Munny Journey: A Journal for Your Child’s Financial Development
Published on - October 18th, 2009 (by J.D. Roth) I have some financial blind spots. For one thing, Kris and I do not have children. It’s difficult for me to write about the concerns of parents. So when the publisher sent me a copy of Munny Journey, “a keepsake journal for baby’s first money”, I recruited a new mother to help me evaluate the book. Here are Chrystal’s thoughts about this unique publication. This article is part of National Save for Retirement Week.
At first I was put off by Munny Journey, a baby book dedicated to money. But I got to thinking: Why not? Given the global economic crisis, it isn’t a bad idea to give future generations a good healthy financial start. This journal is a cute and responsible way for parents to teach their children how to save from early on.
The spots designated for the photo of “my first piggy bank” and the slot for “my first state quarter” definitely appealed to my inner scrapbooker. 
The journal also covered memorable firsts like savings accounts and financial gifts. Then it got technical — bonds, mutual funds and stocks. I don’t think most people have a good grasp about how these investments work, so a little legwork or research will probably be required. There’s even a spot to fill in baby’s financial advisor.
The journal explores concepts like “the rule of 72” and compound interest. Your little tyke won’t understand these things for years, but it is an equally good tool for parents if they truly wish to invest in their child’s future financial stability. Munny Journey comes complete with charts and tables to demonstrate how important it is to save early.
There is also a companion CD that comes with the journal. I won’t lie: This guy sounds like a televangelist peddling Amway. But he does explain many of the concepts found in the book and shares some personal stories.
Oh yes, if there’s one real sticking point for me, it’s “munny”. If you want us to take the concept of money seriously, you’ve got to spell it seriously. It may look cute alongside the cartoon bunny amidst the soft greens and yellows, but it is just plain annoying.
In the end I was torn between whether this book would spawn greedy capitalists or just responsible savers. Well-intentioned parents can’t go wrong with teaching their little ones some of the basic principle of financial success: saving for the future.
J.D.’s note: Munny Journey isn’t cheap. The hardbound version with CD costs $30, even at Amazon. However, there is a spiral-bound softcover version (without CD) available direclty from the Munny Journey website for $11.
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I am all for starting early, but this seems to be pushing it. Compound interest in a crib?
I see the point that it may be beneficial for the parents to read some of the money/PF ideas in the book, but I suspect that the parents who may buy such a book or appreciate such ideas are already financially savvy.
My take is that I would get the book, use it, but not as intended. I would probably wait until the kid has an idea of what money is. For example, if he/she wants some shoes or a doll and they understand that it takes money to get it out of the store.
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“baby’s financial advisor”?!
Oh good grief. I wasn’t aware that most babies had their own financial advisors these days.
This book seems like it would have a very niche market. I might be able to see it as a gift for the child of two people who are in the financial business, or for those parents who are dead-set on aggressively starting lessons for their child while they’re still in the womb (you know, the parents who are teaching foreign languages and algebra to their kid before she/he’s even born), but for anyone else, this seems like starting money lessons a bit TOO young.
And yes, you’re not the only one who is irritated at the use of the word “Munny”. To me, it seems like it is reinforcing bad spelling habits. If the child does look at the book often when he/she is a toddler, then he/she grows up seeing money spelled “munny” and that’s going to get ingrained in their learning experience. Bad idea. (For the record, I’m not very enamored towards the countless ‘clever’ misspelled brand names out there either, such as Krazy Glue, Krispy Kreme, Tastee Freez, etc., either.)
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Sounds a little absurd to me too.
I’ve actually identified something that I intend to use, probably fairly soon. It’s called the Money Savvy Pig and it’s a four-chambered piggy bank, with slots for spend, save, invest, and give. There’s also a Cache Cow version of it. The website advertises coloring books and stuff to go along with it, and it’s probably time for me to order mine because my oldest is 4 now and we probably need to get more serious about teaching her about money. So far her financial education has been limited to identifying coins and knowing their relative value!
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sounds like the authors couldn’t decide whether their target audience was babies and toddlers or wealthy/wannabe parents.
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I don’t think educating kids about the value of money is a bad thing, teaching them to work and save, not to blow too much of their money frivolously and some of the old fashioned principles of saving and debt avoidance, but this book sounds like its a bit over the top.
