Yesterday, my family and I visited NASA in Houston and it was enlightening. I was struck by the amount of preparation that goes into a flight. The astronauts prepare for hours and hours and actually months and years. For every hour astronauts spend in weightlessness they spend countless hours underwater in a mock spacecraft preparing for every detail, for every experience they might encounter.

I thought how really amazing - we should do the same with our kids. For all the hours they are going to spend managing their money when they are older, we should train them not just with book learning which we really don't do now. But with actual practical training.

We can give them the money we spend on them - and let them manage it themselves. Depending on the kid, we might start this when they are around 14 or so. And get them use to spending it - wisely. I hope mine falls on her face. When she's young. Much better than when she's older. I got a feeling many kids will buy $90 jeans and have no money for a movie. But that's not a bad thing. When they are 18 or 28 they won't buy those $90 and have no rent money.

I think preparation is the key. It certainly is for the astronauts.    

I know two people who have retired early. This weekend I am travelling with one of them. And she's cheap. But she's also a lot of fun.

She doesn't mind staying in a nice hotel but she keeps track of the bottom line. Whenever we travel together or do anything together, I am reminded of the importance of taking care of the little things. Yesterday, she was appalled when the drinks at the hotel cost $2. So we went across the street to Walmart and got a 2 liter for $1.28, a two liter that satiated the thirst of 4 people. She saved us $8 for four people.

And that's how fortunes are made. A bit at a time. She's enabled her husband to retire 8 years early by watching the bottom line always. And she always has fun.

Whether it's living an exceptional life or having a rich financial life, it's about making lots of little right choices. While addressing an envelope before going into the post office on my birthday, I sat a truck with a man eating a McDonald's biscuit, gulping a huge drink and smoking a cigarette. He was about 100 pounds overweight. Oh, boy. That was me at 30 years old. I thought about my choices. I had fish and greens for breakfast - sounds gross but I feel great - better at 50 than 30.

I have welcomed an opportunity to go over the budget and look at our cable package. I've asked for a lower price and you know what it's like talking to the cable company. So I've made a choice to downgrade and get Netflix. Just two adjustments and I save $300 a year. Doesn't sound like much. But I'm getting unlimited streaming shows that I like whenever I want. We're looking at making the similar choices with our phone and health insurance. Just tweaking those 3 areas and a few little (some frustrating) phone calls, and I should save $3000 a year.

I bet that when you go to Wal-Mart, little things that seem inconsequential, those little bits of junk, would amount to thousands. Thousands you could invest. So that $3000 from tweaking the budget plus $2000 from avoiding little bits of junk could send a kid to college if saved and invested.

Ok, we are where we are. News of doom and gloom, bank closings, mortgage foreclosures abound. But since we're here, how can we use this to our advantage, a positive for teaching teens. I think it's a golden opportunity to show our teens that it's not always a time of prosperity.

It's a great time to show them what got people in trouble. This is the perfect time to build good money skills. First, we have to admit that we aren't victims.

I heard this guy with over $200,000 in IndyMac frustrated that he was only going to get 50 cents on the dollar for the amount he had in the bank over $100,000. Ok, the first lesson here is that he should have known banks are covered by the FDIC up to $100,000 - either by educating himself or some program of education. One thing I know is that it's all over any bank's literature.

Two, lots of us think the government should save us. I am all for government programs. We have some great programs like adult day cares, work training for the disabled, lots of wonderful programs. But should we not educate ourselves? There are great materials all around us about growing wealth. This guy was blaming the government for his problem. True, it's important to look at the causes. But had this guy known he could have distributed his money across two banks and he would have been golden. The FDIC policy is all over the place, usually on the door when you enter the bank. Instead of being a victim he could be a learner.

No, not yet. But that title is just about as accurate as the media's coverage of IndyMac's failure. There's a great lesson to be learned here, actually several. First, don't panic. And second, really consider the facts. Is the news coverage accurate? I got two different stories within 20 minutes from big news channels and they were vastly different. This is when it pays to become really educated and skeptical.     

Yes, the bank failed. Yet when you listen to news on TV, you get lots of different perspectives. Monday, I listened to one really reputable news station explain that IndyMac failed because they chose to buy mortgages that were risky. They specialized in mortgages people took out that were not solid. Mortgages people couldn't afford. You know, mortgages where people often didn't have to provide proof of their income. Unwise mortgages people took out that represented more that 25% of their income. That's the sound safe rule for house buying from good financial experts.

CNN fully explained the problem with IndyMac and also calmly explained that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are much more solid. They buy safe and sane mortgages. They are not failing.   

But turn the channel and you'll find supposedly reputable news programs saying the sky is falling - and they aren't giving any supporting facts. I turned on one of the original big three channels and heard a story of doom and gloom - of what will happen when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fail.  

Their story leads off with "Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac safe?" They basically gave little attention to the actual facts. They use an expert who says if they fail, middle America won't be able to get a loan. Yet, the expert doesn't talk about the differing structures of the two banks. They use language like the government is trying to shore up confidence. They did not talk at all about the fact that IndyMac chose bad loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac choose to back solid loans.

They have left out important information. They are fear mongering.

When you hear a story, get another source - and another. Don't run in fear. When you get the whole story and you find a news giant spreading fear when it's unfounded, don't just get mad. Turn the channel. And wait a bit. Today we hear that IndyMac is under investigation for possible fraud. Wait and get all the facts before running around like Chicken Little.

For us old timers and that's probably anybody over 40, it's probably just a matter of remembering to write it down just like a check. But for teens and college students it may be a different matter.

The mom came up with a great idea. What if there was a way to enter their information on their phone? I think this is an awesome idea. But there are some potential pitfalls - like what might happen if they lost their phone or it was stolen.

