Cash and Coupons

First, a random picture of the kids in front of our "Growth Board" where we record their height and age.

Second, a note about coupons. I didn't use to clip coupons. I was quite content with store or generic brand items until . . . Hy-Vee ran a sale on General Mills cereal this fall. I just happened to read the store flyer about the deal, scrounged up a few coupons online and got my General Mills cereal for $.50 a box! I was hooked after that! And let's not mention that I took advantage of that General Mills deal 3 times in 2 days. We go through a lot of cereal so I don't feel guilty about doing that. I started a coupon organizer for free with things I had around the house. It's a 3-ring, zippered binder with photo album pages to hold my coupons.

Now, I'm getting coupons from family, friends, co-workers and from a coupon collection tote at church. I could easily end up with 5 or 6 coupons for a certain product and then I hold it until the item goes on sale. That's when it's time to stock up. I have listed a few of my favorite coupon sites on the right hand side of my blog. And I'm always adding more or looking for more. Just the other day we got Frosted Flakes for $.49/box.

On another money note, I've started the boys with chores and they can earn commission. This is the style of Dave Ramsey. Visit his site.
Their chores range from picking up toys to making their bed to loading/unloading the dishwasher, putting away laundry, etc. I'm hoping to add/delete different chores as their ages change and as some of these become second nature. I'm really pleased with the response from the boys so far. Ephraim saw me folding laundry and right away started helping. And just this morning, I was in the shower and Emmet comes in the bathroom to tell me that he set the table for breakfast! They can also earn rewards for good behavior (helping, sharing) and the rewards include computer time, movie and popcorn night, baking a snack, trip to the library, etc. Mostly, non-monetary things.

They can also lose their commission or rewards by fighting, complaining, etc.


With their money, they have to divide it three ways: Giving, Spending and Saving. They give 10%, get to spend 50% and save 40%. The items they are saving for are also posted on the fridge. Ephraim is saving for a DVD from Discovery Channel and Emmet is saving for the new Toy Story Legos. They both cost about $25. If the boys work hard they might be able to order their items by late spring. Their commission for chores is only $.05 for each job and $.10 for a few things that only happen once a week, like change their sheets. They might make $2/week but they have to split that three ways. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how things are progressing.