Is the distance between you and your child growing wider and wider apart?

You are not alone! The majority of children will distance themselves from their parents the older they get. It’s normal. But it breaks your heart as a parent. There must be a way to keep those family ties closer so that you’ll keep that special family bond for life.

Great news! There is a simple and incredibly fun way to keep that family bond tight through setting family goals!

How to Goal Setting for Families:

Aa new year is upon us and it’s time to set some goals. Try including your child or teen in the goal setting. You’ll not only be setting an amazing role model for your child to follow but you’ll be bridging the ever expanding gap that may have already begun.

And it’s really fun to do too!

Set some time aside and sit down with your child. Go over the goals together that you all have for the coming year. This is should be a fun activity, no pressure, no judgment. To bridge the gap, you need to be open minded and encouraging.

Tools  you’ll need to have:

• plain paper to write on
• construction paper
• old magazines or a computer, printer and paper to print off photos from the internet
• pen, markers, crayons, pencil crayons
• pair of scissors
• tape or glue
• a cork pushpin board and pushpins

Here’s what to do:

1. Sit down with your family to do this activity together.
2. Have each family member write down 3 goals they would like to accomplish this coming year. Everyone must support the other with their goal, as long as their goals are within the family moral guidelines. (Let small children simply draw out their ideas.)
3. Then also take a moment to come up with 2 family goals to accomplish this year.
4. Attach each family member’s written goals to the cork board.
5. Add photos from magazines or computer print-offs that capture the feeling of each goal and attach these to corkboard next to each goal.
6. Check off goals as they are accomplished.
7. Celebrate each accomplished goal!

Sharing goals with your family will give each member a sense of accountability as well as give them a sense being supported in their goals.

Increase the bond between you and your child through the power of goal setting.

MAKE IT FUN!

Cheers…Amanda…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

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Special Note and GIFT: I believe in teaching our kids and teens as early as possible about money so they won’t have to rely on mom and dad to take care of them financially once they leave the nest. Click here to grab 7 Fun FREE Tools to Start Your Child’s Financial Education Today!

(1) “Cash Puzzler” is fun and easy. Choose any dollar bill ($1, $5, $10, $20 or $50). At the next screen, move the cut-out dollar bill pieces to form that dollar bill. You’ve finished your puzzle! Then click the pointing finger and find “Fast Facts” about each President featured on the dollar bill you chose.

(2) “Countdown to Retirement” is very interesting. Pick a character to manage as well as housing and transportation. Understand your financial situation before you choose housing and transportation. If you have a low paying job, you may not want to get the fanciest car and biggest house, although it really is up to you. The game starts at your very first job. As the game proceeds, so will your career. As you earn promotions, your salary will grow. Some choices you make will affect how often you get promoted.

(3) “Ed’s Bank” is fun and easy. Help Ed save money for a trip to the store. This is SOOOO much fun! There are many different coins, you drag the ones you want into the piggy bank (grab as much as you can before the bell rings and you are stopped!). Ed’s now ready to go shopping. Does Ed have enough money to buy the items he wants? If not, go back and save some more!

(4) “Money Metropoli$” is fascinating. Saving for a goal is a world of fun! Choose your character (boy or girl; skin, hair & look color). Choose your goal. Select the item that you would most like to save for. A Zoo Party, a Bowling Party or The Big Game costs $200. A Pet Dog, Museum Trip or Shopping Spree costs $300. A Plane Trip, Ski Trip or a Season Pass to an Amusement Park costs $400. During the game, you’ll need to make and save enough money to make that goal. Good luck! ;o)

(5) “Road Trip To Savings” is fascinating. Meet the challenges of 4 weeks on the road as you steer your way to financial stability. Your start the game with $1000 cash and $0 savings. Try to move as much cash as possible into savings by the end of 4 weeks. Each level represents one week. You will be confronted with different opportunities for income and expenses along the way – choose wisely, or you will run out of cash. Don’t let your gas or insurance run out, or you will be stranded and the game will be over.

(6) “The Start Money Quiz Show” is very interesting. You start out with $10,000 in debt. Each question is worth money. If you answer the questions incorrectly, your debt will increase by the amount that question is worth. By answering the questions correctly, you will decrease your $10,000 debt. If you’re successful, you will have no debt by the end of the game and your dollar amount (screen’s upper right corner) will be $0 or above. When this happens, congratulations! You’ve managed to “Get-Out-Of-Debt.”

Then there’s “Financial Football” and “Financial Soccer” – you can check out those kids online games yourself!

Kids online games are SOOOO awesome!

