At this point in our journey out of debt, my husband and I had paid off a couple of smaller debts and were pressing forward on the larger ones.  We came to realize that “pressing forward” often meant one step forward, two steps back, but we were determined to finish the job.

We had many reasons for wanting to get out of debt, but one of the greatest was my desire to be a Stay-at-Home Mom.  We needed both our incomes to make all our monthly payments, and that meant I had to keep working.  We had a great babysitter for Bub, but that wasn’t the same as being home with him myself.

On top of that, we wanted another child, but the thought of leaving a new baby with the babysitter was very. . .upsetting.  If we could pay off our debts, we could get by on my husband’s salary and my part-time job teaching online classes–and I would get to stay home with the kids.  That was an extremely powerful motivator.

I wanted another baby in the worst way. Bub wanted a baby brother in the worst way.  I can’t tell you how hard it was to hear him pray for God to send him a brother, knowing that one wouldn’t be coming any time soon.  All because of our STUPID DEBT!  I started to get mad at the bills (in a good way).  I saw them as thornbushes standing between me and my second child, and I wanted to hack them away as fast as possible.

So we kept hacking away.  Another bill paid off.  Then another.  Now the car payment was the only debt left. Unfortunately, it was also the largest.  But we kept on hacking.

What we really needed was a better tool to hack with. More on that next time.

I just discovered a fun way for kids to learn about money management without even using real money. It’s called Moola Monsters, and it’s a set of trading cards that you give your kids for doing chores or as rewards for good behavior. The kids can then spend them on privileges or treats, save them for something bigger, or invest them (put them away for a set amount of time and get them back plus extra).

The cards themselves are extremely cute. Each one features a happy, non-scary monster with a special gift, like athletics or peacemaking. A Bible verse also appears on every card.

I tested them out on my three-year-old, with great results. The kid has been giving us a terrible time in the car–getting out of his car seat, pestering his brother, and other typical car mischief. We have started promising him a Moola Monster at the end of each trip if he follows the rules, and his behavior has definitely improved. We haven’t even told him about ways to spend the little critters; I think he just likes collecting them.

Other parents have come up with more creative ways to use Moola Monsters, such as:

• Having kids use cards to purchase junk food; healthy food is free
• Using the cards as currency to purchase computer time, Wii time, or TV time. Better behavior=more recreation.
• Using cards as rewards for physical activity
• Using cards as payment for household chores. 

Of course, getting tokens for good behavior is nothing new, but this system is nice for several reasons. The cards are easy to keep in your wallet or purse, which means you can provide quick rewards on the go. Kids can keep their cards in a wallet or coin purse. Very convenient!

I always try to mention negatives as well as positives for any product I review. I can only see two drawbacks with Moola Monsters. My older son, age 8, is used to getting real money for chores. He has said he wants to keep it that way. Of course, we could trade cards for cash, but that’s an added hassle. Also, I couldn’t tell if the cards are printed with non-toxic ink or not. I got concerned about that when I caught the little one chewing on a card.

Otherwise, I think Moola Monsters are pretty cool! We will definitely continue using them and look forward to setting up our own household token economy. You can check them out at http://www.moolamonsters.com/.