The fourth- and fifth-graders at Hiawatha Community Elementary School in Minneapolis understand the difference between recess and recession. Ask them to define the latter and faces don't light up as they do on the playground. Words such as crisis, banks, jobs and housing come up. With so many financial experts in denial or the courtroom, it was time to hear a simpler message. What does a 10- or 11-year-old know about saving money and cutting back?
Enough to understand economic lessons so basic that many grownups have forgotten them.
In a free-flowing discussion about families saving money and cutting spending in a recession, they offered up wisdom sage enough for Suze Orman or Jim Cramer: Know the difference between wants and needs. If you don't have the money, don't buy something. If you buy something, make it last.
Nearly 70 percent of Hiawatha students are from families at or near the poverty level, receiving free or reduced-price school lunches.
They seem to know the value of green at a young age. And they weren't short of advice on how to save money. While most students easily gave examples of families cutting back, one student wondered aloud if her mom might be making more money at work: Shopping at Target and Wal-Mart has been replaced by J.C. Penney and Herberger's, she said. Until those days return for more of us, here are 15 ways to save, courtesy of fourth- and fifth-graders.
Saving more, spending less
• Spend it on things you really need, such as food and clothes. (Deshawn Althoff and Lisa Maier)
• Make old stuff last longer: "If your furniture is old and dirty, wash it." (Isair Delgado)