Cheers … Amanda van der Gulik … Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. Here are some more fun money tools I found to help your Tweens and Teens learn about money skills and money management! Enjoy! ;o)
(Simply click on the photos, it will open up a new window, to take a “sneak peek” inside them!)

We have also recently published our book in Kindle format and we have the opportunity to offer our book for Free for a couple of days.

So, for 2 days only, January 25 and January 26, the Kindle version of book is available for Free. After the 26th you will have to pay again.

Even if you don’t have a Kindle reader, you can still read it, just look for the Free Kindle Reading Apps on the right hand side of the page where you download the book.

You can get the book for yourself or you can give it to someone else you know who might have recently lost their pet.

We would really appreciate you leaving a review about the book on Amazon as well.

This book was the idea of our kids and it has turned into a great learning process for them.

They are learning the principles of a business. We had to invest money to publish the book and buy a few copies to sell at the local book store. Now that we have the book published and it is available on Amazon and in the local book store, we earn money each time a book is sold. This money is not all profit because we first have to pay off the investment we made.

As mentioned above, we also have “Remembering Candy” in our local bookstore and we donate $2 of every book sold there to our local animal shelter. We got our dog from an animal shelter as well and we think she was the greatest dog ever, as you will find out when you read the book.

So, it is not just a great achievement to have a book published and actually selling, it is also a great tool we use for Financial education. Our kids have learned about investing, return on investment, giving back to the community and passive income.

Here is the link to “Remembering Candy” again and remember it is only available for Free on January 25th and 26th!

Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast!

Financial wellness is having an understanding of your financial situation and taking care of it in such a way that you are prepared for financial changes. Maintaining that balance consists of being comfortable with where your money comes from and where it is going.

Sounds good to me! ;o)

Why is Financial Wellness Month celebrated in January?
It’s the beginning of the New Year! ;o) There’s no better month to establish financial balance. This is the time to set new financial goals for moderation in spending and financial freedom.

Adults can create money management goals. Figure out how to pay off old loans. Get out of debt. Spend less money. Give up a little luxury and donate the savings to charity. Buy in bulk, shop at discount stores, wait for sales and bargains. Shop garage sales, flea markets and online auctions.

What about kids? What can kids do for Financial Wellness Month? Let your kids take the quiz below to see how close they are to achieving financial health.

Answer each question with “yes,” “kind of,” “no” or “you must be kidding.” Ready?

1. Do you have money in your pocket?
2. Do you know how much money you have at any time?
3. Do you know the total amount of what you owe others?
4. Do you feel there is plenty of time in the day?
5. Do you have money set aside for your goals?
6. Do you have money set aside just for fun?
7. Do you have money set aside for learning activities?
8. Do you have money set aside to donate to a charity?
9. Do you have money set aside for future plans or ventures?
10. Do you have money set aside for a rainy day (in case there are any money emergencies)?
11. Are you happy with your life so far?
12. Do you know what net worth means?

For every answer, score the following points:
Yes: 1
Kind of: 2
No: 3
You must be kidding: 4

Now, add up all your points. How did you score?

12-17 Looking Good – Congratulations! You have a handle on your financial picture. You are on the scales with a fairly steady balance. Sure you sometimes go off and lose your balance, but it is not a long road back to normal. Stay the course.

18-24 In Need of Education – Your overview of what is going on in your life is okay. Your financial wellness
picture is a bit hazy. With some education and a bit of persistence, you can change the picture and steady the
balance. SOOOO, start learning more about money. ;o)

25-30 Mismanaged – Your time and effort are misguided when it comes to finances, that is if you are putting any
time and effort in it at all. ;o) You are heading for a disaster. Start now putting in the extra time and effort to improve things. I believe in you!

31-36 Messed Up – Get help immediately! You can not do this on your own. Let’s get rid of all that stress you have
about money. Act now ! Find your financial balance by establishing a wellness plan with concentration and dedication. You can do this! ;o)

37-42 Denial is Bliss – Oh well, as the saying goes “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” I am not kidding. This is a big task. Think about what money means to you. Learn to value it. Start now to become money savvy.

Someone once said “Your own value is determined by what you are able to make of yourself.” Begin your New Year with celebrating Financial Wellness Month. You’ll find yourself soon on a financial path to success.

Happy New Year everyone

Cheers … Amanda van der Gulik … Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. Here are some books that may help you start you on your way to Financial wellness

A friend of ours created this cool video for us and I thought I would share it with you.
Have a great Holiday season!

Thank you Paul Knaap for creating this for us!

Cheers…Amanda & Rob van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiasts!