<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"When you take a project on like this and vow to become debt free and hopefully inspire others to do the same, it&amp;#039;s amazing how you become so acutely aware of everything financial. You find yourself discussing the topic on a regular basis with family, friends and even your children. So you can imagine my pleasure when each of my three children began to display signs that they have been listening and catching on to a new way of thinking. Perhaps this assignment is having a positive effect on them as well. Katie, 13, makes money by a combination of allowance and babysitting for friends and family. She is not a saver (we are working on this) but she always has a goal in mind for her money. This time she was fixated on getting her nails done professionally like her friends. While I told her I disagree with an eighth-grader getting false nails, she still insisted on knowing the price. &amp;quot;About $40 plus tip&amp;quot; I told her. Stunned, she let me know that she would NOT be wasting her money on something so temporary. She then informed me that she could buy two pairs of jeans for that price or even an entire outfit if she hit the sales racks at her favorite stores! Score! She was catching on.  Hannah, 12, called me at work the other day and asked me if I could please pick up some soda on the way home from work because she was having her friend sleep over and they wanted to watch a movie. When I agreed, she reminded me to please pick up a two-liter bottle instead of cans because it was much less expensive and there would be a lot less waste. Good for her! Even my nine year-old, Matthew, is getting in on the game. When he recently went to the toy store with $20 he had saved up, he decided to get a toy for $9.99 instead of his favorite toy, which was $19.99. The reason? He felt that he could save half of his money, spend half and still come home with something he could have fun with. Way to go! The Lesson? Talk to your children openly about money in ways that are meaningful to them. They may not understand credit card interest rates, but they do understand that for a price, they could have one pair of expensive jeans or three pairs of less expensive ones. They may roll their eyes at you (they do that so well), or huff and puff, but take it from me\u2026they&amp;#039;re listening. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a45503/talking-to-your-kids-1843/>