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The FinLit Zone

I equip young people with the money skills they need in adulthood. Subscribe to my newsletter for tips on how to help youth build financial confidence.

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Featured Post

πŸ˜… Taxes are, indeed, a thing. Here's how to explain them to youth.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ It's also the day before Tax Day. I hope all my readers who are frantically filing their taxes today get them in before the deadline. ⏰ This Financial Literacy Month, take a minute to turn taxes into a teachable lesson that shows your child tax season isn't just about paperwork. It's also about understanding how money...

Blue gray water spigot dripping gold coins

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ Back in the day when I used to carry cash, I would always boosting my savings with the leftover change from purchases I’d made during the week. I would just chuck the money into a big plastic jar and forget about it. By the end of the year, I often had around $200 or so. In 2026, my supplementary savings tactic has an...

Girl with thought bubbles of a credit card, a price tag, and buying a car. Question marks are around her head.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ April starts tomorrow and so does National Financial Literacy Month. For people like me, who love talking about how money works, April is like the Super Bowl, March Madness, the World Cup, and the Olympics all crammed into a 30-day stretch.πŸ†πŸŽ‰ As always, I'll be focused on teaching young people money skills to prepare...

Black point-of-sale machine on green background with a debit card tapping it to pay

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ It's officially spring and I can't believe how many retailers link sales to the arrival of the season. Apparently, Gen Z loves in-person shopping, so I expect to see plenty of young people out hunting for deals β€” debit card in hand. According to a recent LendingTree survey, 40% of Gen Zers prefer using a physical debit...

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ How to avoid becoming a victim of scams like those annoying toll road text messages is a key part of National Consumer Protection Week, which started Sunday. But here's a powerful consumer-related scam that's a little more subtle: fake online reviews. Bogus reviews can turn out to be a huge problem for young people...

Graphic of a piece of paper labeled "CONTRACT" with a rubber stamp next to it.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ When we think about financial literacy, we often focus on things like budgeting, saving, investing, or credit scores. In this week's newsletter, I'd like to shine the spotlight on an often overlooked money skill: knowing what you're agreeing to when you sign your name. Opening a bank account, taking out student loans,...

Open laptop with the words School Data on the screen with a chain and a lock.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! πŸ€‘ This last week of January is Identity Theft Awareness Week and Data Privacy Week, so at the very least we all need to upgrade our passwords (more on that later). Identity theft and data privacy aren't just tech topics. They're both linked to your child's financial future. When someone steals a child's identity, they...

Two rows of paycheck images with and arrow between them to signal living paycheck to paycheck. Blue background.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ If you've set goals for this year, there's a good chance that at least one of them is, "Find a way to earn more money." Maybe it's negotiating a raise, picking up a side hustle, or applying for a better-paying job β€” all solid steps to bringing in more cash. But although earning more money is a worthy goal, it's only...

Stethoscope on top of a stack of $100 bills on a light green background.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week! πŸ€‘ It won’t be long before 2025 is over and done with, so I know you're probably thinking about New Year's resolutions and fresh starts. But your money also deserves a little attention at the end of the year. This is a natural moment to pause and reflect on your financial habits. Of course, reviewing finances isn't just...

A blue background with marketing phrases in starbursts: Final Day, Limited Time Only, and Buy Now.

Dollars, Cents, and Confidence Weekly tips for the grown-ups shaping youth into financially savvy adults Hey there! It's Talk About Money Tuesday, my favorite day of the week!πŸ€‘ Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday sales are behind us (well, mostly), but there's still plenty of time for retailers to roll out more "deep discounts" and can't-miss deals. No matter how fast you scroll, you won't be able to avoid the ads tempting you to buy at every turn. This newsletter will...