When you give your kids money how do they spend it? Wise money habits and the ability to control money starts early in life. It is rather difficult for adults to unlearn all the bad money habits we acquired over the years. Teaching kids about money as soon as they learn to count will help them develop discipline and the ability to control money and not the other way around.

1. Basics of budgeting – give children a fixed allowance every day. Guide children on how they spend their allowance to help them develop a wise spending habit. At the end of the day ask them how they spent their money and compliment them it they spent wisely and explain why they should not spend on other things.
2. Importance of saving – Encourage children to save by giving them a certain percentage of money on the amount they save every day. Say you give him 50% of whatever he saves so if he saves P10 from his daily allowance, you give him an additional P5.00. This money should not be spent but goes to a piggy bank. If he wants to buy something, encourage him to delay gratification by allowing him to buy only if he use money from his savings.
3. Record-keeping – teach him to keep tract of his money by recording the amount that goes into the piggy bank. This way, if he is saving for something, he knows how far he is towards his goal.
4. Frugal lifestyle – a simple bringing of baon to school can be a good way of teaching kids frugality.  Make use of his old bag if it’s still in good condition. Kids would always ask for new things every opening of classes but the danger there is that he will not give value to old stuff that are still usable.
   
5. Starting a business – Filipino-Chinese children learn to start a business at a young age. If you happen to have one for a classmate, you would remember them selling stuff at school even in elementary. Some would sell stickers, cards or even food. However, do not push kids to do the same. If you see your kids are keen to start a business, encourage and teach them.I remember a niece one summer vacation who asked me for money so she can sell ice candy to our neighbors. She wants to buy a bag but she doesn’t want to ask money from her mom who’s having difficulties with their finances. I gave her P20 and in less than a month, she turned it to P200.

You don’t want your kids doing the same bad money habits you do. Your guidance as parents will greatly help your kids develop good money habits.  As with bad habits, wise money habits also last a lifetime.

Image by: nSheika

I might sound melodramatic but really, decisions that can affect your finances of the way you look at money can be life changing. The Money Summit & Wealth Expo I attended last year was life changing for me.  If you meet very young people making more money in a month that you do in year, you’d also be inspired and challenged at the same time.

Through Money Summit, I get to know several ways of making money, online or offline. Aside from blogging, one can get into affiliate marketing, ebay selling, forex trading, selling info-materials, etc. I’ve written some of these topics also since I’ve also tried them before. There’s also a wealth of offline opportunities such as investing in the stock market, build and sell real properties, network marketing, etc.

This year, you have the same opportunity to learn different ways to make passive income. The good news is, there will also be two venues, Manila and Cebu, so more people will get to attend the event.

The regular rate is P7,995 but if you act now and register and pay on or before May 31, 2011, you only need to pay P4,995. That’s 37.5% off, with savings of P3,000 off the regular fee!

Register now for the Money Summit & Wealth Expo!

If you think it’s expensive, remember that you are investing in yourself. Although there is no guarantee that you will make as much money as the speakers, that registration fee is really a bargain. You know why? Take a look at the list of confirmed speakers.

• Tomasito Academia, PAREB
• Jay Aldeguer, Island Souvenirs
• Noli Alleje, The Property Forum
• Jojy Azurin, BusinessSummaries.com
• Conrado Bate, CitisecOnline
• Ian del Carmen. Fireball
• Jay Castillo, ForeclosurePhilippines.com
• Eireen Diokno-Bernardo, Dekada Arts
• Bonner Dytoc, Absolute Traders
• Vince Golangco, WhenInManila.com
• Prof. James Ryan Jonas, PinoyMoneyTalk
• Sha Nacino, Think Rich Yuppies!
• Cynthia Palad-Yap, Real Estate Movers
• Ardy Roberto, Salt & Light Ventures
• Jerome San, Laurus Enterprises
• Mark So, Forex Club Asia
• Trace Trajano, Think Rich Quick

These speakers probably charge more than the registration fee for the Money Summit if you hire them as speakers! I hope you will grab this chance to register for the Money Summit & Wealth Expo.

Are you in a situation where you think you are so deep in debt that you think you could never get yourself out of? Well, I was once in the same situation and there are only two things which I think are the best get out of debt advice I can give you.

1. Stop getting in debt. Every time you borrow money it’s like digging a hole beneath your feet and the best way to stop getting yourself swallowed by the hole is to stop digging. Get a hold of yourself before it’s too late.  Stress from having collectors call your office or credit card agents harassing you are too much price to pay on top of recurring interests.
2. Pay off your debt. Easier said than done, right? But then you have to start somewhere and the second best advice in getting out of debt is to pay off that debt. It’s not going to be easy and it will take a lot of time and effort depending on how big a debt you have. Start making a budget and live within your means. Little savings can go a long way.

