“Working to help parents raise money-smart kids.”
Hello, friends!
Before we jump into this week’s newsletter, I want to help you check a name or two off your holiday list. My book, The Art of Allowance: A Short, Practical Guide to Raising Money-Smart, Money-Empowered Kids, makes a great gift for friends and relatives who happen to be parents. 😉
Speaking of gifts, I’m also offering a special treat to frequent newsletter readers like you. 🎁 See the postscript of this edition for the details.
Now onto this week’s “3 {Festive} Ideas to Share & Save”!
— 1 —
Managing the Madness: There are many methods to make our holidays more reasonable. Here are a few I hope will give you more time to enjoy, and not get caught up in, the swirl of the season.
➡️ The Center for Biological Diversity (No, that’s not a typo!) has curated great gift guides to help you control consumption. You’ll find suggestions for handmade, experiential and secondhand gifts at their website, Simplify the Holidays.
➡️ One “oldie but goodie” strategy we used with our kids to maintain sanity? “Get One. Give One.” For every gift our daughters received, they had to give away something they were no longer using. This tactic worked well when they were younger, and it helped keep the scourge of stuff at bay.
➡️ I recently watched an ad for one of those blinking, bouncing, blaring toddler “activity centers.” While it was matter-of-factly marketed as a teaching tool, I’m skeptical of that educational claim. Sure, the center demands attention. It’s a sensory-stimulating wonderland! But are your kids really learning?
I immediately thought of The Art of Allowance Podcast guest Josh Golin and his strategy to head stuff off at the pass. Tell your friends and family that you don’t do commercialized toys:
I understand that this method is an outlier, and it’s certainly not for everyone. Still, it’s a tactic I wanted to share with you. And in case you’re wondering, Josh practices what he preaches. He runs Fairplay, a nonprofit dedicated to decommercializing childhood.
— 2 —
The Unwinnable Game: We’re looking for no less than a paradigm shift in this money-smart movement of ours. One in which we help our kids (and ourselves) gain control of consumption choices. And while it’s an uphill battle, it’s worth fighting in a world replete with influencers peddling products on every platform and payments becoming more and more frictionless. 🤑
Our paleolithic brains just can’t keep up! Ten thousand years ago, “Keeping up with the Joneses” meant you pulled your weight in the tribe — gathered food, hunted for game and defended the group.
Although we no longer fear being eaten when we leave our modern-day “caves,” our brains are still stuck in the past. Today’s tribes trigger different “needs” — a home upgrade, the latest toy or an exotic, Instagram-worthy trip. But did you know that people at every income level in the US think they need just a little bit more money to make them happy? 😳
“Keeping up with the Joneses” is an unwinnable game. So we need to think differently about money. And we should play a different game. Like not spending more than we make:
— 3 —
A Delicious Slice of Patience: I used to coach my girls’ soccer teams, sometimes with my friend Steve. At one particular holiday weekend tournament, we both realized we wouldn’t be that disappointed if our girls didn’t advance to the Monday championship game. After all, they’d played three or four games in two days. That’s a lot of soccer. Steve described moving on to the Monday game like this: “It’s like a pie-eating contest in which the winner is awarded more pie.” 🥧
And so, in that spirit, your reward for patiently making it to this third point? You got it! More patience.
Last week, I shared my full discussion with the money-wise Will Rainey, author of Grandpa’s Fortune Fable$. In case you missed it, here’s a short bit from Will about the importance of patience:
So while we savor choice as a society, having access doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for us. (An all-pie buffet sounds great in theory, but our stomachs would likely disagree. 🤢) Perhaps rather than options, we simply need more patience. Morgan Housel underscores the simplicity of this approach in The Psychology of Money:
“There are books on economic cycles, trading strategies, and sector bets. But the most powerful and important book should be called Shut Up and Wait. It’s just one page with a long-term chart of economic growth.”
As always, enjoy the journey!
John, Chief Mammal
P.S. You made it to the special offer! 🎉 Email me a proof of purchase of The Art of Allowance (bound or digital) for a free fifteen-minute coaching session to cover any topic related to raising money-smart kids, including:
- Setting up allowances for your children at any age
- Should you tie your kids’ allowances to chores?
- Getting on the same financial page as your partner
- What your children really need to know about investing
- What if you’re not money-smart? How do you teach your kids?
- What to do with children with different money personalities
And, yes, you can gift the coaching session!
P.P.S. Please consult with a financial or investment professional before making any decisions that might affect your financial well-being.
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