Category Archive: Money Bags, LLC
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A MoneyBags Radom Act of Kindness
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Happy Halloween Money Managers
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MoneyBags on the radio!
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Hello MoneyBags Managers! In case you missed the live radio broadcast of Wendy Gillespie, MBA, CFP® chatting about MoneyBags: A Guide to Teaching Your Kids About Money on David England’s Eye on the Market radio show, all is not lost.Our friends at Eye on the Market have posted the segments for your listening pleasure and convenience. After speaking about MoneyBags, Wendy also has a discussion about retirement planning. Take a listen to the segments below and don’t forget to share with your friends. Click the title name of this blog post to enter the post and click one of the sharing options: Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.
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egment 2
Special guest-author Wendy Gillespie MBA, CPF answers questions about writing her book MoneyBags: A Guide to Teaching Your Kids About Money. http://goo.gl/AEmZuU
Segment 3
Wendy Gillespie answers a critical question-What is it that Investors do not get when dealing with planning for retirement? http://goo.gl/sL2bHcHere’s to filling your MoneyBags!
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My Sister’s MoneyBags Moment
Comments Off on My Sister’s MoneyBags Moment<img class="alignleft" style="width: 269px; height: 189px;" alt="MoneyBags Moment, Pennies" src="http://moneybagslife best team management apps.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/4-20BlogPic-300×238.jpg” width=”300″ height=”238″ />My sister has a rewarding job, as a Foster Care Case Manager working directly with foster kids, but today I got a frustrated text from her asking for some wisdom. Basically, one of her foster kids traded two video games ($50) for a bag of chips ($1) and of course she felt he got a bad deal. Did he? I think he was hungry and negotiated with something that did not meet his primary needs (The Plate Level of the Money Hierarchy Cake – Chapter 7). So for him, it was better to eat than to keep the games.
However, I also see my sister’s concern and desire to help, protect, and nurture him. I told her that this is a cheap mistake. It’s a MoneyBags Moment. She now needs to explain to him that both items have a dollar value and she needs him to understand the dollar amount of each item. A poor trade is one bag of chips ($1) for two video games ($50). A fair trade would be 50 bags of chips ($50), for the two games ($50), a good trade is 60 bags of chips ($60), and an awesome trade would be for a semi-truck full of chips ($1500). The sooner he learns this the better he will be a making deals (Chapter 46- Bartering).
Here is to filling your MoneyBags!
Wendy
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Delayed Gratification — MoneyBags is printing as I type!
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I started this unexpected journey in early 2009. I was surprised when I saw a good friend, who was smart and a good parent, but he struggled when teaching his kids the basics in how to handle and think through money decisions. I then looked back at his upbringing and it all made sense, he only knew what he was taught by his parents and he was passing his limited knowledge on to his kids. So, I began feverishly writing all the things that I had learned. The lessons just poured out one right after another. Pages and pages of money lessons, but then I ran into a couple of problems, there is so much to know and how do I organize the information? More importantly, how do I make it simple and fun?
I then went to my good friend and executive coach at the time, Nancy Imholt, and explained to her this need I had in writing this book. She listened, smiled and got it! She saw a bigger vision than I could at the time. Then my passion became a dream.
I spent my spare time over the next couple of years, writing, researching, obtaining feedback, making changes, began blogging, and focusing on completing the book. At times, the finished product seemed so close, but then there would be a setback, from having no time for writing, to editors that did not connect to me or my vision. Through Nancy, I found my publisher, which linked me up to key people to help me through the process from editors to book designers, and so on. I also had to seek out people on my own to design the logo, web site, illustrations, and other countless tasks.
I was also blessed with cheerleaders. Many of my friends and colleagues have been encouraging, positive, and even anxious as they look forward to the completion of the book I have been talking about for so long. Carlos Rodriguez and Amber Appel have been my biggest supporters. They joined MoneyBags LLC, even though there is not a penny of profit. Their help, input and support is priceless! Also, my future success of the book now depends on me being able to take a little more time away from the office, so I am grateful for Carla Keck, who is my right hand and has my back at every turn. With her at the wheel, I can confidently take time to spread my vision.
So, after many years and numerous edits, within in a few short days the book will be complete. The website will be live. I feel like a little kid at Christmas. I am about to burst from the excitement and anticipation of the long awaited arrival of MoneyBags in my hands. Oh, the overwhelming feeling of delayed gratification! This important money lesson is covered in Chapter 25 of the book. It talks about the famous researcher, Walter Mischel, and his marshmallow test. It explains his findings and the importance of having self-discipline to not always grab, but to realize the bigger reward for waiting.
Here is to filling your MoneyBag!
Wendy
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The Cost of Clutter and Explaining it to your Kids
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Money Manifesters!!!
Today I was reading a great article by Amanda Enayati titled “Why Clutter Matters and De-cluttering is Difficult.” In the article, she states that clutter is expensive and costs an average of $10 per square foot just to store items. Approximately 10% of the population spends $1,000 a year on storage units. Of the people that have two car garages, 25% are too full for the owners to their park cars! Sadly, 23% of people pay bills late and incur fees due to misplaced/lost statements. Overall, an average American spends a year of their life looking for misplaced items. Explain the cost of clutter to your kids.