I can’t say I’m debt free right now but I can proudly say I’m working on it and I’m slowly making progress. I’ve been there and it’s not a nice place to be. So the sooner you get out of debt, the better it is for you and your peace of mind.

I was able to attend the Money Summit & Wealth Expo last week as a blog partner.  I had to fly from Bacolod the day before and took two days of leave from work. But it was all worth it. Never had I see so many people wanting to learn more on investing and personal  financial in one venue. Their energy and enthusiasm were very inspiring. There were many of us also who came from the province just to attend the event.

Learning Curve has chosen their speakers well. They are not only successful in their field but are also good speakers and can convey the message to the audience without using too much financial jargon. I was glad to finally meet in person Heinz Bulos of Moneysense Magazine.  I got acquainted to Heinz when he was doing an article on the Best Places to Live in the Philippines in 2008 where he interviewed me in that article. Little did I know that after two years, he will contact me to be a blog partner for the Money Summit & Wealth Expo. Oh boy, and I’m so glad he did!

Roda, Maricar, & Glady with Eireen Diokno-Bernabe, eBay Trader

When I started this blog, it was with the intention of getting connected to those who want to be financially independent. My money habits were so bad that I am still reeling from the mistakes made in the past (read: credit card debt). The summit inspired me to try harder in achieving my financial goals.

The speakers were very inspiring. Some were so young when they made their first million. Others experienced a tragedy in their life yet survived and became financially independent. Others help their fellow Filipinos through employment and mentoring.

Maricar, a friend who was with me at the summit, told me that there are no coincidences. The people we meet and those around us are there for a reason. I guess she’s right. God knows I still need more efforts for my financial makeover that’s why He brought me to the Money Summit and Wealth Expo. I hope those whom I gave the tickets to get to learn as much as I did. There are so many money making opportunities presented and we just have to choose which path to take.

Forex Trader Mark So & wife, Maricar, Me

Here are some of their testimonials:

The Money Summit and Wealth Expo 2010 was an event that was both informative and inspiring. The speakers were highly effective in sharing their knowledge and experience with money. I believe that The Money Summit and Wealth Expo 2010 was very successful and should be continued every year so as to educate people on the different creative ways to earn big from something small. – John Lopez

All I can say after attending the Money Summit, is that the event was life-changing. I was surprised that the event was able to alter my perceptions when it comes to making investments. Initially, I had no idea how investing works (stock, forex, real estate… etc), and I thought that these topics were boring (not to mention, complicated!). However, the speakers presented it in such a way that it was easy to understand, which really made me excited about all their topics (there were 16 speakers with 16 different topics to learn). This event was really worth it, I can now see a brighter future ahead of me. I hope to attend again next year! – Louie Albert Sioco

Happy new year everyone! It’s been a fruitful 2008 and despite all the challenges, financial and otherwise, I felt very blessed. I wish this 2009 will be a better one for all of us.

Financially, I wish I will be better off this year. The US financial crisis is bound to have its effect felt on Philippine soil this year. In order to weather the storm, we need to be more creative and learn to tighten the belt some more.

Indeed it’s a tough year ahead and I wish to start the year with money in mind and how to have more of it. I wish to achieve the following goals in 2009.

• Increase income from rakets. I am maintaining three blogs which are only giving income enough to pay for my monthly internet connection. This year, I plan to blog more often and do some serious SEO. I plan to increase monthly income to at least P5,000 in six months from Adsense, paid posts and affiliate income.I plant to increase my income from my offline rakets by at least 50% more and invest it in our cooperative where I can earn around 10% per annum from dividends and patronage refund.

• Start a small business. I’ve been toying with an idea for a small business for sometime now and I think 2009 is the right time to start it. Anyway, I won’t be needing much investment and I’ve already market tested the product I’m planning to sell. I just need to focus on it more and make a detailed business plan and work on that plan.

• Cut my credit card debt by at least half. I’ve made some really bad decisions the previous years and I’m still paying for it now. My credit card debts are eating a lot of my income monthly and this year I plan to allot more of my income from online rakets to pay for it.

Things are going to be tough this year now that I already have a housing loan to pay. All of these goals will not be achieved if I will not have discipline and a frugal lifestyle to go with it.

How about you? Have you set any goals to achieve in 2009?