Ever forget your child's allowance?

MoneyTrail automatically keeps track of allowances and keeps you organized.

Every Dollar Counts!

Teach your child to keep track of their money. It reduces impulse spending.

Finances shouldn't cause headaches!

Practicing money skills when young can lead to stress-free, responsible finances as an adult.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Use Labor Day to Encourage Entrepreneurship in Kids & Teens



Labor Day is “a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” (via www.dol.gov)  This year let’s make Labor Day an opportunity to talk to your children about potential careers, entrepreneurship and taking pride in their work.  Here are several great resources for you and your children.


Friday, August 26, 2011

Pam's Picks: Money Thoughts from Mom, Dad and the Tooth Fairy





Each week, I spend a lot of time reading new articles and blogs about kids, teens, money and financial literacy.  I'll even pop over to YouTube and see what's going on over there. In "Pam's Picks", I will share some great articles and videos with you.




This week I ran across two fabulous articles about teaching money management with your children.  Both of these articles give concrete, usable advice for parents of tweens and teens.  And, then...I ran across some startling statistics about the tooth fairy!  Hope you enjoy.


“Mom, I Need Some Money” (www.managemylife.com)


I think every parent has cringed upon hearing those words. According to this article, kids, age 12 – 17, spend an average of $46 per week.  Yikes!  This article also tackles solutions to common teen pitfalls regarding money (clothing, cellphones, tech gadgets, etc.) and gives you tangible solutions.  Read the article...

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Using Lunch Money to Practice Budgeting Skills

School lunches...Lunch box or cafeteria food?  Sandwich or yogurt?  Milk or water?  I have been discussing these choices with my children since my daughter started kindergarten in 1999.  She is a senior now and my boys are in 9th, 6th and 3rd grades so I have a few more years of school lunches ahead of me.  A few years ago, I discovered that the issue of lunch money can provide an excellent opportunity to involve kids in budgeting and help them practice their money management skills.

 When my oldest son started middle school, he and I were both unprepared for the lunch costs. (My daughter took her lunch every day so I was blissfully unaware of the expanded choices in middle school!)   The school still had the basic lunch option which is very reasonable from a cost standpoint.  However, the middle school also offered a la carte items, such as chicken fingers, pizza and fries.  My son thought this was marvelous and was buying a la carte items every day.  At the end of the second week of school, he had spent practically all of his lunch money for the entire month.  I reviewed his purchases online and realized that he was spending $5-$6 a day on lunch.

Monday, August 22, 2011

"Don't Buy Stuff" from SNL

Let's kick off the week with a laugh!  Here is a classic funny money moment from Saturday Night Live.  And...wrapped up in the humor are several great money lessons.



Video clip from www.hulu.com





Thursday, August 4, 2011

MoneyTrail in the News

Hi folks!  I have taken a little break from blogging this summer so that I could spend time with our kids during their school vacation.  Summer sports, camps and college visits have filled my calendar.  However, in the midst of all this, we were interviewed by Gracie Bonds, parenting reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  She wrote a great article about MoneyTrail, our family and money management for kids that was featured in the Living Section of the July 19, 2011 newspaper. Here is a link to the article, "Money, family matters merge", on the AJC website.
Image via AJC.com