About three years ago when gas prices were shooting through the room I got a new car. We had a Town and Country Mini Van and the cost to fill it up was getting too high. The truth was, we did not need all of that room for our day to day needs so we downsized and I could not have been happier.

We got a Mazda 5 and the cost to fill the tank went from nearly $60 to $35. I was able to fit into smaller parking spaces and I upgraded to leather seats and built in blue tooth. Things were good.

Like all good things, however, the happy times had to come to an end. While we still had our third row seat and the boys had their captains chairs….they also grew some VERY long legs and soon long trips were really uncomfortable. Even seeing Jake climb in for our daily trip to school made it clear that something had to change. Our recent trip to DC sealed the deal….we need to get more room and fast!

Of course more room comes with a higher price tag. I am excited at the prospect of a new car, but I know I’ll have to give up some things I have now as a trade off for size. My leather seats will be gone and no more dealer installed DVD player. Leg room is the priority now and I am afraid it always will be with our boys The truth is that Kerry and I are no slouches either at 5’11 and 6’1. The extra room will be good for all of us and we are being grown ups and being real about what we can afford and what we can’t. I can only hope the boys pay attention and learn a little lesson about that

What about your growing Tweens?  New cars, clothes, shoes…how do you keep up with the cost of an ever growing child?

It is Sunday morning and I am listening to the boys in my room. Sunday is the day I wash all of our bedding…the boys have commandeered all of the pillows, sheets and blankets that have been stripped off the beds and they have created a fort. This is a common occurrence each weekend and it got me thinking about all of the times they play with things other free things around the house rather than the toys we actually spent money on!

Jake with two of his favorite items...his helmet and boots (neither can be found at Toys R Us)

Like most kids, the boys like a good cardboard box or a roll of bubble wrap. To them, these items have infinite possibilities and I love watching them create with them. It just makes me wonder why we even bother with Toys R Us or Target. There have been times I wanted to reward the boys for something good and I have taken them toy shopping. I have seen them walk 4 times around Target and finally settle on something just so they don’t walk out empty handed. After thinking about how amused they are with regular items around our house…I think I won’t let that happen again

From time to time there is something new that really grabs their attention and I know they would use it and enjoy it, but aside from those items…I don’t see much toy buying in our future. Jake even commented this week that he doesn’t really need more toys (amazing…I know!) I think they may have actually come to the same realization I have…..Imagination and a big box are all a boy really needs

Have you cut back on toy shopping now that your kids are tweens? Do they play with their toys as often as they used to?

A couple of weeks ago while the kiddos were having their afternoon quiet time, I heard a knock on the door.  I rushed to the door to be sure whoever it was didn’t ring the doorbell and wake my baby up (that makes for a very unhappy Mama).  This is what I found…four darling kids on my porch with plates full of baked goods.

After I said hello, they politely asked me if I would like to buy some baked goods.  Hello…of course, I am just so impressed with this little business  they have going.  I grabbed a couple dollars and let the kids come and pick out a couple of treats.  They sold all the treats for fifty cents each.  The kids picked out two treats and I gave them a nice little tip.  They graciously thanked us and moved to the next house.

I was flabbergasted….brilliant, absolutely brilliant!  Whoever their Mom is has to be pretty neat!  This is why I think their little business is so brilliant.

First, they probably spent hours cooking all the treats and at the same time had fun baking together.

Next, they had to step out of the box a little to be confident and get out there and sell their ‘product’.  It was probably a great self esteem boost for them.

Finally, they are learning how money works and getting the wheels turning in their mind about how business, customer service AND money works.

All in all, I was so impressed by these kiddos and it was such a fun little surprise for myself and my kids.

What do you think of this little business venture?

Our old patio set was looking a little worse for the wear after eight years so last weekend I decided we needed to have a yard sale. I ran off to post it on LeJeune Yard sales and realized I needed to come up with a a few more items to make it worth my while to get up at 6AM on a Saturday to haggle with people.

We have had yard sales before and we have made a few dollars but it is not high on my list of things to do each spring. Taking the time to find items, price them, advertise and then man the “shop” for 3 or 4 hours is not my idea of a really fun day. That said, we did have some other items we could do without and I took it as a chance to teach the boys another money lesson.

I helped Jake and Sam go through their toys so they could set aside some items to sell. I told them they could have a share of the profits if they were able to part with some of those items they had not used but kept telling me they needed. Once they heard they could earn some cash, they quickly came up with a bag each. They were even willing to sell some favorites and I had to stop them to explain that was not the idea.

In the end, each of the boys walked away with $15 and a less cluttered room. They were happy to put the money in their Share, Save and Spend Smart jars. (You can watch the video I made about that on our YouTube channel.)

I was happy to bag up what was left and take it to school for our yard sale there in a couple of weeks. Even with our success, I am not sure you’ll see me listing another sale next spring. Maybe a lesson on coupon cutting or sale hunting instead for the boys.

Have you had a yard sale recently? What do you like about them? What do you dislike?

Just a little update on our money jar experiment. We really hope it teaches the boys about savings and being responsible with their money. We’ll see……