Treasury Direct KIDS – Teaching Kids About Debt

Treasury Direct KIDS includes games, videos and other resources for kids teaching them about debt and other money matters.  There is also a great link to money math as well.

Although, I disagree with teaching kids that the reasoning behind having a Bureau of Public Debt is a good one the site can provide useful resources.  The quote at the top of the page is…

“It takes a lot of money to keep the U.S. Government running and a good deal of it is borrowed money. That’s where we come in. Our job is to borrow the money needed to operate the federal government and account for that debt.”

All I can say is use that as a teachable moment and explain to them that even trying to justify debt doesn’t make it better.

-- If you enjoy reading our blog please consider becoming a free member or subscribing to our email update list.

Coupon Conspiracy

I’ll admit it. I’m not very good at couponing. Well, actually, I’m very good at cutting coupons. I’m just not very good at using them.

It’s a coupon conspiracy. They seem so simple, and the people who love them make it appear that you can save thousands with nary a paper cut. But it take a bit of work to make them pay off.

 The people who are good at couponing (you know who you are) say you need to combine coupons with sales, or stores that double, or not be brand loyal. Those are all problems for me, but I pass the advice on to you, dear readers, so that you may inspire me to do better.

I was thinking about coupons today when I read this article about JCPenney. It says that the company underestimated how much people liked their coupons. The low, everyday pricing is great, but not quite as great as the thrill of getting a deal. Ironically, the new advertising for JCPenney has actually made me want to go again. But have I gone? No.

The thrill of the deal is powerful. It’s why we get up at 2 a.m. to go shopping on Black Friday. It’s why we sign up for things like Groupon and Living Social. It’s why we cut coupons — the idea that we’re paying less than everybody else.

The coupons are out there for our benefit. And while I don’t believe they always make sense — you need to do the math, compare to store brands, etc. — it’s worth the extra time and risk of paper cuts to check it out.

-- If you enjoy reading our blog please consider becoming a free member or subscribing to our email update list.

Investment Diversification Should Be True Diversification

 

Money

If you have ever sat down with an investment advisor or a financial planner, diversification has or should have come up in the conversation.  Most people realize the need and power for diversification.  It brings us back to the old saying “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”.

I think that sometimes we miss the boat when it comes to true diversification.  Nora and I visited our investment advisor several months ago and we got into the unavoidable discussion of diversification.  He wanted us to diversify into several different mutual funds so that we were in international funds as well as various levels of domestic funds.  He has served us very well over the years for our market investments however, the point that I made to him was that we are not truly diversifying by JUST choosing which mutual funds we wanted to move into.

The problem is that all of these investments are still paper investments.  This is not true diversification.  True diversification should include many types of investments not many types of mutual funds or stocks.  Focusing on one type of investment and calling it “being diversified” can cause many problems. 

Most of the time we are told to purchase stocks, hold them and over time we should make money.  What they don’t say is that people who make money in the stock market can make money if the stock price goes up or down.  There is nothing wrong with this, it is perfectly legal and everyone can do it.  The problem is, when the public is in the stock market as a “diversified” investment for retirement, they usually don’t do these things to make money in both directions.  You are betting the market is going to go up, you purchased the right stock at the right time and sell it at the correct time (minus the dividends if there are any).

True diversification should include many aspects of investments which could include but are not limited to; precious metals, real estate, businesses and cash.  True diversification should include investments in ourselves in the form of education, maintaining health and spending our time to the betterment of ourselves and family as well.

-- If you enjoy reading our blog please consider becoming a free member or subscribing to our email update list.

Birthday free stuff!

Yesterday was my birthday (!) and I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon on my own. So I did what any good birthday girl does — I went shopping. But my shopping trip had a twist. I tried to find as many free birthday deals as I could.

One I was happy to take advantage of was the free Benefit Brow Arch at Ulta. Free! On your birthday! That’s a $20 value, folks. Don’t forget the tip! Sephora also offers a free birthday gift.

I wish I had looked at this list before my day started — lots of great things here. Lots of it is food, but not all, and some of the coupons are good the week of your birthday, some the entire month. Take advantage!

One thing to note is that for many of these deals, you need to sign up for email alerts, so check out the list, find your favorites and sign up!

One other deal I learned about yesterday is not birthday specific. Chilis has a deal for $35, which gets you two margaritas, one appetizer, two entrees and one dessert. A pretty good deal! I enjoyed both margaritas, thank you very much.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on summer freebies for kids!

 

-- If you enjoy reading our blog please consider becoming a free member or subscribing to our email update list.