Visa GiftCard: Bad Birthday Present?

Written by on · 10 Comments

With the clock reading 11:20am, we didn’t have much time to get a present for the birthday party Tori was invited to at 1:00pm. Scrambling, we asked our daughter what her friend might enjoy receiving as a gift, but unfortunately she couldn’t come up with much.  The one good idea she did give us was a gift card to a popular clothing store for kids, but we didn’t have the time to go to the mall to get it.  Vonnie suggested getting the birthday girl a Visa gift card that could be spent practically anywhere, further stating we could even […] Read more »

Financial Lessons: I learned It by Watching You

Written by on · 12 Comments

The 1980’s anti-drug public service announcement where a father finds his son’s drug stash and confronts him, only to learn the horrid truth, “I learned it by watching you.” Some things never change and the depths of your parental influence run greater than you may think. Your kids are watching your every move, even how you manage money. Every moment can present a learning opportunity. Think about the typical week… Monday: You are dropping your child off at school and they remind you they don’t have any money in their lunch account. You respond with an off-handed, “I’ll just wait […] Read more »

Youth Sports: Are They Worth the Expense?

Written by on · 12 Comments

My son has been involved in youth sports since he was three. We have run the gamut; gymnastics, karate, soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, and football. My initial goal in exposing him to youth sports was to have him expend some of his little boy energy in a way that was safe and fun for him. Little did I know the love for competition would blossom at such a young age; he is addicted… to thrill of practice, games, and being a winner. For those of you that don’t know me, I am a divorced single mom and my son is a […] Read more »

Financial Literacy Month – Kids and Money

Written by on · 2 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you’re having an awesome week so far. Today I’d like to share a video with you that I think you’ll love. Last year I participated in Financial Literacy Month with Steve from MoneyPlanSOS. The idea was to create a one minute video to promote financial literacy. It was fun and one of the videos I made featuring my son (4 years old at the  time), was picked up by CBS Money Watch. I received a lot of great emails from that video so I thought I would do something with Isaac again this year. This year […] Read more »

Finding Teachable Moments in Your Day-to-Day

Written by on · 2 Comments
teaching kids about money

One of the main driving forces behind my own blog, The Debt Princess is to stop others from going down the dark path that debt took me down. I want to remind people of the dangers of debt and encourage them to take care of their own finances. I also try to encourage my readers to speak to their own children about money. I am working diligently with my own kids to make sure that they are not following in my footsteps. Offering allowances in exchange for chores, is one great way to teach about money. I like to be […] Read more »

Kids and Money – Credit Cards for 2 Year Olds?

Written by on · 21 Comments

Do you want your 2 year old “learning” to swipe a credit card? This Christmas Noah (our 2 year old) was given a Shop and Learn Cash Register. At first I was excited. The nerd in me eagerly opened it up and secretly drooled over the idea that Noah was going to start learning about money. It had buttons, sounds, lights, a working coin drawer, a scanner and groceries to ring up. Perfect fun right? Then I noticed it also came with a credit card. I’d rather it not have a card at all — debit or credit — but […] Read more »

The Magic Teddy Bear; When Money Finally Clicked for My Daughter

Written by on · 3 Comments

I've struggled to get my daughter interested in money. She's 10 years old which should be plenty old enough to "get " money but for whatever reason she just didn't. She didn't care to earn it or spend it. I've tried all the tricks to get her interested. I give her spending money to spend when we are on vacation. Nothing. I pay her for chores. Nothing. The kicker is that she will do the chores but then doesn't even care to get paid! We have a chore chart on the fridge and after a chore is done the kids have to mark it off. Then once a week we pay them for the chores they have done. I know my daughter does her chores but she never has any marks on the paper and therefore doesn't get paid. Meanwhile my 5 year old son is all about checking off his chores and getting his allowance. Read more »

Under Pressure: Teaching Our Children a Lesson in Wants vs. Needs

Written by on · Leave a Comment

“Mom, can I have a DS? Please! Everyone else has one.” I have heard this off and on for a couple years. My son really wants a Nintendo DS Handheld game system. He has asked for one for every holiday and birthday for years. I have been reluctant to purchase one for a few reasons. First, he doesn’t need it. He does have an older model Gameboy that was given to us for free. Second, I would rather he spend his time reading, playing outside, interacting with his family and using his imagination. Also, I just don’t have the money. However, […] Read more »

Personal Finance For A Nine Year Old

Written by on · 16 Comments

A few weeks ago, one of my daughter’s friends got a new computer game, and the two have been playing it ever since. However, my daughter, Tori, cannot play it unless her friend brings it over to our house, or she goes down her her friend’s house. So, naturally she wants her own copy. She had recently spent all her saved allowance money, so she was starting from scratch saving up the $20 for the game. Last Friday afternoon, when she got home from school, she exploded through the front door, ran up to her room, and grabbed her piggy […] Read more »

Are Your Actions Setting Up Your Children for a Lifetime of Debt?

Written by on · 3 Comments
avoid giving in to a child be a positive role model

When my oldest son was little I was a frequent customer at places like Target, the mall, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Shopping for me meant a lot of things. It was therapeutic, especially when I was feeling depressed (oddly enough, depressed about my lack of money was often the case). It was in search of bargains, which in hindsight ended up not being much of a bargain by the time I left. And it was a social activity. My then-husband and I would go shopping whenever we were bored. We said it was just to look around but we […] Read more »

When is it the Right Time to Let Your Kids be Financially Responsible?

Written by on · 4 Comments

I am not the kind of person who likes to tell other parents how they should do their job. Everyone has their own methods when it comes to raising children and in most situations there is no right or wrong way of doing things. But conversations between parents are often an invaluable source of ideas, so I’m going to offer some thoughts on the process of how to help your children become financially independent as they grow into young adults. The behaviors that turn children into fiscally prudent adults can begin at a very young age. From spending and saving […] Read more »

Are You Teaching Your Children to Avoid a Financial Stomach Ache?

Written by on · 13 Comments

Photo credit: newyork808 During the last week of school, my twelve year old son went on a class trip to the Nickelodeon Universe theme park inside the Mall Of America. When I picked him up from school, he told me that he didn’t go on any rides the last hour because he didn’t feel well, and still didn’t. Trying to determine the cause of his stomach issue, I asked him what he had for lunch.  The conversation went something like this: Tristan:  “I wanted Subway, but there wasn’t one in the food court where we went to eat. So we […] Read more »

Got Kids? Start Teaching Them Solid Financial Principles

Written by on · 10 Comments

Got kids? If so, you should really consider teaching them solid financial principles as early as age  4. (we started at around three and a half) Why? Well, because if you’re anything like most parents, you desperately want to help your children avoid what you have had to learn the hard way. DEBT SUCKS! Give them a rockin’ head start by helping them understand the money principles that will keep them from making avoidable financial mistakes. Help them: learn how money works learn about debt and why it should be avoided about what expenses are learn about savings and why […] Read more »

Teaching Kids About Money – Here’s What Helps

Written by on · 2 Comments

Photo Credit: Memory_Freak This is a guest post written by Clair Schwan. I can’t say that I have a lot of experience with kids, but I have a lot of experience with money, and part of my childhood involved what I thought was a good training program about the value of money and how it might best be handled. I had four of the best teachers I could possibly ask for – two grandparents who were young adults in the Great Depression, and two parents who grew up in it and struggled through the challenging economic times surrounding World War […] Read more »