At a time when kids have more debt and temptation than ever comes a completely revised and updated edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller on teaching children aged three to twenty about money Money Doesn't Grow on Trees is the book that parents turn to when it comes to teaching their children about money. With 180,000 young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four declaring bankruptcy last year and college students graduating with an average of $28,000 in debt, Neale S. Godfrey is the definitive expert on the subject and her time-tested advice is more important than ever. Money Doesn't Grow on Trees offers exercises and concrete examples on everything from responsible budgeting to understanding the difference between "want" and "need" for children of every age. This revised edition includes entirely new sections that discuss The power of the Internet - The tactics of television advertisers - The world of eBay Godfrey's years of experience as a mother and a financial expert make Money Doesn't Grow on Trees a book no responsible parent can afford to pass up. "What is a parent to do? Reaching for Money Doesn't Grow on Trees is one solution." -- Chicago Tribune Neale S. Godfrey writes a weekly Associated Press column and is the author of fourteen books that address money in the context of life skills and values. She has made numerous appearances on such television shows as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America , and Today , and she is the founder of Children's Financial Network, Inc. Chapter 1 What Kind of (Financial) Personality Do You and Your Children Have? All through history and saturating our literature are references to the greed and generosity of human beings. The name Scrooge has become synonymous with "tightwad"; Carnegie has come to represent cultural generosity. Who knows or remembers what Mr. Rockefeller did except give lots and lots of money to charity. Archie Bunker, on the other hand, was known to shut the blinds and turn out all the lights on Halloween to avoid giving out free candy to children. The truth is that money affects us. No matter how much we have or don't have, it affects our mood, our marriage, our goals, our dreams, and our personalities. In America, our great land of opportunity, the 1980s proved to be the decade of the spender. The indication thus far is that the 1990s will be governed by the savers. (We'll see who's left standing at the turn of the century, won't we?) You are one of these, and the saving or spending part of your personality influences your child. Do you know if you are a spender or a saver? The following is a fourteen-question quiz to determine which financial personality type you are: THE ADULT FINANCIAL PERSONALITY TYPE QUIZ 1. Do you find yourself thinking about money often? Yes __ No __ 2. Do you love watching your bank account grow? Yes __ No __ 3. If you inherited a great deal of money today, would you save the bulk of it? Yes __ No __ 4. Do you use your credit cards to the limit? Yes __ No __ 5. Are you perpetually in debt at the end of each month? Yes __ No __ 6. Do you feel it's important to buy the "right" things? Yes __ No __ 7. Do you feel inferior to your friends financially? Yes __ No __ 8. Does money give you a feeling of power? Yes __ No __ 9. Are you afraid you'll run out of money and be left poor in your old age? Yes __ No __ 10. Do you have a hard time making decisions about spending money, even if it's a small purchase? Yes __ No __ 11. When your spouse says it's time to buy something, are the first words out of your mouth "We can't afford it"? Yes __ No __ 12. If someone asked you, "How much money do you have in your purse or wallet?" would you know exactly? Yes __ No __ 13. Do you use shopping as a reward for yourself? Yes __ No __ 14. If it was a bad day, do you often buy yourself something to feel better? Yes __ No __ How to Score: Yes answers to questions 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 indicate you are a saver. A yes answer to questions 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, and 14 show you have strong spending characteristics. In which area did you have the most yes answers? Saver 1. __ 2. __ 3. __ 8. __ 9. __ 10. __ 11. __ 12. __ Total yes __ Spender 4. __ 5. __ 6. __ 7. __ 13. __ 14. __ Total yes __ Now, what does the quiz show? Are you a saver or a spender? I'll bet that you already know which financial personality type your child or children are. Just to make sure, though, take one more short quiz and see: THE CHILD'S FINANCIAL PERSONALITY TYPE QUIZ 1. If you give your child money, does he or she save it? Yes __ No __ 2. Does your child lose or misplace money often? Yes __ No __ 3. Do you often hear the words "I want, I want" when you go shopping with your youngster? Yes __ No __ 4. If you ask your young one, "Why do you want this?" does he or she often say, "Because Johnny has one" or "I saw it on TV"? Yes __ No __ 5. Is y