Also, I've heard that the new Apple iPhone upgrade may have a function to enter your financial information. It doesn't go into our bank book but you have it on your phone to record later. Don't know if it's true or not.

But teens and college students are a new generation, a net generation who live with the cell phone and technology. There's got to be a way to make it easy for them. Let us know if you have any great ideas to make recording spending a snap for them.  

You'll find your house running like a well oiled machine. And I found my car clean at the same time my house was clean. Now, with a bunch of kids always in my car they call the "Crumbmobile," that's a miracle. I've lived my these words for a week and so far I've streamlined my work, come up with a new plan to get my book out there and I found myself riding my bike this morning.

If you ask yourself what is the most productive thing you can do at this moment, you might find yourself riding a bike when you usually collapse in a chair. You will be producing a happy body. Or hugging your kid when you are tempted to work. You are producing love in them. Or you might find yourself collapsing on the couch to watch cartoons with your kid.  And you're producing a kid who knows her mom thinks she's pretty doggone special. 

These words are pretty special - even life changing. They truly are golden: "I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment."

Next step is to try them with money. I think they will make a great difference.

Yesterday, four teenagers dressed up as cans of food and stood in front of our local food bank - in the rain. And you know what they did? They raised 20 thousand pounds of food for our local food bank. A teen called the other day to ask about volunteering and was told there was no food to bag or process. The food bank's cupboards were getting bare.

So they organized a short-notice food drive, right then and right there. A radio station, not one I listen to since I'm the other side of 30, jumped in and a kid dressed up as beef stew. That's what got my attention.

I really like these teens...they didn't hesitate or go to the pool and forget about it. They jumped in and dressed up as beef stew. And raised 20,000 pounds of food and a bunch of money.  

So hooray for the teens. It's truly amazing what they can do!    

I'm still intrigued by the movie Wall-e. I won't give away anything really important but in Wall-e, we are living in a pleasure place run by a mega corporation called Buy-n-Large. A friend, in her forties, was thoroughly depressed after seeing the movie. It's easily a reflection of ourselves.  

But for me it was an inspiration. No, not to run the world by starting a mega corporation. Well, it actually crossed my mind. But what if we bought with an overriding guiding principle of love, not pleasure. What if we budgeted with love as our reason to manage our money?

So when we face a decision of whether to buy something or not, we do not think of our pleasure first. But we might think whether this purchase is a truly loving one. Does it demonstrate love for our families? Does it demonstrate love of our planet? Are we demonstrating God's love through that purchase? So when I am filling my buggy at Wal-Mart, I can ask myself whether this piece of plastic, this thing I just have to have, does it demonstrate love for my family. Or does it take away from things that are more important like my ability to purchase health and life insurance, which are very real ways to love my family by providing for our health and our survival if the breadwinner were to die.

If we thought of our money as an interpretation of our love for others and ourselves, how would we change what we buy?

Yesterday, I went with 8 kids and three adults to see Wall-e, Pixar's amazing animated movie. Seems like a kid's movie. Little Sammy, he's four, melted into tears. I had to take him out a little early. I can't tell you why he was distraught, it would give it away.

But one of the moms was thoroughly depressed. Wall-e hits a nerve. Wall-e is an indictment of all the junk we buy and what it can do to us. It shows us what happens to the planet if we put stuff first. It's a showcase of what happens when buying and pleasure comes before planning for the future.

So, we get to what I learned. Putting pleasure first and foremost is destructive. We forget to save for the future - that applies to money and resources. It also applies to hurting other people.

And I'm reminded to buy out of love. Is my purchase loving or is it a way to fill my soul? Or a way to console my sorrow? 

What if we used that to guide our finances? Today, I'm taking my 80-year old aunt to see Kit Kittredge, American Girl. My aunt hasn't been to see a movie in 20 years. She's a widow and she grew up in the Depression. Sounds like a loving thing to do, spend some great time with her. And it's in the budget.

I'd say if we truly spend out of love for others and the planet, we'll be ok.

I love it! In North Dakota, a millionaire a day is being created. At least, that's the way it seems. Many people in North Dakota are becoming millionaires overnight from leasing their land for oil drilling.

But here's what I love. Oscar and Lorene Stohler spent some of their money. They bought a new home with cash, the first home they have ever owned. They are in their 80s. The only luxury items they bought were a sprinkler system for Lorene's flowers. Oh, and Oscar bought a $1,000 ring for Lorene. For their 60^th Wedding anniversary. That's it.

Here's what Lorene said, "We put our kids through college without that oil money."

She also said, ""We got enough now to buy new stuff," Lorene said, "but we like our old stuff." 

Now that's my kind of millionaire.

You know how it is...you never notice a Volkswagen on the road until you play "Punch Buggy, No punchs back" with your kid. And then you notice them everywhere!

That's how it's been with money personalities. Once I tuned into our money personalities, I notice different ones all over the place.

The other day I heard a 21 year old with a new car whining about the price of gas. Instead of getting a reliable get around car for around $5,000, she is paying payments on a $20,000 car. She's already a victim of the economy.

I hear my friends, some pessimistic and some optimistic about money, but all coming at it from their own personalities. I hear one friend predicting the downfall of our economy and one hoping the increasing gas prices will change our dependence on oil. She's optimistic about the future. She's solvent and investing in real estate.

Tune in and you'll hear all kinds of views on our economy and your friends and acquaintances will tell you about their financial life. Are they solvent or in debt? Are they hopeful? Realistic? Doomsday thinkers? Knowledgeable about how money works?

Once you tune in to money personalities, you can't tune out. It's fascinating!