$$$$$ Talks

I hear Neil Diamond in my head....

Money talks.
but it don't sing and dance and it don't walk.
And long as I can have you here with me

I'd much rather be
forever in blue jeans.

It's in your head now too, isn't it? I'll spare the non-Neilers and not have the song play when you visit my blog but I'll hook the rest of you up.

I'm thinking about $$$ today and the great task of teaching it to my kids. In our household, we like to tell our kids that money is to save, spend, and share. We teach our kids and remind ourselves that all things, including money, are from our heavenly Father, God, making money a gift and a responsibility. Recently, we had an opportunity to teach a little $ sense to our 6 year old.

We live by the cutest little ice cream shop. It has a darling awning strung along it's quaint storefront. It offers adirondack seating and picnic tables. It's located just across the street from a wonderful park complete with a sprinkler pad. It's perfect except for it's prices. It's not that we can't afford (I never say that phrase to my kids by the way...even if it's true)the ice cream but it pains me and my husband to pay between $10 and $15 to take our family out for ice cream. I recently took my 2 kids there. We sat and enjoyed ice cream with my brother, his wife, and their 2 kids. My 6 year old understood that it was a special treat. He knew that while we can afford such ice cream prices, that mommy and daddy don't choose it often. He understood because when the shop first opened it's doors for summer, my husband and I took the time to literally show him the price of ice cream.

Instead of telling our son "no" and the 1st of what will be a million requests to go out for ice cream....we gave him $15. We told him that $15 is about how much it costs our family to get whatever we want from the ice cream shop. Then, we loaded the fam into the car and hit the grocery store where we let him and his sister pick out the works. They picked up a box of cone bowls, their favorite flavor of ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate sauce. We sent him through the check out line where his grand total was $8. We saw the light go on when the cashier handed him back his change. We made our way home and dished up 4 ice cream bowls and tucked the surplus of supplies away for another day. Our son was so excited to see that we still had enough to have ice cream on another day and see that we still had money left over. We were so excited to see it click with him that we let him keep the change...a reward for a lesson well learned.

Here's the best benefit. The ice cream shop is on our main route to well, everywhere and I don't hear begging and pleading anymore. We plan to visit the ice cream shop a few times this summer...but its' extra special now for everyone.

Book Review: The Money Answer Book by Dave Ramsey

Recently, I received the book The Money Answer Book to read and review. Now, like many, Dave Ramsey is not a stranger to me. My husband and I first turned to Dave for advice 6 years ago when I became a stay at home mom and we went from D.I.N.Ks (Double Income No Kids) to "good golly are we eating spaghetti again". It was Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover that led us, step by step, out of our financial pickle. I also became a listener of his national talk radio program and even worked up the nerve to call in when we became debt free.

When this book, The Money Answer Book, showed up in the mail my first thought was, "does the man really need to write a new book?". I know. It sounds cruel. It's not that I'm sick of Dave Ramsey. I love the guy. I wondered though, if Dave had anything new to write. Dave's principals on becoming debt free and building financial wealth are simple, straight forward, and grounded. Truly, if you've read Dave Ramsey there isn't much "new" in this book...and I'm good with that. In fact, I'm slightly relieved.

What Dave Ramsey does do in The Money Answer Book is repackage his plan for financial peace into an easy to read and slightly entertaining book. The book is organized into a question and answer format much like his talk radio show. This is what captured my peanut sized attention span. You can eat this book in small bites...one question per page. Or you can chew away at a chapter which organizes a number of questions around one financial topic. While you're entertained by the questions and *gasp* drama in the lives of strangers, your own financial questions are answered and you come away motivated to manage your money. It's a win win.

Throughout the book, The Money Answer Book also includes profound quotes and Biblical scripture grounding it's concepts and providing a bit of a thoughtful reading break. You also gain a few easy, stress-free, financial work pages to create your own money action plan. Very practical.

The book's opening chapter begins with a inspiring "No matter what I don't" list, which just endears the man more to me, and then goes on to explain, what Dave calls, The Basics. If you're at all familiar with Dave Ramsey, you'll recognize these as the baby steps:
1. $1,000 in an emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt(except the house) utilizing the "Debt Snowball"
3. 3 to 6 months expenses in savings for emergencies
4. Fully fund 15% into pre-tax retirement plans and ROTH IRA, if eligible.
5. College funding
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth! (Mutual funds and real estate)

Overall, I recommend the book to anyone who has, needs, wants, and is out of money. That's everyone right? Dave's advice is relevant for a person drowning in debt to a person swimming in cash. If you've never read or heard Dave Ramsey, this book is a gentle introduction that gives you a well rounded knowledge of Dave's program. It also wets your appetite to learn more and put your plans into action. If you're like me and you've already been "Ramsified" as I like to call it, and this book serves as an entertaining refresher course that will walk you back into your baby steps if you've strayed a bit.

I'll end with my favorite quote included in the book....

"If at first you don't succeed...try hard work." - William Feather

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”