Knitting & Money

Today I sat down and let Kiki teach me how to knit. She’s been wanting to do it for weeks, but we’ve never made space for it. As soon as we sat down, Gleek came along and wanted to knit too. Both Kiki and I were completely aware that Gleek does not have the patience nor manual dexterity to manage knitting. Fortunately Kiki had learned a finger “knitting” technique which was not beyond Gleek’s capabilities. Kiki loved teaching it and Gleek glowed at being able to do it. I forsee yarn projects for months to come.

In other news my financial education plan seems to be working. By making sure I pay allowances weekly the kids get into a budgeting mindset rather than a bonus mindset. Kiki scored additional money by selling an unwanted toy to Gleek. I was happy to see the exchange because the toy in question was one that Gleek coveted and Kiki never used, but would defend ferociously if Gleek dared to touch it. Now the toy is Gleek’s and we’ll have more peace. Hopefully.

Kiki has held true to her plan to save for a house like the ones she saw on the way to the zoo. She is setting aside half of what she currently has to put in a savings account to save for her house. A local bank has set up a school savings plan where kids can make deposits to their accounts at school. Kiki plans to use this account to save for her house. I don’t know whether that money will eventually get used for a house, but I love that she is thinking ahead and saving money. The rest of Kiki’s money is going to be spent on supplies for her intended art projects.

Link has become fascinated with the coins themselves. He has decided to start a collection of the 50 states quarters. I’ll be trotting off to a craft store to try to find one of those cheap albums for it. He has also decided to start collecting lincoln pennies. Unfortunately penny albums run about $30, so we’ll just be sticking the pennies to cardstock paper and handwriting dates underneath. It should work fine and if he continues to be interested in coin collecting we can invest in more professional albums later.

16 thoughts on “Knitting & Money”

  1. My parents helped me start a college savings account as a kid. It’s now my house downpayment savings.

    As for coin collecting, would 3-hole-punched clear plastic sheets for slides help? Those could display both sides of the coins and would go into a regular binder. You can probably buy a pack at Staples or a camera store for less than ten bucks.

  2. My parents helped me start a college savings account as a kid. It’s now my house downpayment savings.

    As for coin collecting, would 3-hole-punched clear plastic sheets for slides help? Those could display both sides of the coins and would go into a regular binder. You can probably buy a pack at Staples or a camera store for less than ten bucks.

  3. ya on the coin thing when I was a kid my mum helped me wrap them in a bit of plastic wrap and then tape that to the paper so they didnt get all stick

    Ash

  4. ya on the coin thing when I was a kid my mum helped me wrap them in a bit of plastic wrap and then tape that to the paper so they didnt get all stick

    Ash

  5. Have I mentioned how cool I think it is that you encourage your kids’ interests, while making the kids responsible for keeping up with them? Many parents can’t manage to show interest in their kids’ activities without trying to take over.

  6. Have I mentioned how cool I think it is that you encourage your kids’ interests, while making the kids responsible for keeping up with them? Many parents can’t manage to show interest in their kids’ activities without trying to take over.

  7. It’s one of the weird side effects of our really tight budget. All I can afford to give the kids is enthusiastic support and a small weekly allowance from which they can fund their interests.

  8. It’s one of the weird side effects of our really tight budget. All I can afford to give the kids is enthusiastic support and a small weekly allowance from which they can fund their interests.

  9. mmm, saving young

    I had a school savings account when I was a child, and grew interested in savings and money, so much so, that at 19, I was able to lend my (older) brother money so he could move from out of state. Of course, being no fool, I insisted on collateral, interest, and a deadline for when he could pay me back. If he didn’t, I got to keep the collateral.

    Watch out, Kiki may save up the down payment on her house. You never know.

  10. mmm, saving young

    I had a school savings account when I was a child, and grew interested in savings and money, so much so, that at 19, I was able to lend my (older) brother money so he could move from out of state. Of course, being no fool, I insisted on collateral, interest, and a deadline for when he could pay me back. If he didn’t, I got to keep the collateral.

    Watch out, Kiki may save up the down payment on her house. You never know.

  11. State quarters album

    Hi,
    I have a map of the United States that has a space on each state for one of the quarters that I was planning on giving away. It’s in pretty good shape, except for a couple of scuffs on the quarter spaces that you won’t see once you put the quarters in there. I stopped using it because they’re doing coins for each state from different mints and I wanted to collect both, which this style doesn’t have space for, so I got a different system. If Link doesn’t know that, he’ll probably be perfectly happy collecting one per state. I’d be willing to mail it to you if you think he’d like it. I collect coins as a hobby too, and I’d rather know that someone was using it for their collection than give it away to a charity without knowing that it will be used. There’s one up for auction here if you want to see what it looks like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8388707619&category=39475

  12. State quarters album

    Hi,
    I have a map of the United States that has a space on each state for one of the quarters that I was planning on giving away. It’s in pretty good shape, except for a couple of scuffs on the quarter spaces that you won’t see once you put the quarters in there. I stopped using it because they’re doing coins for each state from different mints and I wanted to collect both, which this style doesn’t have space for, so I got a different system. If Link doesn’t know that, he’ll probably be perfectly happy collecting one per state. I’d be willing to mail it to you if you think he’d like it. I collect coins as a hobby too, and I’d rather know that someone was using it for their collection than give it away to a charity without knowing that it will be used. There’s one up for auction here if you want to see what it looks like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8388707619&category=39475

Comments are closed.