Teaching Kids About Money Part 4

Teaching Kids about Money – Part 4

by Michelle Lambright Black

Thank you for checking out our blog today.  If you haven’t already read them, please be sure to check out parts 1-3 of this blog series on our website.  We hope you find our tips for teaching your children about money helpful.

Lesson #4:  Show Your Children How Much Things Cost

Many children, and even some teenagers, don’t truly realize how much things around them cost.  It is important for your child to have a grasp of the cost of things for two reasons.  First, it will help to make your child a more financially wise person, equipping them with the knowledge they will need to one day lead a financially independent life.  Second, if your child realizes how much things cost they can help the family to conserve and stretch its monthly budget.

One way to teach your child how much things cost is to teach them about conserving resources.  You can perform a “show and tell” in your own house showing your child why it is important not to be wasteful with things like hot water, electricity, disposable plates or utensils, groceries, etc.  By teaching your child to be a conservationist they can help the family save money and become a more environmentally friendly person.

Another great way to teach how much things cost is by showing your child a list of the monthly household bills.  You can show your child the bills themselves so that he or she is able to begin understanding the family’s cost of living.  Remember, this may be a little boring to your child, so you may want to find a way to slip a short demonstration of the monthly bills whenever you give him or her their weekly allowance. 

Feel free to leave comments on these blogs if you have found any of them to be helpful or insightful.  We want to know what you think.  Be sure to visit our website again tomorrow one final tip on teaching kids about money.

At HOPE we will help you achieve the credit score you desire so you can qualify for the lowest interest rates available to you. If you would like to know how please call us at 704-499-9696. We are waiting on your call.

Teaching Kids About Money Part 3

Teaching Kids about Money – Part 3

by Michelle Lambright Black

This week we are exploring simple, effective ways to teach children about money.  If you find any of these blogs helpful, please be sure to forward a link to your friends and family. 

Lesson #3:  Open a Bank Account in Your Child’s Name

As we continue discussing the theme of teaching children the value of money, and how to handle that money properly, we believe it is very important to cover the area of opening a bank account for your child.  Opening a bank account in your child’s name at an early age can go a long way in teaching him or her how to properly manage their money in the real world.  A bank account is especially helpful if you have teenage children; however, even children as young as 6 or 7 could benefit from having a bank account.  It can be a wonderful teaching tool for your child.

If you do open a bank account for your child, it is important to allow them to make regular deposits.  You can also set a limit on how much your child is allowed to withdraw from the account.  This is an important rule to remember since it will help to teach your child that just because money is in the bank does not mean that it all should be withdrawn or spent.  Also, if you are using the jar system discussed in yesterday’s blog, Teaching Kids about Money – Part 2, a bank account can be used in conjunction with this teaching technique.  You would simply have your child take the funds from the “savings jar” each week and deposit them into their bank account. 

Be sure to visit our website again tomorrow for more information regarding how you can teach your child to be financially responsible at a young age.  Also, please remember that if you have any credit issues you need assistance with, feel free to contact our caring staff at 704-499-9696.  We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Teaching Kids About Money Part 2

Teaching Kids about Money – Part 2

by Michelle Lambright Black

If you haven’t already read yesterday’s blog, please make sure to check it out when you get a chance.  We laid a foundation yesterday for the subject we will be discussing the rest of the week:  how to educate children about money in a way that will help them grow into financially responsible adults.  Remember; keep coming back each day this week to receive the full benefit of this blog series.

Lesson #2:  Establish the Habit of Saving Early

We discussed the idea of giving your child an allowance yesterday.  However, remember that the allowance your child receives should be supervised.  As a parent, you can use these weekly funds to teach your child a valuable lesson.

One simple way to teach your child how to save is by using a jar system.  Start out by purchasing or cleaning out 3 jars.  These 3 jars should be labeled “Giving,”  “Saving,” and “Spending.”  In order to introduce your child to the jar system we suggest scheduling a craft time on the next day your child’s allowance is due.  Help your child to decorate the 3 jars with paint, embellishments, ribbons, etc.  Just make sure that each jar contains one of the labels listed above.  Once the jars are decorated (and dry) then it is time for you to teach your child how to fill them. 

Make sure that you give your child their allowance in small bills (ideally 1 dollar bills) in order to make this process easy to understand.  You should decide the percentage of allowance money that your child will put into each jar before beginning the teaching session with your child.  Let’s assume that you give your child an allowance of $10 per week.  Here are our suggestions on how to help your child allocate their funds:

The Giving Jar - $2 (or 20% of your child’s allowance).  By saving 20% of their allowance money your child can learn to give a 10% tithe to your local church and 10% to either charitable opportunities within your church or another charitable organization.  It is very important to teach our children the value of sharing our earnings with others.  (FYI, if you do not know which charitable organization you would like your child to give to we suggest www.ambassadorstothenations.com.  They have giving programs available so that your child can help send funds to another little boy or girl in need.)

