I may have talked about this before because after almost 6 years of doing this I’m pretty sure I repeat. I mean, sometimes I repeat the same story 2-3 times in an afternoon 😏 so I’m pretty sure we have talked about financial literacy before. You see, my parents didn’t teach me about that. In fact, I’m pretty sure that is a new term. When Ninja and I were pregnant we talked about all the wonderful things our parents did for us. We were pretty certain that we wanted to be just like both sets of our parents. We felt they were great parental role models. There were 2 things though that they completely sucked at. Teaching us good study habits and teaching us about our finances. It was settled! We would do better by our children.
So how are we doing this? Well, when HBear turned 6 we took her in to the bank. SBean will do the same. We saw a financial advisor and she discussed all the options with HBear and with our help she made her own financial decisions, like starting a savings account. We also gave her a super cool piggy bank for her 6th birthday. There are different slots in this piggy bank, 1 for savings, 1 for spending, 1 for investment, and 1 for charity.
So far HBear has been a fast learner. Every week she separates her money. We explained how much of your monthly income should go towards charity. We have set goals of items that she is saving up for. She saved up for a Fitbit and after months of saving finally was able to go to London Drugs and buy it! She then saved up for Minecraft and then she really wanted the BB8 Lego set so she saved up for that. However, we reminded her that just because she is saving for something extra special doesn’t mean she should stop putting money aside for investments because there was nothing more important than her future and her education. Everything that goes into investments gets put into her RESP. We also explained to her that just because she was saving doesn’t mean she shouldn’t put money into her spend pile. What if she wanted to treat herself to a bag of chips after swim class one day? You don’t want to take money away from saving up for BB8 to buy a bag of chips so you should always have a little bit of money that is safe to spend.
Just today as we were driving to school SBean was telling me about her popsicle stand she plans on opening up this summer. Both of the Girls have talked nonstop about their lemonade/popsicle stand and how rich they are going to become. SBean told me this morning she is going to need at least 5 boxes of Popsicles. I asked her what kind and she looked confused. I said, “are you going to buy the expensive popsicles or the cheap popsicles? Remember you can charge more for expense of popsicles because people pay for quality but that also means that your initial buy in will be more as well.”
Huh?
So… I explained. Then she explained to me that she would not be buying the popsicles… I would be buying the popsicles! I asked her if that made me her partner? Absolutely unequivocally NO. Then HBear said, “mom I think she wants you to be her financial backer.”
😳
OK I might be able to help them out but we would have to negotiate and interest-rate on my return. HBear thought this was a fabulous game while SBean declared me a thief for trying to steal her profit 😂.
Yesterday I was paying for some of the Girl’s summer camps at the community center. Both the Girls were with me when I did this. I want them to know how much their activities cost. When the lady gave me the total she said that will be $490. I pulled out 5 $100 bills and handed them to her. Both the Girls eyes were wide and so were the lady’s behind the desk LOL. I realized right away she had the wrong idea 😂. So I explained to her and the Girls that this was a tool that I used to budget. For Christmas and their birthdays my Brother, my Dad, and my In-Laws give the Girls experiences over stuff. So I print up beautiful pictures that say things like, Uncle and Auntie will pay for 1 week of art camp this summer! When I get the E transfer I pull the money out of the bank and keep it to the side. That way, I don’t spend it and we know exactly how much money we have for summer activities every year. Everyone seemed to be OK with that answer and hopefully the Girls took something from my explanation as well.
I do believe there is so much to learn but I feel we are headed in the right direction. I would love to hear how you help your children learn financial literacy! Any tips or advice? Let me know!
Yesterday I was craving ramen noodles. I also had a hankering for meatballs. So I combined the 2 and we had a crazy good dinner! It tasted even better the next day for lunch! Those are ALWAYS the best kind of dinners, the ones where you can’t wait to eat the leftovers the next day!
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup panko
3 green onions, chopped
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin
1 big pack Rooster instant egg noodles
Combine ground beef, panko bread crumbs, about half green onions, egg, garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper, then mix until combined.
Remove meatballs from skillet, and add remaining sesame oil. Stir in ginger and cook about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, and hoisin. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Return meatballs to skillet and cover skillet with a lid. Cook until meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes more.
Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain noodles.
Add cooked noodles to skillet and toss until fully coated in sauce. Garnish with remaining green onion.
I’m not going to lie… mornings are hard. Like that hour before the Girls go to school is HARD! They be cray cray and getting ready in the morning is a serious task. Sometimes though we enjoy breakfast together and all is right in the world… for at least 4 seconds 😂.
I also got my new Sparkles uniform this week! I am officially part of the team!
SBean is LOVING gymnastics! It is incredible to watch her grow and become a little person that takes risks, focuses in on her goals and accomplishes them!
After a busy weekend cuddles and home reading ended our busy week 💛!
Yesterday something bad happened. I usually open my newsfeed and see posters that say Paris Strong, or our thoughts are with Manchester or New York Strong. I never expect to see celebrities tweeting Toronto Strong. What happened in Toronto yesterday is heartbreaking, scary and so F*cking REAL! I can’t believe someone would drive down a busy street on the sidewalk hitting everything in their way. Who does that? How do you feel safe walking anywhere now? It is a scary world that we live in and my sincerest thoughts and prayers are with the whole city and the families of everyone who was affected by the senseless act of hatred 💛.
