You think about, work for and spend money every day. If you think your children aren’t paying attention to how you feel about money, think again.

Children are quiet sponges as they absorb the attitudes and actions of their parents. Consciously or unconsciously, children hear more about money than any other topic. There’s no better way to teach them how to properly manage money than by watching as you get your own finances in order.

Create a Budget

Your first step in ordering your financial house is to outline a budget. This is hard work and will take some time to perfect. Record every transaction you make for several months. You must know where your money goes before you can make any changes. You just might be surprised at some of your expenses. Your daily latte treat can add up to over $600 a year. Maybe you’d rather spend that money on a new dishwasher.

Put your children on a budget. Ask what they would like to buy and show them how much money they’ll need for it. Give them some possible alternatives for spending their money. Instead of candy they might want to wait for a toy next week. Talk about wanting something today versus waiting for something better later on.

Demonstrate Frugality

Once you’ve established a budget, look for ways to save money. Where can you trim or what can you cut out in order to put money into savings? Clip coupons. Learn to watch for sales. Barter with other families and stop buying prepackaged foods. Drop the gym membership and start walking. Talk to your children about their own saving efforts. Maybe they’ll want to join you in saving for a family vacation.

Manage Your Credit

Finally, learn to deal with credit.  Can you get a credit card with bad credit? Yes, but you’ll probably pay extra in fees or interest rates. Teach yourself the value of real cash instead of relying on credit. You’re trying to teach your kids how to earn and manage money. How will you explain your actions when they see you spending money you don’t have?

Getting a handle on your own money management is the best way to teach your children. Your hard work will have extra dividends as you improve your financial status and show your children the importance of money. Congratulations! That’s good parenting and good money management.

Consideration was given for this article.

This post is brought to you by Cyndy from Mama Does It All!  I’m glad to feature her experience using PayPal and Coinstar as I personally have used PayPal pretty much since it started and I’ve used Coinstar here and there when I have a bunch of change.  I love, love the fact that Coinstar is now offering a way to put all of your loose change into your PayPal account.  It definitely makes it more appealing to for me to use!

I have used both PayPal and Coinstar for several years. It was not until recently that I used them together. Earlier this month, I found out how easy it is to add funds to PayPal using Coinstar. Today I experimented with the reverse and I like how it worked. It was super easy too! My 4-year old daughter did most of the work and it only took a few minutes.

I use my PayPal account regularly, primarily to be paid as a blogger. If I request a transfer from PayPal to my local bank account, it takes about 3 – 4 business days before the funds are available to me. I also have the PayPal debit card to be able to get my funds faster, but I think that this may be a better solution for me – especially in a pinch. The fee on the Coinstar machine ($3) is comparable or in some cases less than ATM fees.

All of the Brookshire’s stores near our home feature a Coinstar machine so I can grab a few groceries after I grab the funds from my account. That is what Gwen and I did today. We tried out the Coinstar machine. withdrew funds from my PayPal account and picked up a few groceries. Sadly, I forgot my coupons at home (shhh, don’t tell anyone), but I did have the all important rain check for my daughter’s favorite Lunchables. And yes I know that Lunchables are frowned upon in some circles, but it’s her guilty pleasure and everyone should have one.

There are limits to how much you can withdraw per month using Coinstar, but it seems like it will be a great way to get funds from PayPal more quickly when needed and/or in a pinch. I honestly can see me using this on a regular basis – especially at the grocery store! I can’t ask for much more than the ability to quickly withdraw funds with just a few swipes of my finger.

You can see just how easy it was for Gwen and I to withdraw funds from PayPal on Google+. Admittedly, she is an incredibly bright 4-year-old, but she honestly did most of the work to withdraw the funds. And, even without remembering my coupons, we managed to stay in control and stay under budget – cold medicine and all!

PayPal and Coinstar continue to make it easier for us to access our own money. You can learn more about both by clicking on any of the links below:

Coinstar Website ♦ Coinstar Facebook ♦ Coinstar Twitter

Paypal Website ♦ Paypal Facebook ♦ Paypal Twitter

I have been paid (at Coinstar’s request) to try and blog about Coinstar’s products/services as part of a Collective Bias shopper insights study. All opinions are my own.

I was at the store the other day, one that I swear didn’t have a shoe section, but happily found it for the first time.  I must just never walk over to that particular corner of the store for some reason.  I couldn’t believe I shop there all the time and had convinced myself that they didn’t have a shoe section!  I was laughing at myself when I finally found it.  Anyway, with the weather being so nice here lately it has me in the mood to find some new spring shoes.  So I actually looked around and found some cute flip flops (my favorite, go-to summer shoes) but then decided not to get them.  Ever since I’ve had kids I have a really hard time buying things for myself that I don’t need.  That doesn’t mean I don’t still love to look though… I’ve been doing some window shopping online lately too.  There are some new fashions that aren’t really my thing but there are also some cute options out there too.  I was looking at Rockport women’s shoes at Macy’s and saw a cute pair of heels that actually looked like they might not kill my feet.  I’m ready to add some fun new shoes back into my closet this spring.  Maybe I’ll save up a little and wait for a good sale and actually splurge on myself for once.  Seriously moms, tell me I’m not the only one who has a problem buying things for themselves!  I’d love to find a balance and allow myself to get things just because I want them once in a while.