Commission

We've been taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Class and loving it! We are learning to live on a tight budget, using cash for spending, NEVER using credit, investing for the future, and working on total debt free living (yes, that includes no more car payments and a plan for even paying off the mortgage!) It's hard, sometimes REALLY hard--especially for a one income family, but like Dave says, "We are living like no one else now, so later we can LIVE like no one else!"

We've also started teaching Tess about how to manage money. Even though she is only four, we want to teach her how to save, spend and give. It's been refreshing because she knows that mommy and daddy aren't going to just buy something for her, she has to save her money and buy it herself. She has a magnetic board with five chores she must do to get her commission. Yep, we've learned to call it "commission" because it's based on her work. If she works, she gets paid, if not, she doesn't. She gets paid $1 for each of the five chores and only gets paid if she has done each one every day. 1 of her $5 goes to tithe/charity; $2 into savings, and $2 goes into her spend account. We are so proud of her and how well she is doing not only doing her chores with such a happy heart, but her excitement in giving as well as saving.
A few days ago I offered to take her to the store to pick something out or at least look at what she wanted to save to purchase for later. She excitedly got $8 spending money out of her bank and put it in a dressy little purse. Before we left the house, she kept taking her money out and looking at it. Joel then instructed her, "Keep your money in your purse, so it will stay safe. You don't want everyone seeing your money!"

After arriving at the store we headed to the toy aisle. Tess began to spend the next half hour perusing the shelves, studying everything, wanting to make sure she made the best decision. While Tess is taking her sweet time making this very serious decision, Gracie is not so patient. It is impossible for us to be anywhere within view of a baby doll without Gracie going crazy yelling "Babies! Babies! Babies!" at the top of her lungs. Hmmm, what kind of chore can Gracie do so she can start getting a commission? Maybe then she, too, can learn to save and buy a baby instead of begging for one at every store.

Back to Tess, she finally decided on a Barbie for $5. In all honesty, it is not the toy that I would have picked for her (and we've always been a little iffy if we even wanted our girls to play with Barbies, but I won't get into my opinions about how I feel about the RIDICIOUSLY dressed Barbies...) It was HER decision, which she made after very careful deliberation, so I was very proud of her (and it was fairy Barbie not one wearing a midriff and daisy dukes.)

She carried it to the checkout, ready to make her very first purchase. While we were waiting for our turn, I told her she could get her money out now. She just looked at me and shook her head no. When I asked her why not, she said in a very loud whisper while nodding her head to the side, "I don't want that woman over there to see my money!" I had a hard time keeping my composure, as I looked at the very innocent elderly lady that Tess was nodding to. Ooo, boy, that lady may be someone who might just try to snatch $8 out of a little four year old's little flower purse! Can't be too careful! Tess then proudly handed the money to the cashier, while I wished the woman behind the counter was a little more excited about my baby's first lesson in financial planning.
What a fun time teaching a new lession. We look forward to seeing her bloom as she continues to learn life lessons about how to handle money the correct way. Hmmm, maybe her very careful decision making and protection of her money as well as the concept of actually earning COMMISSION instead of just getting an ALLOWENCE would be a good example for our government...