Get Cash for Christmas - Giveaway

Check Out Two Great Resources Below and Potentially Win Christmas Cash!

If you've heard of Dave Ramsey, you're likely to have heard of his opinion about borrowing money. His financial recommendations begin with paying off debt. "The borrower is slave to the lender."
His plan begins but doesn't end there. The choice to follow the principles he teaches have led to many individuals and families gaining control over there financial situation. If you are looking to do the same, his program is worth checking out. Even if you are not trying to eliminate debt - though if you are in debt in any amount you should consider ridding it from your financial picture - there are excellent educational resources concerning money on the Dave Ramsey website. Through the month of December Ramsey is hosting a cash giveaway contest that anyone can enter. The link is below:

Dave Ramsey Christmas Give Away

https://wn.nr/WX2CNV

Enter the cash giveaway! 

Another Great Way to Get (or save) Christmas Cash

Traveling for Christmas? Get $55.00 off your first stay with Airbnb. Another wonderful resource for  yourself this holiday season if you are traveling or if you don't have enough space for visiting relatives is Airbnb. We continue to use it as a way to find great places to stay when we travel. Airbnb offers a wide selection that are typically more interesting and within our price range than a typical hotel.

There are parts of the country that the costs of Airbnbs are going up but it is always worth checking before booking a hotel. If you use the link below for your first booking with Airbnb, you will get $55.00 off of your stay. Happy Trails. Be Safe!


Traveling for Christmas? Get $55.00 off your first stay with Airbnb.
https://www.airbnb.com/c/arunyan11?currency=USD

CashCrunch Review

This is a review of CashCrunch Careers, one of the tools offered on the online resource of CashCrunch Games. CashCrunch Careers is a career survey and aptitude assessment tool developed by Paul Vasey. It is available on his website CashCrunch Games. We were provided access for two users to the CashCrunch Games survey. The survey can be taken in 10-15 minutes. The survey results are then available to the student to assist them in the process of evaluating their own interests, strengths and aptitudes. Following the survey results a Careers Report is provided with a summary of the students strengths, interests and attributes. From there they can further explore how their personal profile can lead to certain career choices. Using the results they can begin a more in depth exploration of potential career paths. Resources with additional information regarding general categories of work and more specific requirements of certain jobs are built into the website. 

CashCrunchCareers begins with a survey that takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Final survey results provide feedback to the participant. Two of my young adult children took the survey and explored the information provided. They were each provided with a printable download of Career Survey Report that included sections for:

• Career Work Styles
• Motivators & De-motivators The bullet point list here offered useful feedback for my daughter. I saw the explanations as true to her personality but don't think I or she could have pulled the synopsis together as clearly.
• Career Attributes
• Career Match
• Matching Jobs This section is the section which is divided into job categories and within each category there is a list of jobs available within in that category. By looking deeper into each area more specific information is provided. It is here that more specific performance tasks are listed for jobs. This is where college lists and videos giving more info about tasks and activities involved in performing a particular job are provided.

After obtaining the survey results each student is provided with an extensive and linked list of possibilities of career options in the matching jobs section. Exploration of that list leads to the suggested paths to follow and to a more specific list of occupations with descriptions of the roles and tasks involved in that occupation. Each section is broken down into a list of specific job possibilities within the category and the roles involved. Click into the list deeper and you will find information regarding the tasks and activities to perform the job. Short videos are provided about each job as well as lists of potential colleges.

                                                                     

  Example video from CashCrunch Careers

My daughter is currently in her last year of homeschooling. She intends to continue her dance training following graduation. She has a potentially workable plan but it also very aware that dance will probably be one of two or more lifetime career paths. It is the additional career options that she is still exploring. She completed her survey and we explored the results. She read the summary of her Career Survey Report, the suggestions and information provided. I'm don't think she came to any definite conclusions as a result of reviewing her CashCrunch Career Report but she is certainly more aware of the many possibilities ahead of her and of where some of her interests might lead.

My 19 year old son also took the survey and reviewed the results. For him, I think it was the initial report that reads as a personal traits summary that was most useful. He communicated to me that he thought the specifics about the jobs provided would be changing rapidly. Despite the information contained in the videos, my son didn't find them inspiring enough.

