Teaching Kids About What Things Cost

Kids have no idea what things cost. When they're very young, there's no difference to them between the cost of a candy bar and the cost of a video game. To take things one step further, there's no difference to them between a low-priced video game and a high-priced one. Price is meaningless to them.

Older kids may know what things cost, but they may have little idea about whether they're getting value for their money. They may know that a pair of sneakers costs $100, but are they worth the money?

What Is Maintenance (Alimony)?

Whatever your situation, you must first understand the maintenance basics—what maintenance (or alimony) is exactly, when it is appropriate, and how the general rules applying to maintenance will determine what happens to you.

In a nutshell, maintenance is financial support that one spouse provides to the other in the event of divorce or legal separation. Maintenance is determined, in large mea-sure, by the laws of the state where you live. Some basic rules, however, are virtually universal:

Common and Unrealistic Expectations About Stepfamilies

Just as getting rid of the ingrained societal myths can be hard, so can giving up your hopes and expectations about what marriage, partnership, parenthood, and family life will be for you. "Unrealistic expectations are the biggest risk," says Emily Visher, founder of the Stepfamily Association of America.

Have you ever heard yourself thinking of saying something along any of these lines?

Managing Your Finances and Looking for Work After Divorce

Teaching Your Child About Tipping

How Your Child Spends His Allowance

Whether or not you put strings on receiving the allowance, once it's his, you really can't make your child use it as you want. That's just not fair (not that everything has to be fair, of course). After all, you want your child to think for himself when it comes to money. According to a survey on teens and money consulted by USA Weekend, 75 percent of kids had complete control over their money.

Savvy Shopping Strategies for Kids

Kids are going to be shoppers for their entire lives, and they can learn how to be effective shoppers if you teach them. In this way, they'll get the biggest bang for their spending buck.

Making a Budget

You can start your budget simply by identifying spending categories and listing all the money, either estimated or exact, that you spend in each category each month. Try to include everything you spend money on, right down to toothpaste and Juicy Fruit. Take a look at this to see just where your money goes. Feel free to revise it to best suit your needs.

Water Games

As we learned earlier, team sports are great for teaching kids about strategy, teamwork, and social interaction. Add some water and see how quickly they learn how much fun summer can be!

Water Basketball—Splashketball!

Quiz: Your Values and Money

Before you try to instill values in your child, you'd better be clear on exactly what those values are. If you hold to one set of values but want your child to adopt a different set, it probably won't work. Your actions in following your own values will undermine your efforts.

Solving Credit Card Trouble

Debt and credit card trouble can sneak up on you gradually or can suddenly appear, seemingly out of nowhere. You'll know trouble is coming when you can no longer pay off your debts at the end of the month with the money from your paycheck. If you have to dip into your savings to pay off your debts, sit up and take notice, because your spending habits just might be spiraling out of control.

Today's Businesses for Kids

A 1994 Gallup poll revealed that 7 out of 10 high school kids wanted to start their own businesses. Some of these kids don't wait until they're adults to get going on their dream. They may demonstrate their entrepreneurial spirit of innovation, self-reliance, and hard work by starting a business while they're still kids.

Making Special Time for Yourselves Without the Kids

Learning to Count Money: Muffin Tin Coin Sort

When kids are first learning about money, it can be hard to tell one coin from another, let alone figure out what the value of each coin is. It is better to play money games with real coins instead of plastic ones. That way your child will get a sense of the weight of each coin, the ridges on the edges, and all the other things that make real coins unique from plastic or paper ones. A muffin tin is just the right size to help your child learn to sort coins by size and denomination.

Start Playing Games at a Young Age

The trick to avoiding difficulty with teenagers is to start playing games with them when they are little kids. Keep the lines of communication with them open. Talk and listen when they are little, and never stop. Always make yourself available to them. There's no better way to establish a rapport than to get down and dirty with them in a good old-fashioned game: Chess, Checkers, board games, card games, Pool, or Darts—anything that will keep the interaction alive.

Repaying Your Student Loan

Help Your Teen Become a Wise Consumer

While the nature of teenhood involves endless trips to the mall with lots of money dropped on makeup or at the video arcade, when it comes to major purchases, your teen wants to get the most “ bang for the buck,” just as you do. You can help him learn the art of wise shopping: