For the past two months or so, I have been blessed to be a part of the launch team for the new book, Smart Money Smart Kids. In full disclosure, I did receive a free, advanced copy of the book and my opinions are completely honest and my own. The authors, Dave Ramsey and his daughter, Rachel Cruze have taken everything they know about leading people to financial peace and are now helping parents lead a new generation to become debt-free. The insights and expertise they share are priceless.
One of the things I love about this book is that it is so easy to read and gives the reader both the perspective of the parent and that of the child. It’s so interesting to read what Dave and his wife Sharon’s thought process was when they were raising their children juxtaposed with Rachel’s viewpoint as their daughter. You can almost picture the conversations and scenarios that are discussed in the book. One of my favorites is the day at the amusement park when little Rachel realized she had no more money to spend. I won’t spoil it for you, but let’s just say she was not happy.
In our family, we have implemented the commission system with our children which is discussed in the book. Dave and Rachel explain how important it is for children to know that work=money. Sure, we can teach our children that Daddy or Mommy go to work and make money, but I truly think they don’t understand it.
Especially when you have little ones.
I have a 6 and an 8 year old and they get it…now. I’ve even enlisted the help of my mom to think of commissionable jobs that she would hire someone else to do and offer the jobs to the children. Last week, my son cleaned out the pop ups for my mom’s irrigation system. The result was a very proud Grandma because her grandson worked so hard and an 8 year old boy who had worked hard to earn a decent return. If it had not been for this book, that whole scenario would have never occured. Like I said, this book is priceless. If you are interested in a free printable commission chart I made based on what I learned in this book, you can snag it here!
One of the most thought-provoking chapters of the book was on contentment. The actual title of the chapter is Contentment: The War for Your Child’s Heart. I truly believe that this is the case. This chapter, I believe, affected most of our launch team and caused alot of discussions between us. For myself, it was a definite eye-opener when I realized that my discontent had reached my children and that they were now showing signs of discontent. As a mother, it is truly upsetting to know that even though I am doing my best, because I am not perfect and have flawed thinking at times, my attitudes influence my children. Dave talks about behaviors and attitudes being ‘caught not taught” and this is definitely one of them. If you want to read more about my revelation, check out Contentment in a Discontent World.
Think you’ve messed up so badly that it’s too late to change? Let’s see what Dave had to say about his circumstances in the book-
“I was that dad who made big money mistakes and failed. But I was also that dad who decided to change my family tree. I was that dad who realized that to financially change my family tree, I had to intentionally raise money-smart kids.”
Did you catch what he said? He had to be intentional and he decided to change his family tree. If you look up the word decide, it literally means to ‘cut off from’. So, in deciding to change his family tree, Dave was cutting off the past, leaving only room for the new and healthier future, not only for him, but for generations to come. His daughter Rachel, is evidence that one decision at any point in our lives can drastically change the family tree forever. That is the point of this book. To renew families and to renew faith that we don’t have to live in a debt-ridden world. We can, and our children can, finally be free.
Obviously, I am thrilled and blessed to have been given this opportunity to share this new and meaningful book with my readers. I truly hope that you will take the time to get this book and read it, over and over if you have to.
You too, can change your family tree.
Smart Money Smart Kids is now available to purchase! Click here to go to the site and make sure you check out the dates for their book tour! Dave and Rachel will be giving away one $2,000 #SmartMoneyKids college scholarship at each event! (I wish they were coming to my town.) 🙁
