In a world besieged with credit card offerings and ATMs at every turn, we need to teach our kids that money doesn't automatically regenerate. Children should learn about the value of money and be equipped with the skills to manage money wisely. If your teenagers follow in the footsteps of the national spending habits, this teaching tool will set them on a path to financial fitness.

The Cash Cache Personal Finance Organizer handbook is filled with valuable advice in support of the development of sound financial behaviors. Never condescending, the concepts are presented in a straightforward, uncomplicated manner. Our middle school son read the handbook with great care and used the advice presented to establish a short term plan (page 2) to earn enough money to buy an Apple iBook. Because he is too young "work," he has applied to spend his summer vacation volunteering at the local children's hospital (donate). He then negotiated a deal whereby his dad and I would pay him minimum wage for every hour volunteered at the hospital (take-home pay from page 16). Each time he amasses $200 in his Cash Cache, he will deposit it in a savings account (pages 3-5). When he has saved enough money to pay for an iBook, he will reconsider its priority on his Spending Wish List (page 6), and if he still wants it, we will go buy it. He has learned that he has choices about what to do with his money - and that gives him a sense of responsibility. Cash Cache has taught him that there are things to do with money other than to spend it. That gives us goosebumps.