As a fun exercise, go a step further with your kids and talk about all the “stuff” in your garage/basement. Ask them to think about how much you paid for all that “stuff!” Make a game of it. Pick out 10-30 items and have everyone write on a sheet of paper, what they think was spent on all of the items in total. Then make the game into a scavenger hunt. Have your kids make a list of all the “stuff” in your garage/basement (the items that you have picked out). (Note: Each kid can have the same lists or you can have them look for separate items.) Then go to the store(s) and have the kids locate and write down the price of the different items. For example, maybe your list has four lawn chairs, two bikes, grill, lighter fluid, coals, five gallons of paint, potting soil, 25 planting pots, lawn mower, etc. After your trip, have your kids total up their lists and see who was closest to the total guess that was written on the paper. Ask them what they learned like this. Were they surprised at the cost of all the stuff? How much would you have to pay in taxes? Calculate tax of 5%, 8%, and 10%. How often is the stuffed used? Is the “stuff” in good shape or has it been damaged or neglected? How many weeks would it take your kids to save their full allowance to pay for all that “stuff” (including taxes 10%)? How would it feel to have the money spent on all the “stuff” inside their MoneyBag instead?
Here is to filling your MoneyBag!
Wendy
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The MoneyBag Threshold
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Today is a brisk November day and it has been a long time since I have updated my blog project team management. Like my clients, the start of the fall (or school year) tends to make the days run faster. Though I would like to say I have had excellent progress on the book, the reality is I am still holding all of the cards, but have begun to make some decision and begun to push things out the door.My motivation today, is to explain how important it is to have savings put on autopilot (pay yourself first to your 401(k) plan, savings or piggy bank) because once you have a system set up it happens without you realizing…then the months go by faster than a blink of an eye. If you have no system in place to automatically save, then those months
have added nothing to your savings. But, if you save $100 a month on autopilot and six months have gone by in a blink of an eye, you now have $600!Furthermore, when you do take time, like I did today, to assess how things are going, it is a perfect time to see if you should increase your savings from $100 a month to $150! That way when the next six months flies by you have now saved $900!
This type of behavior allows you to crossover your MoneyBags Threshold. To me, this is that point in time, where you suddenly see your money at work versus you working for your money. For some people, this occurred when they learned about interest and dividends. For others, it is when they see their discipline of saving money over time actually accumulate to a large sum. No matter when the crossover of the MoneyBags Threshold occurs for you, when you reach it, it mean you have become excited about saving money and begin to think of ways to save more versus spend more.
So, today make sure to stop and make a conscious decision on automating your savings, pay yourself first. If you are already committed to this step, now go a step further and twist the proverbial MoneyScrews and increase the amount you save, even if it feels tight, increase it by $5, $10, $50, or more!
Here is to filling your MoneyBags!
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3….2….1….
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Monday everything became official, I forward my book to the editor!!!! Today is a beautiful day outside and I am for the first time a loss of what to do with my time. Do I make it a day of errands, round up some friends for lunch, take a long walk, clean out the garage, or visit a coffee shop with no writing agenda?
One thing I am doing is to actually practicing what I preach. One recommendation in the book is to practice discipline, like some religions, by giving up something for 40 days. I figured if I am going to put it in the book, I should try it for myself. Looking for a win-win, I decided to give up carbs to help me lose weight! I am on day four and have cheated once due to a birthday party at my office. After all, how can you say no to birthday cake?
Here is to filling your Moneybag!
Wendy
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Birth of a logo
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This week was exciting!!!! The birth of my logo has occurred (to be posted once trademark protected), I got my LLC tax payer ID so I can now open up my checking account, and the book is in clean up phase! I will make a June 1 completion date for the book to finally go to the editor!!!!! Better late than never.
Minnesota’s weather has been miserable this spring and I blame myself for the deal I made with Mother Nature (please don’t let the
weather turn nice until I am done with the book) who knew I had so much pull. Today will be a full read of the book with tweaks here and there. I feel as if my need to tweak will never stop, but the editor is my backstop. I just need to make sure I can get in all the important things that are flying around in my head. Just Friday, I found a new statistic in reading Sarah Lorge Butler’s article “One Small, Surprising Way to Ensure Your Kid Gets to College” quoting from the College Savings Initiative, “kids with a savings account in their own name are six times more likely to attend college than those without an account.” How is that for incentive to teach your kids to save money!As the Nike tag line states, just do it, go and open a saving account for your kids today!
Here is to filling your Moneybag!
Wendy
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Springing into the season with a full Money Bag!
Comments Off on Springing into the season with a full Money Bag!I am not sure what is more shocking, that it is finally reaching 70 degrees in Minnesota or I am updating my blog!
The last couple of months have been stressful. My goal was to have the book to the editor by March 1st, but between burnout, writers block, two ski weekends, and tax season, that was a lofty goal. Gratefully, all problems have passed and I am ready! The book is looking good and I am excited in the direction that it is going team task management app. My draft actually looks like a real manuscript with an introduction, table of contents and organized chapters with headings! I have cut chapters out, moved them around, revamped and polished. I still have to rework four chapters dealing with debit/credit cards and marketing.
Though it appears that I have been on hiatus, things have been progressing. Aaron Fruit has been working on my logo and we are close to the finished look and picking a color palette. Also, I have been researching money traditions and have to laugh because when I search via Google® I only find “witchcraft type spells for money.” Thankfully, I have found a couple of books to give me some ideas, but neither of them touches money with a ten foot pole, not even the Tooth Fairy! I also have reached back into my childhood, playing some board games to make sure that I still think they do a good job in teaching money. I have also
been exploring some new games to see if they will work for the book.In the spirit of spring time, make sure to plant a tree, flower, or some vegetables with your child. This is a great way to begin working on delayed gratification. Explain to your kids that planting this special tree, flower, or vegetable plant is similar to money. Money grows slowly and you have to nurture and make sure it is safe. If you feed it (save more) it will grow beyond your expectations and provide you wonderful flowers, a bountiful harvest, or shade for your nurturing and patience.
Here’s to filling your MoneyBag—
Wendy
