Saving for Emergencies

My road to happiness began with marriage to a wonderful man over 17 years ago. We married young, still in college, and began our family immediately. In those days, our idea of financial stability rested on whether or not we could get food on the table, pay the rent and pay tuition. I stopped working (for pay) when my oldest son was born, and my husband’s part-time student job was not nearly enough to cover all our expenses. Thanks to prayer, and generous relatives who had learned the value of saving early in their lives, we made it through, both receiving our bachelor’s degrees before the birth of our second child.
But even then we had our dreams. That’s why we worked so hard to graduate. After the birth of our 3rd child, my husband got his first “real” job. We began saving immediately, knowing it was the only way to reach our financial dreams
Things have changed a lot since then, though I still spend my full-time mothering my children, now seven strong, ranging in age from 15 to 2. As each was born, we opened small savings accounts for them to reach their own financial dreams.
Despite our efforts, the road of life has many unexpected twists and turns. We often come across unexpected roadblocks, like last spring when we had hundreds of dollars in auto repairs, and 2 months ago when two of my daughters needed glasses, and last month when the dentist surprised us with 3 cavity-filled kids and mine own 2 cracked molars that needed crowns! Ouch! Or like two days ago when the appliance repairman informed us that we would need to replace not one, but TWO of our major kitchen appliances!
So our savings goal is a simple one. Put away 10% into our ING Orange account every time we receive any money. And don’t touch it – ever – except for emergencies that we can’t pay with our regular budget. As we add to this account, our feeling of security rises. We feel such peace, knowing that when life’s detours arise, we can turn to our ING savings instead of using a credit card. Paying ourselves first each month is propelling us down the road to financial independence at great speed! With this emergency savings, we can be back on the road again in a jiffy, no matter what bumps or detours come our way.

www.ingdirect.com

Back-to-School Shopping Made Easy!

One of the funnest traditions I've participated in was in my former neighborhood. Every year on the first day of school, the kids and mothers on my block would gather at the bus stop for a "Back-to-School Pancake Breakfast". When we had moved in, we found out that our driveway was the bus stop, and we were politely informed by our neighbors that this was the tradition. Did we mind hosting the breakfast?

The organizers brought pancake mix & griddles, juice, plates & cups. Everyone else brought toppings for pancakes. We set everything up on the back of a pickup-truck, and had a great early-morning party about 30 minutes before the bus was due. Of course I didn't mind at all -- what better way to let the kids celebrate the beginning of a new schoolyear?

Plus, what a great opportunity for the Mom's to "secretly" celebrate the end of the summer! :) Seriously, the one year we were all outside taking pictures & waving goodbye to clean, brightly dressed kids! After the bus pulled away, all the Mom's unanimously (& unplanned) broke out into cheers.

To be fair here, it's not like we were happy to "get rid of" the kids. It's just that. . .well, we were happy to get rid of the kids! Now don't get me wrong, I love my children and I have a great relationship with each of them. I truly enjoy spending time with them! But still, I do like to get back into the routine of the school year after surviving a fun and hectic summer.

So, what's the best way to get your kids ready for back-to-school? Here's a few rules I've come up with over the years:

Rule #1: Don't shop in August!
All the stores have the new clothes out in July, as well as backpacks & school supplies. But no one has figured out that it's there yet, they're all still busy swimming and going on vacation. Not me! I like to hit the stores before the end of July, then I get the back-to-school section virtually to myself!

Rule #2: Don't take all your children on the same day.
Unless you like headaches, fighting, breaking up arguments, and being on your feet for the entire day, take them in groups of twos or threes, divided according to gender & department (or who gets along best with who!). There's nothing more boring to a teenage son than waiting for endless hours while his sisters try on their outfits. Especially when we stop at every other display amidst cries of "CUTE!!", "Wow!", "Do you think I should try this on?" My son cries to no avail . . . "Nooooooooooooo!"

Rule #3: Don't take babies or preschoolers at all!
That's what babysitters are for! If you're lucky enough to have several teenagers (like me), you can leave one home with the babies while the others are shopping with you. Then rotate the next time with who babysits and who gets to go shopping. After all, the little ones aren't going back to school anyway, are they? You can get them new clothes in September after everyone else in school, or anytime you want for that matter! Generally this age group doesn't need to try things on, and they are always happy with anything new that you bring them, especially if it has their favorite theme or characters on it! My 2-year-old son will be thrilled with anything as long as it features cars, trucks, or Bob the Builder! Not so with the teenagers and tweens. So do yourself a favor, and pick up toddler things while the oldest are searching for the perfect shoes, or while you're grocery shopping next month.

Rule #4: Plan your shopping trips over the whole month & coordinate with other errands you have planned.
Sit down and look at your July calendar. Will you be in town by the shoe store for swimming lessons? Does someone have a birthday party in a nearby town by the outlet stores? Is there a soccer game in a neighboring city with a great mall? Figure out who needs clothes from where, and plan many different trips with different combinations of kids. You can hit other stores on the way to & from. You get the idea.

Rule #5: Make them pay for their clothes themselves.
Yep, you heard me right! We've been doing this for about 4 years now, and it's the best thing we ever did! They don't necessarily need to pay for the clothes with their own money (it takes a long time to buy a $29 pair of jeans when you only make $3/hr babysitting!). But give them a certain limit, say $100-$150 for clothes plus another $30-$50 for school supplies. Then let them choose whatever they want as long as they stay inside that budget, and it meets your family standards as far as modesty & tastefulness.

Ever since I started this, the kids are much more willing to look for bargains, and it eliminates the fight over labels & pricey choices. My kids have even found new bargain stores and told me about them! One great side-benefit is that you can shop with younger children while your older children go to another department and pickup the things they need themselves. Then meet back a pre-designated time. They know what they need & what they like. In some cases, I'll even give them my debit card and they can make the purchase themselves at a separate register. It's nice for book-keeping to know who got what, and it's a great way to help them learn to be independent.

Rule #6: Consider having some extra budget set aside for September & October.
One family I know said they only bought their teenagers 2-3 outfits before school started. They did this because, with experience, these parents found that after the first week of school, when the kids had seen what everyone else was wearing, they decided they didn't like some of their things. So they took them for their "real" back-to-school shopping AFTER school started! Now this causes problems with my "get it in July" rule, but if you find you have problems with kids & trends, this might be a good option. Also, there's always the extra supplies that you find out you need after the teacher's lists come home.

Rule #7: Attend all registrations, orientations & back-to-school nights.
I love when the schools host these informative nights. It's important to the children to know that you care about the place they spend much of their day! It's also valuable to get information from teachers about what their weekly schedule will be. This helps you set up your kids' own schedules & plan ahead for homework. It gives you power when you get the typical "I don't have any homework" response. "But dear, isn't today 'math day' for homework?" Make sure you read all those zillion handouts. Trust me, I know. But read them and take notes about what you can do to help the child succeed in this class. I have a folder for each child in my filing cabinet that is labeled "school". I keep all these beginning-of-term papers in there in case I need the teacher's email address, phone number or rule clarification. Some children will do most everything to succeed without much help, but others will need lots of guidance. This information will help you to help your children the best you can.

Well, that's about it! Just a few little tips to help you get started on your back-to-school experience! Good luck and happy back-into-a-good-routine fall!