A Smart Girl's Guide: Money. Nancy Holyoke

let’s go shopping!

       the wonderful world of shopping

       best buys, worst buys

       Quiz what kind of shopper are you?

       shop smart

       six ways not to buy

       Quiz spending spree

       Quiz how gullible are you?

       credit cards

       saving money

       get in the habit

       budgeting basics

       beyond piggy banks

       debit cards

       making money with money

       how to become a millionaire

       rich? rich!

       twenty dollars

       two dollars

       one girl

       101 moneymaking ideas

      money!

      money?

      Money.

      It’s great to have, fun

      to spend, and (for some of us,

      anyway) hard to keep. Think how

      much money has flowed through

      your hands already in your life-

      time. Take just this month . . .

      a girl and her money

      There’s your

      allowance,

      the money you

      get for lunch

      every day,

      That’s at least

      $

      100 in

      four short weeks!

      Why, there could be $1,000 a year

      coming and going through your

      very own wallet.

      Who knew!

      Yet if you stop and think about it, there is

      money flowing in and out of pockets all

      around you. Where does it all come from?

      In a word:

      work.

      If you have a quarter in your pocket, it’s

      because at some point someone earned

      it—maybe you, maybe your parents,

      maybe Aunt Maud, maybe someone else.

      But someone.

      the money your

      parents gave

      you for the

      movies,

      and the check

      your Aunt Maud

      sent for your

      birthday.

      money moments

      Money influences how we see other people and how we see ourselves.

      Maybe that’s why the decisions we make about it often have more to do

      with emotion than with math.

      Follow these girls through a day of money decisions and observations.

      What emotions are they feeling?

      7:55

      a.m.

      “Here’s your allowance,” says Sierra’s mother. “Don’t spend it all on

      something silly.” Sierra nods. She’ll try, but if Morgan and Amber want

      to go to the mall after school, she can’t exactly say no.

      9:30

      a.m.

      Genevieve has a new purse. Sierra knows for a fact that her brother’s

      car cost less than that brand of purse. She decides Genevieve

      is stuck-up.

      11:16

      a.m.

      Amber is smiling as she walks down the hall. Yesterday, she figured out

      she’d earned $253 selling ankle bracelets since September. $253 of her

      very own! She feels like she grew two inches overnight. She decides

      she’ll spend $5 at the mall after school. She can afford it.

      1:36

      p.m.

      “Cool shoes,” says Amber to Morgan. “How much did they cost?” The

      real answer is a lot, but Morgan knows her family has more money than

      Amber’s. “I’m not sure,” she says. “I think they were on sale.”

      4:30

      p.m.

      The girls have been at the mall for an hour. Morgan and Amber both

      bought something. “You’ve got to get something, too, Sierra,” they say.

      Sierra does.

      6:10

      p.m.

      The credit-card bill has arrived.