My daughter and my son just received two Easter cards in the mail.

As he was opening his, my son, age 4, pulls out a piece of plastic and says, “Look, Mommy, a credit card!”. My wife and I exchanged puzzled looks - and I started to chuckle. “Son, that’s a GIFT card, not a credit card.”

My son is four and we haven’t used a credit card in the last three years. I was a little shocked the he knows what a credit card is. I asked him where he had heard about credit cards. He casually mentioned that he had played with a toy cash register at someone else’s house - and that there were, “three credit cards in it, Daddy”.

I’ve been teaching my kids about money - how to make change, how to count it - but today I had an opportunity to talk to them about debit cards, gift cards, and credit cards. My daughter is eight and she grasped the concepts of ‘earning money and then paying for something’ vs. ‘getting something and paying for it later’ rather quickly. My son learned the difference between his gift card and my debit card.

I love teachable moments.

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My buddy, Nickel, from Five Cent Nickel has written a couple of articles about The Tax Stimulus Plan that you’ll want to read.  The first is about the tax rebate payment schedule and the second is about the official tax rebate calculator.  After reading the articles, it looks like our check, for $1800, should arrive in May.  This will work out great for our family, because my wife will miss a paycheck - due to the fact that she’ll be having baby #3.

Some of the rebate check money will go towards offsetting the cost of the delivery.  It looks like the total cost will be about $11,000, 90% of which will be covered by our health insurance plan.  We’ll have to pay our portion, up front, the day of the delivery.

For those of you who are new to No Credit Needed -

Let me welcome you to the site and invite you to checkout some of the other ‘NCN’ sites -

I have a weight loss blog, No. Calories Needed.  I’ve started following a new eating plan - Paul McKenna’s 4 Golden Rules - and I’ve lost 7 pounds.  I’m really excited about this plan.  I hope you’ll click over to read more.

I also have a podcast, the No Credit Needed Podcast.  I talk about debt, debt reduction, my life, saving money, and frugal living.

Finally, I manage the No Credit Needed Network.  The Network allows members to create and share a personal finance goal / chart.  You really have to see it to really appreciate it.  Two years ago, there were fewer than 10 members.  Now, there are more than 350.

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I have two kids (and a third on the way). I’ve recently begun to teach my four-year-old son a little about money. He’s a bright child - and he’s very aware of his surroundings. He likes to ask questions and he’s pretty good about applying what he’s learned in one setting to the questions faced in another.

Kids ages 3 - 5

More or Less Game - I ask my son questions like, “Which is more, 8 or 2?” and “Which is less, 55 or 79?”. He can count to 100 (sometimes he needs a bit of help) and he’s really learning to understand the idea that there are larger and smaller numbers. This simple concept - more or less - can help a small child to understand that different products cost different amounts. The bubble gum costs ‘less’ than the bicycle.

How Many Would It Take Game - I’ll ask my son, who loves Kit-Kat candies, “How many Kit-Kat packs would it take to equal 8 Kit-Kat bars?”. Since the Kit-Kat bars come 4 per pack, the answer is 2. He can use his fingers and learn a little bit about multiplication and division. I also use this technique when measuring water for a recipe. If the recipe calls for 1 cup of water, I’ll use the 1/4 cup measuring cup. Then, I’ll ask my son to count as I pour the water from the measuring cup to the mixing bowl. This begins the process of learning about fractions.

Help Cook Game - When I use the microwave, my son loves to punch in the numbers. He will punch in, say 35 seconds, and then stand back and countdown the seconds. As he does so, he’s learning how to move from a big number to a small number - simple subtraction. Once in a while, I’ll stop the microwave, with about 3 seconds left, and ask him to figure out how many seconds have already gone by and how many are left. He’s getting really good at finding the answers, especially if the starting time is less than 30 seconds. This simple subtraction concept will help teach him to ‘make change’.

Count By Game - This one is simple. We use pennies, nickels, and dimes - and I teach him to count by ones, fives, and tens. But, even though this one is simple - it teaches him much more than ‘counting by’ skills. He is learning, again, that different coins have different values. He’s learning that a smaller item - like the dime - might actually have more value than a larger item - like the nickel, or even the penny. He’s learning that 2 nickels = 1 dime and that 5 pennies = 1 nickel. All of these lessons, when combined, leave the child with better grasps of several concepts.