The Saving Jar - $3 (or 30% of your child’s allowance).  The most important rule of the savings jar is to remember to teach your child that these funds cannot be spent.  You should determine what your child is saving towards.  This is something that you can do together with your child or you may decide ahead of time what the savings goal will be (i.e., college fund, car fund, etc.).  These funds should not be accessed for any reason other than the goal that you and your child have determined together. 

The Spending Jar - $5 (or 50% of your child’s allowance).  Ok, this is the fun jar.  This is the jar that your child will love the most.  However, it is still crucial that your child learn to spend these funds responsibly as well.  It is probably not a good idea to simply give your child these funds to spend whenever the urge hits them.  Instead, you might want to plan a shopping day once a week to take your child to the toy store or candy store so that they can have a little fun.  Remember, your little one needs a reward for all the discipline they are learning with the “Giving Jar” and the “Savings Jar.” 

Please visit us again tomorrow as we continue to explore effective ways for parents to teach their kids about money.  If you have found this blog to be helpful, please feel free to forward the link to your friends.   

At HOPE we will help you achieve the credit score you desire so you can qualify for the lowest interest rates available to you. If you would like to know how please call us at 704-499-9696. We are waiting on your call.

Teaching Kids About Money Part 1

Teaching Kids about Money – Part 1 by Michelle Lambright Black

This week we will be discussing the best ways to teach your children about money.  By taking an active role in your child’s financial education you can help to set your child up for a lifetime of success.  The vast majority of money problems stem, not from a lack of funds, but rather from a mismanagement of the funds we do have.  You can help your offspring to establish sound, responsible spending habits now that will stick with them into adulthood.  Plus, it’s never a bad idea for us adults to look back at these basic principles as well to see if we are making the most of our money.

Lesson #1:  Why Allowances Are Important

Giving your child a weekly allowance can help teach them the value of a dollar.  This doesn’t have to cost you any extra money as a parent.  Chances are that you already buy toys, candy, clothes, etc. for your child directly out of the family budget.  However, by giving your child an allowance and, this is the crucial part, teaching your child how to spend that allowance responsibly you can have a wonderful teaching tool at your finger tips. 

As I mentioned before, it is very important that your child not be allowed to spend their allowance irresponsibly or without supervision.  Tomorrow we will discuss spending and saving techniques that are designed on a child’s learning level.  Using these techniques will help you to make sure that your child’s allowance remains what it is designed to be, a way for you to teach your child about money effectively.

At HOPE we can help you achieve the credit score you desire so you can qualify for the lowest interest rates available to you. If you would like to know how HOPE can help, please call us at 704-499-9696. We are waiting to hear from you.

Reasons To Live In Charlotte, NC #5

Reasons Charlotte NC is a great place to live. Reason 5 This week we have been sharing with you reasons why Charlotte, NC is a great place to live.

Today Reasons #5. We will give you a brief summary of reasons why others think Charlotte is a great city.

For a second year in a row Charlotte North Carolina has been voted the number one place to live by RelocateAmerica.com. RelocateAmerica.com is an online relocation information resource owned and operated by a real state broker firm called HomeRoute. RelocateAmerica.com has been ranking cities annually for 11 years. They accept city nominations that are considered by the nominees a great place to live. The nominations then are reviewed by their editorial team along with other city key data like education, employment, crime, housing, parks etc and then ranked.

Reasons to live in Charlotte North Carolina: 1. Destination could not be any better. The Appalachian Mountains are only a two hour drive to the west and the sun filled beaches are only three hours to the east. Charlotte N.C. was selected as one of the "10 Best Places to Live" by Money Magazine.

2. Second largest center of financial transaction in the United States. Some of the best known fortune 500 companies are located in Charlotte.

3.There are very good schools in and around Charlotte.

4. The cost of living in Charlotte is relatively low compared to the national average.

5. The weather is relatively mild in the winter and warm in the summer.

6. Pro Sport Organizations: (NFL Football: Carolina Pathers), (NBA Basketball: Charlotte Bobcats), (Minor League Baseball: Charlotte Knights), (WNBA Basketball: Charlotte Sting), (Hockey: Charlotte Checkers), Home of NASCAR's Lowes Motor Speedway.

7. Jobs: Last year, the city created 12,000 new jobs.

8. You'll find miles of walking trails.

9. There are several quality golfing communities.

10. There are many city parks and sports complexes including baseball, soccer, tennis, fields, YMCA facilities and Leon Springs facilities.

12. Located near or on a recreation Lake Wylie with fishing, boating, swimming, etc.

13. Friendly people.

14. A bonus last year - Property taxes were lowered for most home owners in 2007.

At HOPE we will help you achieve the credit score you desire so you can qualify for the lowest interest rates available to you. If you would like to know how please call us at 704-503-3669. We are waiting on your call.