Hats off to the folks at mint.com for this amusing, entertaining video that teaches the importance of budgeting and the smart use of credit.  Watch this one with your kids!

This article from Yahoo! Finance provides excellent advice for adults.  I suspect that most adults don’t know all of these tips.  These are tips that we each should be teaching our kids as well.  From now on, I recommend that when you are making the decision at the point of sale, and you have your child with you, explain the logic behind why you chose to use debit or credit. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109125/10-places-not-to-use-your-debit-card?mod=bb-checking_savings

A debit card traditionally has been defined as plastic with limits - one can only spend today what one has in one’s bank account today. Traditionally, a credit card has been defined as plastic without some of the limits – one can spend today more than one has in one’s bank account today, up to the credit limit established by the card issuer, with a legal obligation to eventually pay it all back later, with interest.

But now there’s a new form of credit that’s been created by the opportunistic folks at Kwedit, a new payment network targeting the young and the otherwise unbanked, a group that is most likely financially unsophisticated.   (more…)

I was recently interviewed by AP reporter Shaila Dani regarding the new law that goes into effect next February to curb credit card incentives for college students and new rules for the under-21 group and their parents. (more…)

Clearly, credit card debt is a problem. In the last 12 months, 15 percent of American adults, or nearly 34 million people, have been late making a credit card payment and 8 percent (18 million people) have missed a payment entirely. (more…)

If we feel out of control, imagine how our kids feel. Abundance is all they have known since the day they were born. (more…)

Cash gets a bad rap from people who think that kids must learn to use plastic to succeed in our economy. The rule in my world is coin before currency before checking before debit before credit. Each must be mastered before moving on to the next level. (more…)

It all started when my girls got “gift cards” as birthday presents from well-meaning parents of boys. (more…)

As adults, credit and debit cards are a convenience we’ve all learned to rely on daily. But what are your children learning when you pull out your credit card? (more…)