Financial Literacy Month: Week 1 (My First Video)

April is National Financial Literacy Month, the time of year we set aside a few minutes to learn how money really works and apply new-found lessons to our financial lives.

This movement (follow on Twitter using #FLmonth) is all about educating people to establish and maintain healthy financial habits.

Thanks to Steve from MoneyPlanSOS (who interviewed me on his podcast) I recorded my first YouTube video!

I was nervous recording the video at first, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I’ll be recording another one towards the end of the month!

 

Week 1

April 2nd – Introduction & Variety of Topics

Together Steve has gathered over a dozen Personal Finance Bloggers to promote financial literacy with 2-minute videos about a variety of topics such as Kids & Money, Roth IRA, or what do you do with a room that has no room?

Enjoy the video and Pay Attention, Not Interest!

Watch the video on YouTube

Steve’s contact info:

• MoneyPlanSOS.com
• Twitter.com/MoneyPlanSOS
• Facebook.com/MoneyPlanSOS

 

April 3rd – 5 Ways to Save on Dining Out

Kay Lynn Akers from BucksomeBoomer shares 5 ways to save money when dining out.

1. Order Different: Split an entree, order an appetizer instead and order water instead of soda
2. Restaurant Specials: Sign up for e-club or newsletters, use coupons or offers and early bird specials
3. Daily Deal Sites: With sites like Groupon, Living Social you can get up to 50% off your meal
4. Entertainment Books: Save on movies, travel, fine dining and fast food
5. Use Coupons: Online coupons from the Restaurant’s website or find them in a local newspaper

Watch the video on YouTube

BucksomeBoomer’s contact info:

 

April 4th – Kids and Money

Brad Chaffee from Enemy of Debt talks about questions to ask your kids. With help from his son, Isaac Chaffee, Jr. he shares his thoughts about kids and money.

• How should he pay for an iPhone?
• What does he like about being out of debt?
• Will he ever get into debt?

Watch the video on YouTube

Enemy of Debt’s contact info:

• EnemyofDebt.com
• Twitter.com/EnemyofDebt
• Facebook.com/EnemyofDebt

 

April 5th – 4 Money Principles for Kids

Christine Douglas from MoneyScholar.net shares four main principles kids need to learn in order to be responsible money managers. She’s also the creator of Money Scholar coin banks (I think these are super clever and fun).

1. Save: For the hot item of the moment (bike, game, doll)
2. Invest: For something 10 years or more (college, car, house)
3. Give: For those less fortunate than you
4. Spend: What’s left over and teaching them how to comparison ship, check catalogs, look for deals

Watch the video on YouTube

MoneyScholar’s contact info:

• MoneyScholar.net
• Twitter.com/MoneyScholar
• Facebook.com/Money-Scholar

 

April 6th – 4 Things to Consider Before Becoming Self-Employed

My first video! I talk about 4 things to consider before becoming self-employed:

1. Business name: Could use your name with Social Security number, DBA, Inc or LLC
2. Open separate checking account: keep income and expenses separate from personal and makes easy business accounting and tax filing
3. Quarterly tax filings: Withhold approximately 20% for taxes and file every 3 months
4. Proper accounting and bookkeeping methods: Free online resources like Outright.com or Mint.com or hiring a knowledgeable bookkeeper.

I hope you’re enjoying the 2 minute Financial Literacy Month videos. You can find them all at YouTube.com/MoneyPlanSOS.

Check back next week for another set of daily videos.

Photo Credit: I – Look