<\/p>\n
By Gabriella Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of money!\u201d My 5-year-old brother exclaimed, as he excitedly dumped out his piggy bank earlier today. Turns out he only had about $3.65. It makes me laugh, thinking of how people\u2019s perceptions of money change as they get older.<\/p>\n Back in my early days, money had two purposes: you spent it or you saved it (or tried to save it and usually ended up spending it on something smaller). I remember the time I had the grand idea that my younger sister would get a watch that came in a cereal box while we \u201cjointly\u201d saved to buy me a new watch. I had forgotten about it by the next day, which, I think, was a good thing. Now that I\u2019m not 7 any more, I see the unfairness of such an economic endeavor.<\/p>\n When I was 7 or 8, I would buy small things as soon as I got my hands on any money. Then, as I got older, my interests changed but not my spending philosophy, as you\u2019ll soon see. I started to be a bit smarter with my money around the age of 12, learning about a whole new element of spending.<\/p>\n My parents have always taught me and modeled for me the importance of good money management\u2014things such as being generous, choosing purchases wisely, and saving my money. However, it wasn\u2019t until a few years ago that I seriously started to manage my money. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n When I was in my freshman year of high school, I did a study on what the book of Proverbs says about money (part of Wisdom for Life: A Proverbs Bible Study<\/em> by Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason). The Bible does have a lot to say about money! Along the same lines, Math-U-See\u2019s Stewardship Instruction Pack also does a really good job of putting the focus on being wise stewards of our resources.<\/p>\n Now, as a homeschool graduate, I\u2019ve realized that money management can be divided into three simple categories: spend, save, and give:<\/p>\n 1. Spend\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Most of the time this ends up being the biggest category. The most helpful tool that I\u2019ve found is free printable accounting sheets<\/a>. When I write down exactly what I spend my money on, I\u2019m much less likely to spend a little here and there. Unfortunately, it is true that it all adds up.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t used to do this, but when I went back a few years later to write down what I had spent, the result was . . . shocking. Back then, my \u201cthing\u201d was plastic model horses. This is what part of my accounting sheet looked like from the year when I was 11:<\/p>\n \u2022 March\u2014model horses: $22.00 (There goes most of my birthday money.)<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0May\u2014horse statue: $3.00 (There goes the rest of my birthday money.)<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0July\u2014two more horses: $6.00<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0September\u2014yet another horse: $15.00<\/p>\n That\u2019s nearly fifty dollars! And of course, I didn\u2019t write it down, so I didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n Another good thing to remember is to avoid buying on impulse. You can think so much more rationally when\u2014well\u2014you think<\/em>. Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t do this for a long time either. I would get some money and want to spend it right away. Usually, though, the item is still available after waiting a day or two\u2014unless it\u2019s on eBay. But that\u2019s an entirely different story.<\/p>\n 2. Save<\/strong><\/p>\n This can be done (assuming, of course, that it will be kept up for more than a day) in a couple of different ways. The classic bank account is one method, but it\u2019s not the only one. A \u201clow-tech\u201d approach that I learned about through Math-U-See is the \u201cenvelope system.\u201d You take an envelope and simply add money to it as you earn\/are given it. One of the good things about money is that saving a little bit very often adds up just as fast as spending a little bit very often (but with much happier results).<\/p>\n It\u2019s really motivating to have a goal to work toward. Pick something you want to save for and try making a commitment to set aside, say, five dollars a month. It will <\/em>add up!<\/p>\n There\u2019s another aspect to saving\u2014saving money before<\/em> you spend it. If you like purchasing online (if you\u2019re a younger student, please ask permission before searching the Web), try using a resource such as PriceBlink<\/a>, which will show you the lowest price and online location of the item you\u2019re interested in. Ebates<\/a> offers rebates for shopping online. If you\u2019re shopping at a \u201cbrick-and-mortar\u201d store, look for coupons. Ten cents saved here and there adds up.<\/p>\n One last thing\u2014\u201cinexpensive\u201d doesn\u2019t always mean \u201cbetter.\u201d My parents taught me to look for the middle-of-the road option\u2014not too expensive, not too cheap. It\u2019s easy to buy something of lesser quality to save money, but believe me, you\u2019ll regret it later. Plus you\u2019ll lose money in the long run. It\u2019s much better to spend slightly more and get something that won\u2019t leave you frustrated later on. I know from experience.<\/p>\n 3. Give<\/strong><\/p>\n This is kind of a complicated category. It\u2019s hard to see how many needs there are in the world and want to help\u2014but there\u2019s only so much we can do. I\u2019ve realized, though, that it doesn\u2019t matter how much you give but how much you care. As Mother Teresa said, \u201cIt\u2019s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n Ten percent (the tithe given in the Bible) might not seem like much, but that\u2019s a good place to start. It\u2019s also easy to calculate: $10.00\u2014$1.00, $20.00\u2014$2.00, and so on.<\/p>\n You can also give without giving cash directly. Here are some other ideas:<\/p>\n \u2022 Buy a small gift for someone you know who\u2019s having a hard time.<\/p>\n \u2022 Support a company that gives proceeds to charities. (My sisters and I love this company<\/a>.)<\/p>\n \u2022 Buy some food items or necessities, and donate them to a local food bank.<\/p>\n \u2022 Buy some baby items, and donate them to a pregnancy center.<\/p>\n Obviously, these tips represent only a few of the many different ways a person can manage his or her money. It\u2019s sometimes difficult, but it\u2019s also a lot of fun!<\/p>\n So here\u2019s the \u201cassignment\u201d for this lesson: Pick three changes you want to make in your money management.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n And then . . . do them!<\/p>\n One last thing: No matter how well we manage our money, there is something much more important. The Bible says that it is far better to be wise than to be rich: \u201c<\/em>Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it<\/em>\u201d (Proverbs 8:10\u201311).<\/em><\/p>\n Endnote:<\/p>\n 1. www.great-quotes.com\/quote\/1362469, accessed on July 19, 2013.<\/p>\n Gabriella is a 2013 homeschool graduate who\u2019s looking forward to seeing what God\u2019s plans for her will be in her college journey. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her parents and five siblings. She enjoys photography, ice-skating, music, fun with her family, and learning about all kinds of things! She would love to hear from you at pintaloosa322@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Copyright 2013, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the September\/October 2013 issue of The Old Schoolhouse\u00ae Magazine<\/em>, the family education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com<\/a> or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com<\/a> to read the magazine on your mobile devices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Gabriella Smith \u201cI have a lot of money!\u201d My 5-year-old brother exclaimed, as he excitedly dumped out his piggy bank earlier today. Turns out he only had about $3.65. It makes me laugh, thinking of how people\u2019s perceptions of money change as they get older. Back in my early days, money had two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,47,90,80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-informative","category-parenting-2","category-single-parents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2089,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions\/2089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n