Charge overhead for kids’ lemonade stand? Absolutely!
Recently, CommunityAmerica sponsored a scholarship program for middle school students who completed an essay addressing the current financial crisis and offering their ideas for overcoming these challenges. Turns out we can learn a lot from this generation.
Abbey, the winning student for Jackson County, discussed the lemonade stand the kids in her neighborhood host every summer and lessons her parents helped her learn.
During the day, the kids got hungry and ordered a pizza delivered to the stand, and they each ate two pieces.
Then Abbey said something that caught our attention: “We started dividing out the profits after paying my mom back for the sugar and Kool-Aid, then the pizza, then divided what was left among the neighbor kids. There wasn’t much left!”
Abbey’s parents charged the kids for sugar, lemons and lunch?
While some might think that’s over the top, that simple act helped the kids understand the concept of overhead and the costs of running a business. A simple, real-life financial literacy lesson — the kind that leaves an indelible impression that lasts a lifetime. Rewards have costs, and kids learn quickly when even a portion has to come from their own savings.
What else did the kids learn? Abbey says they will be bringing sandwiches and snacks from home for this year’s lemonade stand – increasing their net profit by at least $12! Financial prudence from sixth graders is music to my ears, and gives great hope to how future generations will break the cycle of debt.
A great site for parents is the Sesame Workshop,
which has tools to help parents learn how to transform everyday observances and happenings into learning opportunities. And for more information about starting your own lemonade stand check out Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which provides a meaningful, fun and safe way to make a difference in the lives of others. Holding your own Alex's Lemonade Stand is easy and fun. It’s also an inspiring way for caring people of all ages to support a cause dedicated to helping children everywhere.
What are the “lemonade stand moments” in your life? In other words, what moment stands out that helped shape your financial future growing up? How have you transformed everyday life into learning opportunities for your child?
Share your memories or good tips, and let’s help the next generation turn lemons into lemonade — and learn life lessons, at little cost, in the process!
Kat Hnatyshyn (pronounced nuh-tish-un) is a branch manager with CommunityAmerica Credit Union. Her blog appears every Tuesday in Dollars & Sense.
A Financial Wake-Up Call for Parents
With all the sobering financial hullaballoo over the past year, it's no wonder that college students and other young adults are feeling the pain too.
Many are buckling under the strain of living beyond their means, borrowing to the max on credit cards and not saving a dime. Research has shown that poor money management spills over into illness, depression and other problems.
Against this backdrop, University of Arizona researchers have been trying to determine some of the factors that lead individuals toward healthier personal finances. Some early results of the university's study were released Monday.
Among the preliminary findings: "Parents have more influence over their children's financial knowledge, attitudes and behaviors than work experience and high school financial education combined."
The study, partly supported by the National Endowment for Financial Education, also found that young people with experience in the workplace developed "more positive financial attitudes and behaviors and were better off than their non-working peers."
Makes sense to me, since young adults tend to be more responsible when their money is on the line rather than mom and dads'. In other words, when their skin is in the game, teens and college students tend to watch their pennies more carefully.
The findings released Monday are part of an ongoing research project at the U of A as researchers follow more than 2,000 young people through their emerging adult years, ages 18 to 25.
Ultimately, the researchers hope to delve more deeply into how socio-demographic issues and other society trends affect financial behavior.
Why does this matter? In the words of the researchers, "earlier research links poor financial decision-making to lower academic achievement, lower-quality relationships and decreased physical and mental health."
Working Moms Tell What They Need
If time is money, then lots of working mothers are feeling poor.
According to a survey, keyed to Mother's Day by CareerBuilder.com, about one-third of moms who work outside the home are working longer hours this year than last.
About one in seven say they regularly bring work home. And one in five say they are spending just about two hours a day with their children. Almost that many say they've taken a second job in order to make ends meet.
Wanting more time takes precedence over wanting more money, even though tight finances are the reason why many of them are working.
Perhaps most concerning in the poll was the high admission of burnout -- by one-third of the respondents.
In a year of cutbacks and layoffs, it's not always possible to craft a "flexible" job, but career advisors suggest that it's never wrong to suggest alternatives to your boss. Workers that are too tired or too torn in different directions aren't likely to pull their weight at work or be the kind of parent they want to be at home, either.
