Answer: Dear Cheap Mom, BTW, you are not cheap, you are right. Expensive gifts like that send the wrong message. When my kids attended private school, I called the school and said that we needed to set a limit on birthday gifts. They agreed and we set the limit at $10.00 a gift. Today, you can up that to $20.00. Explain to your child that a gift should say, “I care about you”. The cost of the gift will not influence the message. The gift should be thoughtful, a well.

Answer: Dear Confused, As long as you explain to her that since she has been so good at earning her money, she has, “Earned Good Credit” (just like it works in real life). You will loan her the money, but you will also charge her interest. Since a real interest rate will only be pennies, you want her to really feel the “pinch”, so charge her 10 cents per dollar per week of the loan. Also make sure that you and she work out a payment schedule and make sure that she sticks to it. She should pay it off in no more than 2 months and she can’t get more stuff until it is paid back.

Answer: You are right, I have written about this. In real life, you have to pay for damage, and, “I’m sorry is not enough.” You did the right thing by paying for the toy, but you also have to have your child pay for the toy, as well. Get your son involved in the research about the toy. How much did it cost, where can you buy it? Have him figure out how many weeks it will take him to pay you back. If it is really expensive, have him pay half of the cost. He needs to feel the bite, but not to have to be 40 years old before he pays off his mistake.

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First App of its Kind Fills Void, Providing Fun for Kids and the Real Life Skills of Earning, Saving, Spending, and Sharing

NEW YORK – December 4, 2012 – Neale Godfrey, #1 New York Times best-selling author and one of the country’s most prolific experts on the topic of kids and money, announced today the official release of the new free iOS app, Green$treets: Unleash the Loot! The app, targeted toward kids ages 5-8, ‘cracks the code’ and introduces real life financial lessons through fun gameplay.

Green$treets: Unleash The Loot! launches from the FingerPrint Play platform, which provides unique connectivity to parents, grandparents and educators via email while kids play. The app is already highly sought-after, achieving more than 30,000 downloads and a #1 ranking in the Educational Games category on iTunes.

The premise of Green$treets: Unleash the Loot! is to teach children financial and ecological responsibility while having fun. Godfrey has created a group of lovable characters called the Green$treet Kids. Each character has a financial personality that reflects universal financial behaviors. The star of Green$treets: Unleash the Loot! is Shmootz™, a mischievous monster that serves as a metaphor for the idea that in life there are problems and it is our responsibility to fix them – regardless of whether or not we created those problems ourselves.

The goal of the game is for kids to rescue endangered animals, but players first build a budget to buy food, shelter and toys to make the animals happy before they can be released back to their natural habitats. Kids learn how to earn money by playing fun games, save money to reach their goal of rescuing the animals, spend their money wisely on cool items in Bull & Bear’s Marketplace, and donate a portion of their earnings to charity.

“Financial literacy skills last a lifetime and need to be taught early and reinforced by everyone – at school and at home. That’s why I created Green$treets: Unleash the Loot!,” said Neale Godfrey, CEO and Chairman of Children’s Financial Network and creator of Green$treets: Unleash the Loot! “The phrase ‘it takes a village’ applies to teaching our children valuable money lessons, and it is critical for everyone to get involved, including parents, grandparents and educators.”

Ms. Godfrey concluded, “Look at the financial chaos we have around the globe and the challenges we face for our future. We need to teach our kids today about the importance of being financially responsible. If we don’t take action now, the next generation will just repeat all our mistakes.”

Ms. Godfrey enlisted world-class talent to make her vision of Green$treets a reality, including Tom Hester, character designer of the Academy Award-winning animated feature, Shrek. She also collaborated with Laird Malamed, former head of development at Activision Blizzard, makers of the iconic Call of Duty and Skylanders brands, to bring this visually stunning and exciting world to life.

The Green$treets: Unleash The Loot! app was developed by Fourth Monkey Media and is available now for free on iOS for iPhone and iPad. For more information, screenshots and demo videos, please go to www.greenstreetcommons.com/ or follow Green$treet Kids on Facebook or Twitter.

Download the app from the iTunes Store at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green$treets-unleash-loot!/id564402206?mt=8

About Neale Godfrey:

Neale Godfrey is a #1 New York Times best-selling author with 26 books empowering children and their families to take charge of their financial lives. Neale created the topic of “kids and money” in the 1980s while she served as President of The First Women’s Bank and created The First Children’s Bank at FAO Schwarz in New York City. She was one of the first female executives at The Chase Manhattan Bank and today is the Chairman of Children’s Financial Network, Inc. Neale serves approximately 2,000,000 children and their families through her programs that promote the mission of financial education.

Character Introductions:

Shmootz™
Shmootz™ is a mischievous slob that is always making a mess for the residents of Green$treets to clean. We all have ‘Shmootz’ in our lives and together we need to clean it up.

Penny Bright
Penny is one powerful feline – and as her name suggests, she is smart, fashion forward, tech-savvy, and an all-around money managing wonder-kitten. She is the go-to girl for financial and ecological responsibility.

Small Change
Small Change is a hyper skateboarding, roller-blading, fun-loving rabbit. As a spendthrift, he blows through money as easily as he does a half-pipe.

Opportunity
Opportunity teaches risk. He is a character in a box that you never actually see because everyone’s opportunities are different. Players can take advantage of their opportunity when he pops up during gameplay.

Media Contact:
Erik T. Hendrickson
ehendrickson@rubenstein.com
212.843.8098