The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

If the naming of our third and final child after a main character wasn't a dead giveaway to our obsession of all things Gilmore Girls, consider this my confession. 

We. Are. Obsessed.

And when I say "we" I do mean "we." The Husband is equally as obsessed (in fact, it was *his* name suggestion for Thing 3) though he will tell you he doesn't understand why. I do...

We recently completed our series collection and began the binge-watching (only to get notice a week later that the entire series would be on Netflix next month. Nice timing, as usual, Netflix).

So when I saw THIS come across my newsfeed on Facebook one day, I knew I had to tackle it. Some I've read but will read again. Some I will read with the girls, most I won't. But I'm going to do it. I will no longer have to ponder what book to read next, feeling like nothing will live up to the previous one. I'll probably start simple and work my way up to the lengthier ones.Will I complete the challenge? Given I read a whopping two pages a night of a book before promptly passing out, it will likely take me the rest of my life to finish all 339 books. But that's the goal. My hope is to keep up with blogging during/after each read like others have done - we'll see if I can squeeze that in between work and running around to all of the Things' activities. 

Allowance Game Plan

We've never done an allowance with the Things before. Mostly because we didn't feel like they NEEDED money and because we don't believe an allowance should be given for chores (which it seems most of the ideas out there are). In our house chores are a part of life. You live in the house, you contribute to the mess, you help clean up. It's an expectation, not something to be rewarded. 

As they've gotten older, however, and are wanting more things (bands for their Rainbow Loom, books, games, more Ponies, etc) birthdays and Christmas time aren't cutting it. We also noticed a trend with Thing 2 of money literally burning a hole in her pocket. Tooth fairy money? Gone within 24 hours on who knows what - most likely something from the dollar bins at Target. 

We did some more researching and put together a few ideas from different blogs to, hopefully, help teach the girls how budgeting and saving works. We listed out some simple guidelines for them to follow:

• $1 per year of age given every two weeks (what we will call Pay Day). We don't feel they need any more than this at ages six and seven. As they age, we'll likely revisit the amount given but for now this is what works for us. 

• Allowance will be split into three categories: 
• Spend (50%) - allowed to be spent whenever, wherever. 
• Save (30%) - money to be saved up for something they are really, really wanting or perhaps extra spending money on their birthdays or for vacations we know are coming up. Also school things - fun night tickets, spirit wear, etc. These will all become their responsibility as they know in advance of these things and will have the time to save up for it. This money cannot be spent without talking with Mom or Dad first. 
• Share (20%) - money allowed to be spent whenever *however* it must be spent on someone other than themselves - friends' birthdays, each other, donation, etc.

• They must keep a log of all deposits/expenses.

• Mom and Dad will give them a set amount of money for clothes, school items, birthday gifts, etc. If they want more beyond the amount we give them, it comes from their allowance.

• There will be no Pay Day advances or borrowing.

• Mom and Dad will NOT have any say in what they spend their money on (outside of the savings discussions). This is a big one for The Husband and I to grasp. A lot of the things the girls want are crap but our goal in doing this is to teach them the value of money and spending their money on things of worth. While Thing 1 doesn't have much trouble here, Thing 2 does as I said above. Our hope is that if she can visually see her money coming and going and have a goal dollar amount, she'll slowly work her way to more worthwhile purchases.

• While allowance is not given for good behavior, chores, and the like it CAN be taken away for poor choices. We're talking major infractions - lying, hitting, things they KNOW are wrong. Your everyday attitude, frustrations, and pouting are excluded. We all have bad days!

I made each girl an "Allowance Folder" - inside is a wish list with cost to visually have a goal to work towards, their Save, Share, and Spend envelopes, and their "Bank Ledgers" for each category.

Counting and splitting their first Pay Day into categories!

Thing 1 recording her deposits.

And Thing 2 recording hers.

Thing 2 has already added her first toy to her Wish List. :) I'm happy to report she didn't immediately start asking if we could go to Target or the dollar store so she could spend her dollars - rather she is anxiously saving up her Spend money until she gets to that $10!

I'm sure changes will be made continuously as we see things working/not working and their needs change (I envision Thing 2 spending a majority of her allowance as a teenager on clothes) but for now, we're all pretty excited about our new system!