I don't see this tool as a one time use and move on resource. Given the rate of change and the dynamic aspects of our economy, this is a tool that can be returned to over and over. It could be used to begin a reassessment if someone is re-evaluating a job choice or looking to make a change. I see this as a potentially useful tool in that way for my 19 year old son. He is currently completing his general education requirements while in his second year of college and has not yet narrowed down his field of study. I will encourage him to return to this survey over the next year for info and to assist in pointing him in directions of further research as he plans for his second two years of college.

While the survey itself takes only 15-20 minutes to complete, reviewing the potential opportunities, as would be expected, does take more time. There is enough information available for anyone to  follow up the survey with ongoing exploration and to obtain a fairly clear understanding of the initial requirements for a specific career pursuit. This is where I see the value for my son with his high expectations of this online resource.

Initially when my daughter first took the survey, I considered the $99.00 price point per individual user a little steep. After she completed her survey, explored the results, suggestions and further information provided, I can see the benefits of the use of this product over an extended period of time possibly justifying that cost. I do, however, still consider the price a little high for one user.

CashCrunch Careers was developed by Paul Vasey. It is one of several products that he offers on his CashCrunch Games website. There are other products that look useful. The Personal Finance Bite Size is a curriculum that I intend to use as a review with my daughter this year before she leaves our home. The Personal Finance Bite Size is available on the CashCrunch Games website or on the Old Schoolhouse Teachers members website. I had a question about access to the product we reviewed and got an immediate and cheerful response from Paul. He is obviously very enthusiastic about creating products to improve financial literacy among students. It is an important goal. I think the use of his products will help to achieve it.

To read more reviews done by homeschooling families of Cash Crunch Careers, click on a banner below to find the links on the Homeschool Review Crew site. 

Working In Work - for Working It In Wednesday

Two parent families, living on one income, are not the norm in our local community. A family of five, like ours, living on one income in the Chicago-land area can severely limit a family's financial resources. My husband and I made the choice for me to be an at home mom long before we even considered homeschooling. Once we headed down that road, a second parent income became less likely. I have heard comments from other moms about what a luxury it is to be with one's children on a daily basis. Others say they couldn't do it. Sometimes, I reply that it is a sacrifice we have made more that a luxury.

As parents, I think we all have the inclination to provide as much as possible for our children, both the needs and the wants. The clothes, toys or technology they want, the very best education and opportunities are a constant consideration and temptation. Our own desires, plus the pressure of seeing what is available to others can be a serious distraction from our own determined goals and priorities. The choice to live on only my husband's income has limited our our ability to give into every request. I have come to view that limitation as a blessing. By the fact of our financial limitations, we have had to teach our children more about setting goals, the value of resources, work and earning some of their own money.

Being home schooled has provided my children with the opportunity to do their academic subjects, pursue extra curriculum interests plus take on small jobs in our community to earn their own money. Being available during daytime hours has made small local jobs more accessible and doable. For example, a small weekly newspaper is provided free to residents. At one time it was delivered door to door by local teens. That newspaper delivery job was our oldest son's first job. It was the vehicle that taught him how a job well done can lead to more lucrative opportunities. He was asked by his newspaper costumers to do small jobs of yard work, snow shoveling and dog walking in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the delivery service was ended by the newspaper just about the time our oldest son was ready to hand the job down, to his younger brother. Fortunately, that was after our younger son had at least been able to assist with that weekly endeavor. The small jobs of babysitting, dog walking, pet care and yard work that came from connections made in the neighborhood, while delivering newspapers, were still options for each of them to do.

The skills they have acquired pursuing extracurricular activities have also provided them with opportunities to work. Our second son assists with training and coaching of younger baseball players on a travel team. Our daughter coaches at a gym teaching basic gymnastic skills to little ones.

If we had been a two income family, it may have been easier to simply hand our children the extras they wanted, but they have learned so much because we weren't able to or didn't. That wonderful new baseball bat, pair of shoes or outfit isn't nearly as desirable if it has to be purchased with one's own hard earned money. The ability to work in opportunities for actual paid work, for each of our home schooled children has been one of the benefits of choosing a one income, homeschooling family lifestyle. My Work It In Wednesday Homeschool Encouragement is the recognition that more opportunities for our young people to contribute increases their financial resources and their understanding of work.

Read more, Back to School posts 

from Homeschool Review Crew members