Money Management

*disclaimer* Yes, it's another review. I love this Homeschool Crew experience and I wish I had budgeted my time better. I could have posted this much sooner and spread them throughout the month instead of cramming them all to the deadline.....but then I wouldn't be ME, would I? Please read 'em anyway...I cram plenty of personal stuff in there, too, and you might miss something really embarrassing if you skip these. You never know.



Chris and I recently went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We learned a lot and were determined to prevent the kids ever needing to take such a class. It was in the midst of this that our KidsWealth kits came. I am a firm believer in educating our kids and giving them the opportunity to make their own mistakes within controlled situations so that they can learn to make better choices. Helping them walk through a budget can provide this opportunity.

However, I'm not sure this is the budget for us. Fundamentally, it's about our beliefs about money. I believe that my money is God's. Anything I have, I have because God gave it to me. Second, I want to use that money in obedience to God. It's a tool, a resource. One way we acknowledge this is to give 10% of our first fruits as a tithe to the church. The Kidswealth Money Kit comes with 5 different envelopes for the child to sort their money, but a tithe envelope isn't one of them. I feel pretty strongly about this spiritual attitude toward money, so it was hard to embrace a budget system that didn't acknowledge what God has to say about money. The book instead emphasizes paying yourself first and brings their focus more toward spending on their wants, which is a new concept to my kids. Still, there is plenty to be gleaned from it and the kids love it, even though we didn't follow it exactly as it recommends.
The book recommends paying the child, each month, half of the amount you usually spend on the child's "wants". The reason for this is that it will not affect your budget, since you already spend this money on them already. Also, you still have half of the amount you usually spend on their wants so that you are still able to treat them occasionally throughout the month. This sounds really good, but I don't spend enough on their 'wants' to add up to any measurable amount. And second, we've never given an allowance before. We have all, as a family, pitched in and worked to get chores finished. No one pays me to wash those clothes and I don't plan to pay them to fold them, if that is their assigned chore. I knew though, that the boys needed some experience with an income of some sort if they were to learn how to handle money. So, on top of their regular chores, which qualify as basic courtesy more than anything else, we listed some chores as possible income earning jobs. With this method, it is possible for the boys to each earn $2.50 per week, if they so choose. The money is then divided up into it's different categories.

The Kit comes with five plastic envelopes: Wealth, Fun, Learn, Angel, and Plan. Wealth receives 30% of the child's monthly income and is set aside for future investments. Fun receives 20% and is, obviously, for the stuff they want to buy for fun. Learn receives 20% and is for books, museum trips, etc. to encourage the child to take a more active part in their education. I like this idea. Angel is to encourage helping others in need. I really like this idea....on top of our tithes, I want my children to learn to love giving an offering. The Angel envelope receives 10% of their income, but I don't want the boys to confuse it for a tithe as they are very different things. "Plan" is for long-term planning purchases and it receives 20%.

Instead of using the system as designed, we used Wealth, Plan, and Angel....but using them as Savings, Spending, and Tithe. I wanted to see what the boys would choose to spend their money on. It was interesting to watch. We let them know that they would need to watch their spending money because they would be required to replace things they were irresponsible with....such as brand new clothing that they wore hiking. They never had to replace anything, the warning was enough, but it was nice to see them think about their clothing with a little more respect for the cost.

So what DID they spend their money on? Gifts. They bought birthday presents for friends and Christmas gifts for each other. Ethan begged for extra jobs and earned extra money doing dishes and folding clothes for $1.00 per job. Since this was right before Christmas and life was hectic, this was a huge blessing to me! Ethan bought Joel some action figures. This was hard though, because it took the last of his money and Ethan had really been wanting to buy me an oil burner for $3.00 at Wal-Mart. This really was a dilemma for him. But instead of asking his dad for help with the cost, Ethan found a way to make mom a homemade oil burner. He used a mini-tart pan of mine and, to it, duct taped legs that he'd fashioned out of foil so that it could stand over a tea-light candle. Boy that thing was ugly. But it was so absolutely beautiful to me. One, because of his beautiful, giving heart. Two, because my baby is learning about choices with money....a lesson I waited far too long to learn.

The kit comes with much more than just envelopes. It comes with a Kid's Guide, a Parent's Guide, a Calendar (October's calendar picture is, unfortunately of trick-or-treating), pencils, a calculator, stickers, and a Money Tracker. The Money Tracker is impressive. They have them for different age-groups. Ethan's is for 10-12 year olds and it asks them serious questions about money. It teaches them how to figure percentages, it walks them through spending choices, and it even discusses investing. Honor's kit is for 4-6 year olds and isn't nearly so educational, but she's still enjoying it. All of these items come in a large plastic binder/envelope.


Financial Peace, Jr. is a similar kit, but with a Christian emphasis and half the price. But I'm not sure that it is half as appealing visually. Aesthetic appeal is important sometimes. All four of my children are excited about the KidsWealth books. Each 'category' is represented by a character and my kids know each character by name. The Kidswealth Kit is colorful and "cool"...even to my tween son. The Money Tracker workbooks are fun and my boys don't realize they are doing homeschooling assignments at all....they take them on trips for fun. (Don't tell them and ruin this for me.)

With lots of tweaking, I do appreciate the help in making this budget adventure a fun one. And it comes with a money back guarantee. For other thoughts on this product, be sure to check out the TOS Crew.

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