Thankful

A day set aside to focus on thanksgiving is an awesome thing. But what does being grateful have to do with your money? Lots, actually.

Parenting is tough because we often feel inadequate, uncertain of how to best help this darling child whom we love more than life. We feel like we may be messing things up, as if there is a 'right answer' somewhere, but we don't know it. It can be quite a conundrum.

Teaching kids about money is a good example of how our desires to give the best to our babies are sometimes thwarted by our own fears and feelings on inadequacies. Perhaps, because of past mistakes, we feel as if we aren't in any position to guide, especially since we don't really feel like we know what we are doing even today about money.

Everyone is facing the same joy and dread of back to school and all the joys and hassles that accompany this time of transition.

One of the tasks for this time of year is preparing the wee ones with proper clothing and needed additional materials. This could mean anything from technology to undies. If you are running out of creative ways to stretch your budget, maybe these ideas will help.

1. 1.) Take an inventory - Set aside an appropriate amount of time to completely look through what the kids have: clothes, shoes, boots, outwear, paper, notebooks, pencils, everything. (You may want to properly prepare by pouring yourself a cold adult beverage.) Another way to tackle this job with energy may be to enlist a buddy to work with you. If they help you, you'll go to their house and perform the same task so neither of you has to swim alone.

You look into their trusting eyes and you think to yourself, Wow, I am blessed. And that is indeed true. But that means you are the teacher, the provider and maybe most importantly, the protector. What would they do if you weren't there?

Responsibility requires action' I read this quote and thought, BAM. These words scoop up in a small sentence exactly the theme of parenting. The quote is both succinct and insightful. The responsibility of dependents requires you to act on their behalf, to both protect them now and in the event you cannot take care of them because of some future, totally unexpected calamity. But what can we do? Where do we start? Let's give this some thought.

We love a good story. We like hearing the stories of other people's lives, their heroics and their scandals.

I don't have a really great story for you this month, but I have surveys! I recently read the results of a couple of surveys about high net-worth investors that I thought would pique your interest. What are the rich doing and how are they feeling?

You've spent years getting this shiny new degree, and now you have completed the thing towards which you have striven. Congratulations! Planning is not done, though, because now you are getting to start your beautiful adult life. We all want it to go well for you. Here are some tips to make your finances beautiful.

Budget Don't see a budget as a restriction. See it as FREEDOM! With a budget, YOU control your money life, instead of it dragging you from one crisis to another, with too much spending in the middle. Your life without a budget becomes crisis, overspending, crisis. Kind of like a crisis sandwich. Not very tasty. A budget is a roadmap of where your money goes. And if you have even a very simple budget, you can plan how to make the most of your cash making your life the happiest by planning your future and taking care of the past. 

I've had a few folks in my office recently discussing their budgets and one of the common problems is debt - being overwhelmed about it, not knowing how to tackle it. If you are feeling the same way, or just want to be renewed in your determination to make progress, here are some tips.

Understand the situation There is no need for fancy software or mad technical skills to grab hold of your money situation. All you need is a pad, a pen and the bills. Write the lender's name, the balance due and keep a list of minimum payments. If because of divorce or other life transitions you aren't sure if you are receiving all your bills - and you want to FULLY understand your debt situation get a copy of your credit report, for free, at www.AnnualCreditReport.com.

The sweetest people come into my office. They are smart and kind, and they are trying hard to do well in their lives and in how they manage their money.

But they worry. They worry that I will think they aren't smart because they don't know the 'lingo' of investments. They worry that I will talk over their heads. And they worry that I might conclude that they are doing everything wrong.

Valentine's Day is coming.  It's a day to let people you love know how special they are to you. But don't make the mistake of mixing money and love in your mind. They do not go together. 

Money is for trade, to help us be warm and safe, to transfer for transportation and food. We get it from work, sometimes very hard work in which we make sacrifices. We often do this work to get the money to care for others. But we would need to work at some job even if caring for ourselves alone.  

With each New Year comes a slew of resolutions, all of them worthy and noble. One that I hope you will add (if it's not already on your list) is teaching your kidlets about money.

Teaching kids about money, teaching them to save and how to do basic budgets or spending plans, is an awesome goal. In doing this you may also help yourself. You may not feel very capable in this field and may feel uncertain about your qualifications to help the little - or big - ones. But as you break down various methods to manage allowances and gift money, as you answer questions from rascally children and their bright and inquiring minds, you will learn a lot yourself. Here are some tips for your family.