Plan Ahead for Smart Spending

While Thanksgiving is a day to rest and be thankful for all we have, the very next morning millions of us will wake up before dawn to begin furiously preparing for the remainder of the holiday season. The turkey coma has worn off and the Black Friday craze has begun!  However, Black Friday can be about more than searching out the perfect deal or the best present – it can be an opportunity to teach the entire family about wise holiday spending.

The holidays are a great time to talk to kids about money and gift giving – they have an emotional interest! By involving them from a young age in the holiday planning and budgeting, they will have a great foundation for doing their own holiday spending when the time comes.

To help you get started, T. Rowe Price has developed tips for families to share about smart spending for Black Friday, and in turn, smart spending for the whole holiday season.

• Make your list, but assign each person a dollar value instead of an item.  That way you won't feel compelled to purchase a specific item on your list if it turns out to be more expensive than expected. Chances are that by remaining open-minded, you can find a great gift for someone without exceeding your dollar limit.

• Don't feel like the amount you spend is a direct reflection of how much you care about your loved one. They will never know exactly what you spent on them, and there is no need to feel self-conscious about it.

• Explain to your kids where the money being spent for gifts is coming from. Talk to them about how you work the expense of the holidays into your annual spending – a separate savings account to help you save throughout the year, etc.

• Look into layaway or other programs that allow you to make interest free payments for a big-ticket item. Doing a little research before you begin shopping will help point you to stores that offer interest free layaway and have the products you’re looking for.

• Get creative! Suggest doing a family “Secret Santa” in order to avoid buying numerous gifts. By assigning each child just one sibling or cousin to buy for, as well as a dollar amount they cannot exceed, it becomes easier for everyone in the family to get involved in the holidays.  Or, suggest the family pitches in for an event or item instead of purchasing gifts, to emphasize the importance of family time.  For example, offer to pay for a plane ticket for a loved one to visit, or a Wii console for the family game night.

After the Black Friday buzz has worn off, you can continue money conversations with your kids well into the holiday season. To help make this easier, T. Rowe Price has created the Family Financial Hub where parents can find tools and resources, including a free activity book with puzzles, games, and activities to teach financial lessons in a fun way.  Kids can also go directly to The Great Piggy Bank Adventure®, an online board game developed in collaboration with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online.

This Black Friday, talk with your kids about making lists, pitching in, and all of the other tactics you follow when buying holiday gifts. By using T. Rowe Price’s tips, you can be better positioned to make it through the 2012 holiday season without going into the red, and while providing your children with valuable money lessons that will last all year long.

T. Rowe Price and Disney Enterprises, Inc., are not affiliated companies.

Stuart Ritter, CFP®, is a T. Rowe Price financial planner and expert in family financial education. He is a father of three young kids.

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Imagine Childhood - Explore the World through Nature, Imagination, and Play with Sarah Olmsted

Growing up there was always a distinct moment when I knew autumn had arrived.  I'm not sure if it was the light, the temperature or the sight of that first golden tinged leaf on a tree, but as soon as I noticed it everything changed.  Summer always had a sort of length to it, not just in the hours of the day, but in the slower speed of the activities and in the way my mind would wander, moving at the pace of the shadows cast by the drifting sun.  But from the moment fall hit, the energy was instantaneously different.  The cooler air stirred faster movement from place to place and the hours spent indoors at school heightened the intensity of the time spent outside.  Suddenly each moment in the sun was a cherished one, as it stayed around just a bit less each day. Places I'd taken for granted during the preceding months were now special destinations.  The space in autumn is closer somehow than the other seasons, especially as the leaves begin to fall.   Walking in the park, I'd take unnecessary detours just so that I could wander through the patches of trees, so I could enter those golden caves.  I'd shuffle my feet along the ground to hear that familiar crunch and crackle and everything else in the world would disappear... like the only thing that existed in the entire universe was that small bubble of golden trees and their shooting stars shaped like leaves. Growing up, autumn transformed my everyday world into the space of dreams.  The season was magic.  

~ Excerpt from IMAGINE CHILDHOOD: Exploring the World through Nature, Imagination, and Play.



If you couldn't already tell by the passage above, autumn is my favorite time of year.  From the colors, to the smells, to the feel of a crisp breeze on my face in the morning. . . I love it all.  But this year, for the first time in my life, I'm spending the season much farther south.  Where I am, the average temperature lately has been 85 not 55.  There is no drama or fanfare by way of changing trees, there's no smell of damp leaves.   And so, without the usual telltale signs, I find myself having to pay even closer attention to the subtle shifts and changes.  I find myself searching for fall like a detective following clues. 


Whether you live in a place with four distinct seasons, or in a location where things stay relatively the same from day to day, week to week, and month to month, there are always slight changes happening right in front of you. There is magic hiding both in the drama and subtlety of nature.  Take a moment and see what you can find today.

Suggestions for exploring fall:

• Build Leaf Boats
• Play with Shadows
• Go on a Micro Hike
• Play with Pumpkins
• Make Sweet Ginger Leaves

GIVEAWAY!:
If you'd like to explore the pages of IMAGINE CHILDHOOD further, today is your lucky day!  Roost is giving away THREE copies right here!




Thank you so much Katie for hosting me on your lovely blog!
~ Sarah Olmsted

It is our pleasure to have Sarah here on ABC & 123 today.  Her book IMAGINE CHILDHOOD: Exploring the World through Nature, Imagination, and Play is a beautiful and inspiring piece for every classroom resource collection and parent's tool kit.  We are thankful for the generous offer of sharing 3 copies with our readers.  Please submit your entry for this giveaway x3 in the Rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Before Considering Special Education by Bola Ajumobi

When a Kindergartener or first grader is having difficulty putting words together from a book but is otherwise performing at age and grade level in other functions like dressing, toileting and self-feeding, learning disorder is often suspected.

There are however a handful of medical conditions that could mimic a learning disorder and if picked up early, could be treated and spare a child from being mislabeled. Medical conditions you might want your child evaluated for include:

Refractive Error:

Literarily means poor vision. A child with an impaired vision is often unaware of his or her visual limitations. If she can't see the letters or the word, she would not be able to read.

Impaired Hearing:

Same reasoning here. Hearing impaired kids are often misidentified as slow learners. Vision and hearing tests are routinely performed during preschool and grade level physicals with the pediatrician.

Dyslexia:

This is actually a learning disorder where the brain misinterprets certain letters or words. A child might not be able to tell the difference between the letter “b” and the letter “d” for instance.

ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder):

Unlike its better known and more disruptive cousin, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), kids with ADD are calm and not jumping off the wall. They however have limitations with attention and staying focused, their mind often wonder and they have difficulty completing tasks.

Seizure Disorder:

A particular seizure disorder called “Petite Mal” or Absence Seizure could bring about a delay in learning and reading. An affected child has frequent small seizures where there is no jerking but stares blank in space often missing a sizable amount of time in small chunks at a time.

Treatment is available for all the aforementioned medical conditions and results are often dramatic. Corrective lenses for refractive errors, hearing aids for hearing impairments, stimulants for ADD and anti-seizure medications for Petite Mal. Behavioral therapy may be of help with dyslexia. Be certain to bring up your concerns with your child's doctor.

Bola Ajumobi is the founder of SlimyBookworm.com, “The Destination for Books Kids Love!” She is a mom of 2 and has a background in healthcare. She is happiest playing with the boys or curled up in a good book.

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