping © 2011. All rights reserved