2011 December | FamilyMint

Cheryl

FamilyMint is an excellent way to train children in the art of financial planning. It’s also a good way to get Mommy to think about balancing her own checkbook once in a while too. FamilyMint has a very nice interface and is relatively easy to use. I had a few minor mysteries, but the customer support at FamilyMint was very helpful and quick to answer my questions.

Turning Gifts Into Financial Literacy

Christmas and birthdays are often a time when kids get a windfall of cash and gift cards. Should you let them run right out and spend it all? Whoa. Not so fast. An incredible teaching opportunity for your kids has just presented itself.

The first of these is delayed gratification and putting a plan together on what to do with this new found fortune. The temptation is to let them go ahead and spend it. However, here’s a way to still let them get excited about spending but learn some important lessons about savings at the same time. I recommend breaking their money up into three buckets. This also gets them into a pay yourself first mentality.

Check out Bob’s interview with Murray Feldman on Fox 2 Detroit about teaching your kids how to handle the gift of money and you can click here to read the story.

Turning Gifts Into Financial Literacy: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Turn An Old Smart Phone into a Free Gaming Device for Kids

I’m giving my 6 year old a cell phone for Christmas. Whoa! Hold on. Let me explain. My daughter is really 6, and it’s a real cell phone, but it’s not going to have any cell phone service. I’m “repurposing” a gently used Android cell phone to provide a FREE and pretty darn sweet handheld gaming device for her for Christmas.

She loves playing games on my cell phone (another Android device) and is asking us for “something like her brothers have that can play lots and lots of different games”. Nintendo DS, I’m sorry, but she’s looking for something more.

She would love an iTouch, but at $170+ that’s way out of Santa’s price range, and it’s way more than she needs at 6 years old. I’ve heard the LeapPad Explorer is popular this Christmas, but at $130 that’s also way too pricey and, knowing my daughter, she would tire of the included games and I really don’t want to have to buy more.

I found a “just right” option my used LG Optimus S android cell phone. I can connect it to our wifi at home and use it without a cell phone connection or bill. It has access to the Android Market and it can run most the games available there. All of the games she wants to play are FREE (as in free air). I don’t need to worry about her becoming bored with it because there are hundreds of new games available on the Android market each month.

Anyone can pick up a used LG Optimus for less than $40 on eBay (or select from a wide assortment of other used android phones). The games are free. New games are available all the time. You can work in a bunch of educational “games” as well which are also free.

What’s not to love?

Update: as a reader pointed out, old cell phones still have the ability to dial out to 911 even without service. Kids do have the ability to dial 911 from any phone in the house today, and that’s a good thing, but it will be important to emphasize that this is a real cell phone and can really call 911 just like any other “real” phone. There are apps in the Android Market like Call Blocker Gold (paid) that have the ability to disable outgoing calls, but I have not personally tried any of them yet.

For those not familiar with connecting a cell phone that doesn’t have service to wifi, here’s how to do it with an android phone:

From the home screen, hit the Menu button
Open Settings, Wireless & Networks
Check the box to turn on Wifi. You will be prompted for your wifi password if you have one set (which you should!)
Update: you can also turn on Airplane mode from here before you turn on wifi. This will keep the phone from trying to connect to the cell phone network.

Laura

This idea intrigued me, especially since my two boys tend to lose their money frequently or spend it frivolously. To be honest, I was not sure they would be interested in an online banking system since they usually enjoy physically having the money. I could not have been more wrong!

5 Tips to Avoid Holiday Debt and Overspending

By Bob Masterson

Ever hear the expression “post holiday hang over?” That’s what it feels like when we open up our January credit card statement. Talk about quickly deflating the joy of the holiday season. “People on average spend $1,800 on Christmas gifts with money they don’t really have,” stated Debbie Kidd of the Homeownership Resource Center, as quoted in WCSC news segment.

“62 percent of consumers said they would spend more than they have budgeted if it means finding the perfect gift,” according to Javelin Strategy & Research as posted in a recent businessnewsdaily article. Javelin went on to state “consumers spend more money on a single online transaction using credit cards than when using other payment options.”

With a little planning and creativeness, we all can avoid holiday debt and the post holiday blues and don’t forget to include your kids in the process. Here are our 5 tips for a truly money-smart holiday season:

Set up a holiday budget. Before you do anything else, you have to have a base to start from. How much can you afford to spend this holiday season? By having a clearly defined budget will help you from overspending. For your kids, have them create a goal in FamilyMint for ever gift they are saving up for. This is budgeting made simple!
Make a list and check it twice. Identify who wish to buy gifts for, how much you want to spend on them and any ideas as to what they might want. This is where creativity really kicks in and the kids can be a huge help here. Making or baking gifts can save a lot of money and often touch peoples hearts far more than store bought purchases.
Do your research. The advent of the Internet has dramatically simplified the shopping experience. I’m not trying to take the joy and tradition out of walking through the stores, seeing all the decorations, smelling all the holiday smells and feeling the merchandise. I’m just saying start on the Internet. You can quickly find who has your item for the lowest cost along with special offers and discounts that might be included. Of course many of the best deals might just be found online. That’s okay too. The key is your armed with the best information to make the wisest purchase decisions.
Stay on task. This is no time to start shopping for yourself. It is often tempting with those buy 1, get 1 at half price to say “what the hey, I could use one of those.” This only adds to the bottom line and besides, you have all next year to shop for yourself.
Limit the use of credit. Yes, I know this is tough one, especially with all those extra bonus points we get during the holidays. But according to the research quoted above, we are more likely to deviate from our budget using credit cards than cash. If you are shopping online, use your debit card instead. But in every instance, always refer back to tip #1.

Start with a budget and stick to a budget and your holiday joy will carry forward long into the new year.

Wishing you a very happy and joyous holiday season.

Pay Cash, Eat Healthy

Want your kids to make healthier food choices when they are out? Have them pay cash.

This is a somewhat surprising finding in a study by the USDA. In the study, college students that paid with cash made healthier food choices than those paying with an unrestricted debit card. And not only did they make healthier choices–eating more produce and less processed food–but they consumed less calories as well.

The reason? Parting with cash appears to force more thoughtful decision making, which gives you more time to make healthy food choices. Dave Ramsey explains this psychological effect by saying you can “feel the money leaving you” with cash.

Experiment with this with your kids and let us know how it goes!

Want your kids to make healthier food choices when they are out? Have them pay cash.

This is a somewhat surprising finding in a study by the USDA. In the study, college students that paid with cash made healthier food choices than those paying with an unrestricted debit card. And not only did they make healthier choices–eating more produce and less processed food–but they consumed less calories as well.

The reason? Parting with cash appears to force more thoughtful decision making, which gives you more time to make healthy food choices. Dave Ramsey explains this psychological effect by saying you can ”feel the money leaving you” with cash.