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Being completely transparent and honest with kids about money is the best approach. My dad complained about money when I was growing up, which is funny considering he is a doctor who makes a good living. His complaints were not whiny though. The points I remember were him complaining whenever money was wasted. This taught me to value money much more than someone would expect from a doctor’s son.
My parents also taught me a lot about the value of a dollar by making me earn money from them by volunteering to do housework for them. Then they would make me spend my own money on things I wanted (other than food and clothes). After working so hard to get it, I was much less inclined to buy things. This also leads me to wants versus needs. Earning my own money and listening to my dad’s constant lectures taught me a lot about wants a needs. Finally, my dad got me interested in compounding interest rates. I cannot remember how many times he would fascinate me by giving examples of what $100 invested 100 years ago would be today.
I think a childrens book about money is a fantastic idea. It is only a matter of time before more books like this start popping up. I may even write one myself.
~ Jason
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Haven’t seen the actual product…looks cute and I guess the word “munny” is a play with the image of a bunny; my kids LOVE looking at their old baby journals and I think this might be a way to document the money they’ve rec’d on all of those holidays/special occasions. It may also be fun way to document when the child learns a simple, yet fundamental, money lesson. I have three kids and it gets harder and harder to keep accurate accounts of milestones. This might be something they can take charge of themselves as they become more ‘munny’-aware.
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I think children learn by watching their parents. So, as in all things, parent: educate thyself!
As an avid thrift shopper, I can’t tell you how many baby journals with one page filled in that I see. This seems destined to be yet another piece of clutter.
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Sonds like something a 32-year-old single investment banker would buy to give to his little sister’s first child as a birthday present.
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You’ve probably noted in the past, but the best book is “The First National Bank of Dad,” by David Owen.
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Robert Kiyosaki’s book for teenagers seems earlier enough to start. The best thing for parents to do is to learn how to be good with money themselves and be good examples.
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This seems like a complete waste of money, and just more of the “stuff” that so many of us are trying to cut back on. Even if you had a kid that was fascinated by finance, the babyish design would turn them off right around the age where they were old enough to benefit the most from the journal. And how does putting “My First State Quarter” in a special holder teach a kid anything about handling money?
We’ve needed very little to teach our child about money. Most of the time, it’s just looking for teachable moments. When we are watching television, we discuss how the ads try to make stuff look better. When he gets his allowance, we talk about how he can’t take money from his “obligations” (savings/charity) to buy toys. I’ve talked with him about the good things I now do with my money, such as saving up for treats, and I’ve talked with him about mistakes I’ve made, and how I’ve been fixing those mistakes.
As for his actual allowance, we don’t need any special equipment. At the start, I had my son decide how he wanted to split his allowance. He decided to break it evenly into four categories–Long term savings, short term savings, free-to-spend & charity. He regularly sets goals for his short term savings (usually including his “free” money to save quicker), and he personally takes his savings to the bank and his donations to the charity he chose. All we use is 4 plastic baggies which works fine. There’s no need for special banks or journals.
Without listening to the actual cd, I have no clue if there’s any value to the content, but I am doubtful that it is of much use to a child. There does not appear (given the description in this review) to be a clear curriculum for parents to follow with this journal to help a child make the jump from “Oh goody, my first state quarter!” to “So THAT’S how the Rule of 72 works!” And for the parent who is also not particularly inclined towards finance, I suspect the various charts and tables will be fairly intimidating. I know that back when I was dealing with a newborn, the last thing I wanted to do was have to try and decipher a bunch of mathematic equations!
Somehow I suspect that the market for this product is well meaning friends and family, who look at the front cover, and think “How clever!”
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My personal rule is the kid has to be old enough to not want to eat and choke on the money first.
The savings lessons come later..like once they can talk, count, etc.
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I have to agree with Gordie Rogers, above. I’m mom to five children, ages 6-20 and I have “tried it all”. Robert Kyosaki’s books are a great place to start. Rich Kid Smart Kid gives great insight and advice for getting kids on the right finacial path.
As for all the cutesy memory keeping ideas, I personally prefer to keep it all in one place, like in the child’s unfinished baby book or scrapbook…one imcomplete journal is enough for each child, in my opinion.
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I heard the book “Young Bucks” shows parents how to teach kids about money in every age group – from 1-16yrs old … Haven’t read it yet, but examples that author gave during an interview made total sense…
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