Darned-If-You-Do, Darned-If-You-Don't

I am host of a radio show on KQV in Pittsburgh. Last week on the Lange Money Hour, we were privileged to have as our guest, the wonderfully wise and well-spoken, Neale Godfrey, author of 26 books that deal with money, life skills and value issues. Her groundbreaking book, Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children, hit #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list.

After the show, which I found extremely informative, I contacted Neale and asked her if she would be willing to share some of her wisdom and insights with the GG community. She not only agreed, but surprised me with a program of hers I didn't even know about! The following post by Neale provides some valuable insight for parents and grandparents.

Neale Godfrey

To learn more about Neale, her books, and her philosophy, visit her website or look up her many books on Amazon.com. You can also find Neale on Facebook, Twitter, and on her blog.

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In the United States, we're a nation of "stuff." We want stuff, we produce stuff and then we throw away stuff away and call it "garbage." We used to burn a lot of garbage until it was pointed out that we were polluting the air. So we doused the fires and started creating "landfills" of garbage. However, they attracted flies and rodents, smelled awful, and, guess what... they still caused pollution. So, what was our next idea? We put our garbage on barges and sent it to places where we thought people might not notice or care.

Every day, the earth's population grows; creating a demand for even more stuff that will eventually end up as garbage. What's a consumer to do? It's "Darned-If-You-Do, Darned-If-You-Don't" dilemma. Even worse, it may cause a reaction of, "I'll be wrong no matter what I do, so I'll do nothing."

Since we all have contributed to the Earth's problem, it's up to all of us to accept responsibility and then do something to change our ways. In short, we have to take ownership for what we've done and we hope that you can ECHO to your kids that they need to "step up to the plate," as well.

We are a nation of stuff, and we are willing to pay for innovations that save time effort. These same innovations supposedly increase our standard of living, yet-if you're anything like me-I feel like I spend even more time and effort dealing with them!

These things are happening even if you don't think about them. So, we don't really have the option to drop out. You have to stay engaged, be a responsible parent and grandparents and ECHO to your kids, your community, and the world.

That is one of many solutions that I have created. I want to empower children and their families' to take charge of their financial lives.

I created the ECO-Effect program, which celebrates what we all can do to make the world a more ECOnomically and ECOlogically healthier place for everyone and everything. In the ECO-Effect, we help you teach your kids and grandkids- and your kids to teach you- to "ECHO" to the community, school, businesses and government... and to be good Citizens-of-the-World.

Your ECOnomic decisions are world decisions and your ECOlogical decisions are world decisions. With the ECO-Effect, we hope to raise consciousness, be inclusive and have you take steps together with your family.