Financial Life Lessons for Kids

One of the major areas that kids need to be ready to handle by the time they are adults is money management. At various ages, children can understand more and more about personal finances.  Here are some ideas to help your children prepare for handling their money wisely.

1.  Pay commission not allowance.
    Assign age-appropriate chores. Pay if the chore is done, no money if it is not.
    This helps teach that money comes from work.

2.  Require a certain percentage to be given and to be saved.
     For example, five chores per week for $5. Save fifty cents, give fifty cents, or save $1, give $1.

3.  Have the offering be from their own money. This makes them a giver not just a courier.

4.  Have a spend day every so often to use money that has been saved. This rewards sacrifice.

5.  Involve the children in portions of the household budget so they learn how that works.
     Give control of one category of the household budget, ie. clothing, or restaurant (not grocery).
     This will soon convey that some stores will provide only one garment, and some restaurants can          be visited more often for the same dollar amount.

RePost 4/25/17 God's Guidance

https://onechristianlife.blogspot.com/2018/02/repost-6416.html

Encouragement, Family, Who Am I

God’s Guidance

By Creodomus April 25, 2017  bus, education, infertility

Recently at church I was asked to give my testimony on a Wednesday night.  Some who were absent due to illness asked me to repeat it the following Sunday after service.  I thought it might be of interest to more people, so here goes:

 

The first part was some of the same story I told in this throwback post:

Early Days

My family lived a simple life on a little farm raising goats and chickens.  I learned duty and responsibility. We didn’t have tons of money, but what we had was spent on family and education. I learned to love learning.  My dad was a laborer in a cheese factory and my mom did all kinds of things, tutoring, driving kids to school and Amish, and delivering newspapers. I learned a strong work ethic. Somehow we managed Christian school tuition and travel.  My folks bought an old school bus and converted it into a camper which we took to New England and to the west coast several times.  I learned how to get along with others, to love family, and geography!

These are some of my favorite family memories!

(That's me on the bottom right!)

Marriage

After I married, we had one child in a normal time frame, but after that experienced infertility.  It was hard watching friends and family continue to have children while time was passing for our own family.  We exhausted all avenues that our budget and conscience permitted, as well as adoption on two different occasions, all to no avail.  I certainly can not say I am pleased with this path that God chose for me, but I have grown to accept it.  One day I may even be joyful.  At any rate, I doubt if I would be as able to teach other children as I do–Sunday School, junior church, 4-H, tutoring–with a passel of a family.  So these are my children!

Tragedy

During that time another tragedy hit my family in the form of a fire that destroyed our farmhouse.  We are so blessed no one was hurt. My family stayed with me and my husband tat night and I worked side by side with my family members as we sorted through what was left of our belongings, tore the house down, and moved a house trailer onto the property.  And throughout this process I learned as I watched my parents model faith in crisis not to allow my emotions to rule and not to place too much value on possessions.

God miraculously provided for me to be born despite the medical issues my mom faced

He guided my childhood to help me develop into a believing, productive, contributing adult.  He directed the path my life has taken to make me into the person He designed me to be even though it’s still a work in progress!