Carpe Diem

2006-01-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

Dave Ramsey

As you can see in my 'financial links' there is a link to Dave Ramsey's Finacial Peace University website. On that site there is a teen section where you can buy the curriculum to a class called No Mat ter What.

No Matter What is a 7 week course designed to teach teens how to live debt free and how to make wise financial decisions.

In the sample lesson the students estimate what life in general will cost them and they figure out how they will pay for it.

I have listened to the Financial Peace University lectures that my parents use and it is really high level information. This teen program looks like it contains much of the same material in a more fun format.Personally, I plan to have some of my friends and I do this during the summer.

Dave also has a club for really little kids called Junior's Clubhouse. This is also a curriculum consisting of six books:

A Special Thank You (Junior Discovers Integrity)

The Big Birthday Surprise (Junior Discovers Giving)

The Super Red Racer (Junior Discovers Work)

Adventures in Space (Junior Discovers Contentment)

Battle Of The Chores (Junior Discovers Debt)
Careless At The Carnival (Junior Discovers Spending)
My Fantastic Field Trip (Junior Discovers Saving)

This curriculum looks like it should be fun for the kids as well as teach them lessons that they will be able to use all of their lives. You're never too young to 'Seize the Day.'

Mablung

2006-01-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Allowances: Financial Training Ground, or Family Welfare System?

I would assume that most of the kids who read this blog have an allowance, and you're all probly asking, 'Why should I..., could I..., would I not want to have an allowance?!' Well, believe it or not, not having an allowance can train you to actually work for your money, instead of relying on someone to give you a weekly payment. Sure, allowances can train you to have patience to get what you want/need. But when you have to work for your money, you get rid of laziness, which in my opinion is harder to get rid of than patience is to acquire. If you want something that costs money, then work for it. Instead of waiting for your parents to give you enough money for what you want.

Okay, enough about what it teaches right now: What will it do for you later on in your life? As I said earlier, you stop relying on someone to give you money. If you rely on someone to give you money without doing any work then you will start thinking that the world owes you a living, just as you thought that your parents should give you a weekly payment.

How do I know that all these things happen when you get an allowance? Personal experience. I used to have an allowance. I would just wait a couple weeks for enough money to get the toy that I wanted. I began to rely on the allowance more and more. My parents would try to encourage me to do some work for money, but I didn't need any more money; my allowance was just fine. I was lazy; I would just sit around waiting for my money. My parents saw this and permanently took my allowance away. But you know what? I'm very, very glad. Now I have and still am learning to work for all of my money.

In this post, I don't mean to say that all allowances are bad for you and shouldn't be done at all. Some people work really hard to make it a training ground to learn how to use you money wisely. But I'd like to challenge you to achieve something higher, and work for your own money-- all of your own money.

Mablung

2005-12-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Tithe

What would be interesting about reading about tithe during Christmas time? Christmas is the season of giving. And if God is the most important person in our lives then we should probably be thinking about how we can give to him.

In the next three posts I will be talking about tithe. Unknown to most people there are three kinds of tithe talked about in the Bible: Temple tithe, Poor Tithe, and Rejoicing Tithe. I will speak about each in depth.

Giving is very important. When we give, we visibly identify with Christ, who gave us the ultimate gift of Eternal Life with Him and The Father.

Stay tuned.

Mablung

2005-10-15T10:48:00.000-06:00

In this modern world so many children and teens are spending their pre-adult years just having fun, and expecting to be able to just take the responsibility of adulthood without any preparation. And many don't want to take any responsibility at all... ever!
Carpe Diem is Latin for 'seize the day.' So I'll be discussing how you can learn to seize the day now. If we don't seize these days, then we won't be able to seize our futures. Much of this involves how to make money and how to make your money make money for you.
Check back here for teenage money-making strategies.

Mablung