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Lori Lynn – Newport, PA
Recently, the boys have become very interested in an on-line game. The game itself was free, but there were features you could purchase. The boys wanted to spend some of their money on this game. I didn’t want them to spend their hard-earned money on a virtual item. We told them that we did not think it was a wise use of their money. Because we try to let them manage their own money, they were allowed to spend some of their money on this on-line game. THEN we started using FamilyMint. And the boys’ eyes were opened like never before!
On their FamilyMint accounts, the boys have to enter withdrawals when they want to spend their money. Every two weeks, their allowance is automatically added to their accounts by FamilyMint. Then they must go in and move their tithe and savings money into those accounts which we set up for them. After that, the money left is theirs to spend. When the boys want to spend money, they make a withdrawal from the FamilyMint account and I go into the master account and approve it. But as they are making these withdrawals, the boys can see the money that has been moved into and out of their accounts over the past few weeks. That’s when the light bulb lit.
After a day of making another withdrawal to “buy” something on this virtual game, our sons had a conference. They came down to our bedroom late one evening and announced that they were giving up the virtual game for good. Now, I was not upset by this at all. I prayed that their attraction to this game would be broken. But I was confused. Just that day the boys were playing their game and chatting giddily about it. Now, suddenly, they were giving up the game altogether. “Why?” I asked. “I don’t understand.”
“I realized how much money I was spending.” My oldest explained. It was FamilyMint! Because the boys were seeing where their money was going on Family Mint, they were quickly becoming more aware of what money they had! “If I had all that money I spent…I’d have a lot of money!” My son continued.
Since canceling their on-line accounts on this game, the boys have set different savings goals on their FamilyMint accounts. They can move their money directly into these savings accounts from their open money. And that is why I am a fan of FamilyMint. After years of me preaching, “Spend your money wisely.” “Don’t buy that junk.” “Think about where you are spending your money!” FamilyMint SHOWED the boys exactly all those things in the matter of a few weeks.
Annie – Ontario, Canada
After watching the introductory videos, I was able to set up accounts for the children very easily, and the children had no difficulty beginning to play with the program. They loved personalizing pictures for their accounts.
Our children have savings accounts at the real bank, so we entered that amount in ‘general savings’ in FamilyMint. The little ones also have piggy banks, so we called that account ‘piggy bank’. Our Little Misses have almost no income except for the tooth fairy and birthday money, and when asked about financial goals, Miss 7 said she wanted to buy a pair of sunglasses from the dollar store. Smile. I’m not about to encourage an obsession with money or stuff by getting them to set goals for other purchases. So every time they make a bit of money, they can enter it in their account, and if they want to buy something, they can withdraw it from the piggy bank account as well as from their piggy bank itself. We also took them to their real bank to deposit some of their piggy bank money—patient teller, counting out so many pennies!—and transferred the money in their Family Mint account from their ‘piggy bank’ account to their ‘general savings’ account. The Little Misses have fun with this and are starting to understand what it is all about.
FamilyMint is very adaptable. You can use it as intended, to teach your children about money. Or you can use it as a learning tool in a completely different way.
That is what Miss 9 did, after watching Disney’s Robin Hood for the first time in her life. We set up an account for Robin Hood, and used the goal categories as people. So there was one category for Robin Hood, one for the sheriff, one for the poor, and one for Prince John. Step by step she went through the story. For example, she transferred money from Prince John to Robin Hood after the carriage scene (transaction description: stealing from the rich to feed the poor), and from the poor to the sheriff (transaction description: collecting taxes), and she even let the poor lay up a bit of money (transaction description: scrimping and saving). At the end Prince John had nothing, and the poor had it all. Yippee! Miss 9 wants to make a category for King Richard as well, so that he can have some money and the story can continue. I’m wondering what King Richard will do with his money, and if Robin Hood will have anything more to do.
This application of the program is really exciting me. Suddenly there are so many options! For example, I think Family Mint would be a great tool for my teens to analyse the next Canadian budget. As the old saying goes, “Money makes the world go round,” and many current and historical events lend themselves to in-depth financial analysis. FamilyMint can easily be tweaked for this purpose.
Michelle – Sheridan, WY
The first thing we did while creating an account, was to name our bank. Then we created individual user accounts for each child. To make this fun, we gifted each child by making a $5 deposit. Here’s the kicker ~ we require a $5 minimum balance at Good Sense Bank (just like many bank accounts do). Each child was eager to deposit all their money and create goals and then start transferring their money into savings accounts for each goal.
What makes this work is that every dollar in the bank is a real dollar that you owe your kids. When they hand you cash (make a deposit), you owe them that money and need to pay it back when they ask for it (just like a bank). But, you are not really depositing the money online ~ Family Mint is just a tracking system.
Each child was able to pick a different icon to represent their account (which is funny because I have an icon on my online bank account, too).
Instead of using the allowance feature, we gave each child a monthly “salary” for doing their chores. On the first of the month, each child gets half his age in wages for the month. I then took their salary and divided it by 30. Each day that their chores are not complete, I withdraw 1/30 of their salary from a special account. So, for Jordan, who is 13, his salary is $6.50 a month. His daily penalty for not doing his chores is 22 cents. At the end of the month, what ever he has left will be transferred into his general savings account to be used. Then from the wages he receives, he will transfer 10% into a tithing account.
Dylan’s goal is to keep 100% of his salary in his account. As he loses money for not doing chores (just as he would lose money for not working in real life) he will see the blue bar start to fall. (Note that I locked the account so that money cannot be transferred until it is unlocked). I think this will visually help him to see how he is doing. I may even offer extra work for the kids to earn some extra money. So far, all the boys are doing well with keeping up with their chores and I think this is a fun system for them.
Kathi – Rochester Hills, MI
With 6 kids, it has been a challenge to find an organized way of handling the money they received as gifts, babysitting or for chores around the house. Initially, they each wanted to hold onto all of their money. The little ones would lose it around the house when they went to count it and forgot to put it away. The older ones put it in their wallets or purses but when one wallet went missing with the money in it, they all finally allowed me to give them a notebook to keep a record after they gave us the money for safekeeping. I had no idea how much each child had accumulated which could put a real dent in the family monthly budget when one of them wanted to buy something. The kids, especially the older ones, did a decent job of keeping track of how much they had and what they were saving for but it was very disorganized at times and sometimes they would lose their record book.
When we started using FamilyMint, it did take us a few weeks to get used to this new way of organizing the kids’ money. But I have to say, I LOVE IT and so do the kids. My husband and I now know exactly how much each child has in his or her account and we see clearly how much money we owe each of them (Quite a bit more than I expected but no more surprises messing up the monthly budget.) The kids love signing into their own account and having a clear visual of how much money they have and how they are progressing toward their goals. I really like the flexibility to use it in a way that works best for our family and I like the ability to match funds toward their goals.
It has definitely made a positive difference in our lives. Thank you!! We look forward to using for years to come.
Liza – Rochester, MI
We have been holding on to allowance for a while and now they can see for themselves how it is growing. Thanks! This is a great idea!
