Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Money Matters




This is a pile of unfiled bills and statements I have accumulated from last year. As part of my goal to declutter the house this year, this is my first task of order. I hate the task of filing...so it really helped that I had some motivation to do this ( bank statements and credit card bills for the last 3 months are some of the requirements for Australian Visa application).

Julia wanted to help as usual, so I had her highlight the dates for easier filing. I didn't realize it was such a good opportunity for teaching her about money until she asked. " Mom, why are the checks you paid Enopi with you now?"- She saw the checks returned by the bank. I tried to explain the mechanics to her in the simplest terms until she was finally satisfied with my answer. Then she paused to ask, "Mom, how do you pay when you sometimes buy something on the internet?". "I use my credit card.", I answered. "Aah, ok. You know, before, I thought you scanned the money and sent it to them, then they go to the bank to get it.", she explained her theory. I was amazed at how she tries to come up with the concept of things-money in particular. So, I guess its not too early to try and explain complicated things to her now.


I took this experience further by training her to do the filing lol :-) - for future contingency plans he he he. Just today, when the phone bill came, I asked her to do the filing, and she was able to do it! Yey! I'm planning to retire early.

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