Toy Shop - My kids have dozens of toys, dolls, balls, jump ropes, and cars. I’ll grab a handful of dollar bills and some change - and gather ten of their favorite toys - and setup a ‘toy shop’. Each toy will have a price and my son will be given a certain amount of money. He then gets to pretend to buy and sell his toys. I’ll play the game with him, or just leave him to play by himself or with his sister. Right now, he’s not quite ready to grasp all of the concepts need for fluid transactions, but he is learning how to count, how to add, how to subtract, and how to figure out which items cost ‘more’. Plus, he’s learning some basic negotiation skills.

What about you? Do you have some games or techniques that you use to teach your young children about money? At what age do you think parents should start talking to their children about money? Do you wish that your parents had spent more time talking to (not at!) you about money? I’d love to read your comments.

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As many of you know, my wife and I are going to have a new baby in less than one month. A few nights ago, while washing some ‘onesies’ for out little girl, I noticed something about the laundry detergent cap.

On the back of the detergent bottle, there are ‘recommended’ amounts for various types of ‘laundry loads’. For a medium-sized load, the manufacturer suggested that I fill the cap to line “1″. I looked on the outside of the cap and I couldn’t find any numbers. But, on the inside, there they were. Very faintly, there were three lines - 1, 2, and 3.

Here’s a picture of the cap -

The ‘red arrow’ is pointing to ‘line 1′ - The recommended amount for a ‘medium load’.

The ‘black arrow’ is pointing to ‘line 2′ - The recommended amount for a ‘large load’.

The blue line (with no arrow) is pointing to ‘line 3′ - This line is not mentioned in the instructions. Why? I have no idea. But, I assure you, there is a ‘line 3′.

Now, for the interesting part. The ‘natural line’ - marked in green - and the point to where I’ve always filled the laundry cap in the past - is well above the ‘recommended line’.

As you can see, the recommended amount for a medium load is equal to less than 1/4 of a cup. But, the line to which the eye is naturally ‘drawn’ - the green line - is almost 1/2 of a cup.

The bottle states that there are 16 loads per bottle - But, that’s ONLY true if you use ‘line 1′ - the line suggested for medium loads. Use any line above ‘line 1′ and you’ll get less than 16 loads per bottle. Use the ‘green line’ and you’ll only get 8!

I took a look at two other bottles of laundry detergent that we had in the house - and both of them showed remarkably similar characteristics. So, when washing your clothes, and using store-bought detergents, be sure that you are using the ‘recommended’ amounts - and that you are using the right ‘line’.

By the way - For any and all who read this - While this post is meant to point out a useful money-saving tip, I am fully aware that taking the time to photograph, highlight, and post a picture of a laundry cap (and then write a blog post about it) is a ‘wee bit’ insane. But, then again, so is living in 2008 and not using a credit card.

Edit:  This article has been ’stumbled’.  If you’d like to help others find this article - and spread the word - please click here to stumble this post.  Thanks!

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I just finished filing my taxes.  I must say, even with the addition of a little ‘business income’, the whole process was pretty mundane.

I had under-withheld by about $400, which isn’t bad, considering that I didn’t really ‘know’ what my annual income was going to be.  I didn’t have to pay any penalties.  The tax forms were submitted electronically to both the IRS and the Georgia Department of Revenue.

The IRS allows payments via a direct draft from a checking or savings account - but the State of Georgia requires a check.  So, even though I ‘e-filed’ both returns, I still had to mail a check to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

A few weeks ago, in an effort to reduce taxes and increase retirement savings, I opened a SEP-IRA.  And, today, I authorized a withdrawal from ‘business checking’ to my Vanguard SEP-IRA account.

Interesting fact about the Vanguard SEP-IRA -

While Vanguard has ‘minimum-contribution’ limits for most of their funds, these limits are ‘waived’ for those who open SEP-IRAs.  Why?  Well, not all businesses will make enough money to meet the ‘minimum-contribution’ limits.  Also, while they typically charge a $20 a year ‘maintenance fee’ - this fee will be ‘waived’ if you select ‘e-delivery’ of all financial information.

I’m going to put my contributions in The Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX)

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