Introducing Rebbecca Devitt, author and homeschool advocate

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I grew up in the mainstream education system, attending the local public primary school and later a private high school, then onto one of the ‘sandstone’ universities. I didn’t encounter any homeschoolers growing up, so the whole concept seemed rather mysterious to me.

Through my work with Money School and Maker Kids, I encounter a number of homeschool families, many of whom have become my clients – so the mystery has somewhat dissipated, but it has been replaced with respect. I find it refreshing that these families actively pursue teaching their children about entrepreneurship and money, and I was keen to learn more.

Enter Rebbecca Devitt. Read more

Housing affordability: you can’t spend your way out of this

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There’s a problem with the way Gen X and Y view housing affordability, and it’s going to ruin the financial futures of their children if they don’t snap out of it pronto.

I read this article in which the author says she is spending money on brunch because she can’t afford a house, like it’s the only way she can console herself about her dire financial future. Read more

Calling Perth Kidpreneurs!

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Are you a primary school student based in Perth with an entrepreneurial idea? We’d love for you to join our Kidpreneur Showcase at our ‘Bunny Money’ book launch.

Why are we holding a Kidpreneur Showcase?

We believe in raising entrepreneurial kids that can spot a problem or market opportunity and act on it. We’ve heard from some of our clients and seminar attendees recently about great examples of entrepreneurial thinking from their kids, for example:

  • Ash starting a lip balm business,
  • Kale and Jewel raising hens to sell their eggs and manure to neighbours, and
  • Charlotte and Leo running a curbside bake stall with a $40 loan from Mum and Dad.

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Tools for teaching children to save: Introducing Bunny Money

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Want to get your children excited about saving? We have the book for you!

Bunny Money is the story of Nessa and Nate, a pair of twins getting $100 each from Gran for their 10th birthday. But that’s not all they get – the most precious part of Gran’s gift is the lesson she gives them about saving over the following year.

Buy the pack for $22 + postage and handling* Read more

Can today’s teens break into the property market?

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Having bought property in 2001 at 19 years old, I get asked this question at least once a month:

 Could a 19 year old do the same today, in 2016?

My short answer is: yes, they could. I’ll outline how in this post.

The far more important question is: if they could, should they? Well, that’s a slightly longer answer. Read more

Talking Money with Young Children

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‘I want this one.’

My 2.5-year-old daughter was pointing to a plastic stool with Winnie the Pooh on the front of it. Price: $14.

Next to it was an identical stool – same size, shape, colour, everything – but instead of Winnie the Pooh, it had a grey star and ‘I’m a star’ written on it. Price: $5.

With my first thought, I mentally cursed the store, then marketing people everywhere. They did this on purpose.

With my second thought, I reflected that my daughter is like a sponge. She is being subconsciously programmed by whatever I do or say till she’s seven, and maybe beyond. I better do and say the right thing here.

By this point, one second has passed. My daughter has picked up the Winnie the Pooh stool and is headed for the check out. I grab the $5 version and follow her.

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Money School at the WACSSO Conference

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Being a family-run business that wants to connect with – and create value for – families, we were thrilled to participate in the WACSSO Annual Conference on 22 and 23 August, 2015 Read more

The Road to Struggle Street

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By Lacey Filipich BEng(Hons) MAICD

Like nearly one million other Australians, I sat transfixed in front of the television on Wednesday 6 May watching the first episode of the three-part SBS documentary ‘Struggle Street’. Leaving aside claims that it was not a fair representation of life in Mt Druitt and was simply headline-grabbing ‘poverty porn’, it was a glimpse into the lives of some people doing it tough. Very tough.

Despite all the press to the contrary, this documentary can do good. It is very tangible reminder of the one in seven Australians living below the poverty line. Looking at the ACOSS report, they’re easy to write off as numbers. After watching this documentary, they have faces and stories. Are there really millions of Australians so consumed with the daily battle of survival? I wish it weren’t so, but perhaps it is.

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Monopoly and Real Life | %%sitename%%

7 Ways Monopoly is like Real Life

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By Lacey Filipich, BEng(Hons), MAICD

Monopoly and real life?

Monopoly? Really? Yes, I’m not talking about what Microsoft had in the 90’s, I’m talking about the board game we all know and love. Monopoly began life around 1903, originally (and quite aptly) named ‘The Landlord’s Game’. The version of Monopoly we are familiar with today was officially released in the early 1930’s and has been a staple in most Australian childhoods since then. In primary school, my sister and I spent many a holiday racing each other around the board to buy Mayfair and Park Lane. We had games that went on for several days and some that lasted mere minutes. Of course, a board game can never be a perfect replication of such a complex investment vehicle as property, but it was a great start that we didn’t even know we were getting!

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Pros and Cons of Pocket Money | %%sitename%%

The Great Debate – Pros and Cons of Pocket Money

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In this extreme social experiment we call parenting, choices abound. From contentious issues like vaccination, to comparatively trivial ones like when to cut your child’s hair for the first time, we are bombarded opinions on what and what not to do, often in no uncertain terms. Ah, the glorious interweb, font of information (but not necessarily wisdom). So, if you’ve been getting lost trying to navigate the debate around the pros and cons of pocket money, let me assure this one’s completely subjective. Without further ado.

POCKET MONEY!

In this post, I try spare you the overload of the ‘pocket money should be earned’ debate. I will cover the pros and cons of pocket money, four ways you can go about setting it up, and some simple tools to help you work out which method is right for you and your child.

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