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Kirby Sees His Favorite Hockey Team
Kirby loves watching the Dingos play on TV, but it's way cooler to see them play in person!(click
here) |
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Kirby Buys his School Supplies
Kirby loves shopping for his new school supplies each year!(click
here) |
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Kirby's
Garden!
Kirby grows delicious vegetables and makes some money!(click
here) |
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Kirby
Learns About Recycling
Kirby makes money recycling cans!(click here) |
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Kirby
Plans a Camp Out With His Friends
Kirby and his Mom shop for a tent!(click here) |
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Kirby Goes Camping
Kirby and his Dad take a birthday camping trip!(click
here) |
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Kirby's First Valentine!
Kirby gives a special Valentine gift!(click here)
|
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Kirby's New Year's Resolutions
Kirby lists the things he wants to do better in 2008!(click
here) |
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Kirby Visits His Grandparents
Kirby Kangaroo flies all by himself!(click
here) |
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Kirby's Special Assignment
Kirby works on a writing assignment from school and learns a lesson
about saving!(click here) |
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Kirby's Uncle Comes To Visit
Kirby gets money from his uncle—what will he buy next?(click
here) |
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Kirby Goes on Vacation
Kirby learns that you have to stick to your budget in order to have
enough money for a fun vacation... (click here)
|
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Kirby Wants a Puppy
Kirby learns about all the costs involved in getting a pet... (click
here) |
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Kirby Learns a Lesson
Kirby learns that fun things come from saving your money... (click
here) |
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Kirby
Finds A Wallet
A wallet full of money! What should he do? (click
here) |
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Kirby
Goes Golfing
Kirby finally gets to go golfing, but first he has to earn it. (click
here) |

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Kirby Sees His Favorite Hockey Team!
Kirby’s favorite hockey team, the Dingos, was coming to town to play the season championships. Kirby was so excited! He had never seen the Dingos play in real life, but he had followed their games on TV for the past three years. When Kirby’s dad bought tickets to the game for the family, Kirby was really excited and asked his dad if he could buy a Dingos jersey to wear to the game. Kirby’s dad said that if Kirby wanted the jersey, he’d have to buy it himself since the tickets to the game were expensive.
Kirby looked into the price of a Dingos jersey and found that they were $60 each. He was shocked! Kirby didn’t think the jersey was going to cost so much money. He had no idea where he was going to get $60. He decided to talk to his dad to see if he could work for some of the money.
Kirby’s dad knew how much he wanted the jersey, so he made a deal with him. His dad said that he would buy the jersey, but that Kirby had to pay him $20 on the spot and then do extra chores around the house for the next month to pay for the rest of the ticket.
Kirby didn’t care if he had to do extra chores for the next year as long as he got the jersey. The next day Kirby went to the credit union and took $20 out of his savings account. It was a lot, but he knew it would be worth it. The next day, his dad bought the jersey for him. It was so cool! He decided that the first time he wore it should be special, so he put it away until game night.
For the next month before the game Kirby worked very hard around the house. He did the dishes every night. Once a week he vacuumed the carpet, and he swept and mopped the floors. He cleaned the garage, the basement and the shed. He even cleaned the bathrooms.
Finally, game night had come, and Kirby was ready to go. His dad was proud that Kirby had stuck to his end of the bargain, and that he had done such a good job helping around the house without complaining once.
When they arrived at the game, Kirby was proud to be wearing his new Dingos jersey, and he saw a lot of other people wearing the team jersey, too. Plus, Kirby and his dad had seats five rows from the rink. They were so close that they could see the players’ faces, and they could hear them shout to each other in the rink. At half-time there was a drawing for a hockey stick signed by every player on the Dingos. Kirby was on the edge of his seat; he wanted that hockey stick so badly. The announcer started calling out the numbers on the winning ticket. It was Kirby’s! He raced down the steps and out onto the rink to claim his prize. He beamed as the goal tender from the Dingos handed him the hockey stick. They took three pictures, and then Kirby was sent off the ice so the game could continue.
After the game Kirby took his Dingos jersey and hockey stick home and laid them out on his bed so he could look at all his cool new stuff. Now he was really glad that he had kept his end of the bargain. He never realized that hard work could pay off so well!
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Kirby Buys his School Supplies
Kirby and his mom were getting ready for their back to school shopping. Kirby was so excited, all summer long he had been making a list of all of the cool things he was going to get for school this year. He had picked out the perfect backpack, folders and markers. Kirby was ready!
When he and his mom got to the store, Kirby raced around and grabbed all the things that he thought he would need for his class. Finally, his mom said, “Kirby, I don’t think you are going to need six boxes of markers, three packs of colored pencils, a box of crayons, and ten folders, plus all these other things you picked out for school this year.”
Kirby was shocked when his mom said this; of course he would need all those things! Sure, they weren’t on the list of school supplies that his teacher had given him, but he knew that he would need the Ninja Turtle folder just as much as he needed the Bat Man folder. And surely he would use the extra two boxes of colored pencils before the year was out!
As he started to tell his mom the he needed all these things, his mom cut him off and said, “Okay, Kirby, here’s the deal. I’ll buy the school supplies on the list your teacher gave you, and you can buy anything else that you think you’ll need for school this year. If you have used all your supplies by the end of the year, I’ll pay you back for the supplies you bought.” Kirby’s heart fell. He knew there was no way he could afford ALL the extra supplies he wanted to get.
Finally he decided that he would spend $40 of his own money from his savings account at the credit union on the supplies that he thought were the most important. After looking at all the things he wanted to get, he ended up buying all ten folders, two packs of colored pencils, three different packs of markers, four note books, one glue stick, one bottle of glue, one jar of rubber cement, two pencil bags (after all he needed one for his colored pencils and one for his markers), and three big erasers. His total came to $35.99! It was a lot of money, but Kirby knew that he would get it all back at the end of the school year.
The next morning Kirby packed his backpack with all his supplies…only, he had to carry three note books and a pencil bag in his arms because his back pack was too full. When he finally got to school, he immediately began to set up his desk. First he put in all 4 note books, and then five of the folders, except, after that didn’t have any more room for the rest of his stuff. Try as he might, Kirby couldn’t fit the rest of his supplies in his desk, he rearranged things nearly ten times before his teacher came over to help. When she realized how many things Kirby had for school she asked him why he didn’t follow the list she had given him.
Kirby was embarrassed. He knew his mom had been right about buying all the extra supplies. His teacher gave him the supply list so that he could pick out what he needed. Kirby took the rest home where he told his mom what had happened at school that day. She smiled, and told him not to worry. She had saved his receipt so that he could take all the extra supplies back to the store and get his money back. After Kirby put his money back into his savings account, he promised himself that he would follow the school supply lists that his teachers gave him from now on!
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Kirby borrowed a book from the library on planting and farming.
From the book he learned about how farmers till the soil to get
rid of the rocks and to make it soft for the seeds, and how to
mix fertilizer in the soil to make it better for the plants. He
read about when to plant the different kinds of seeds, how long
it took for them to grow, and about the best ways to water them.
Kirby was very interested in all of the kinds of fruits and vegetables,
and how the farmers grew them.
After reading a little bit of the book Kirby began to talk with
his parents about all of the neat things that he had learned.
As he was telling his parents about farming, Kirby thought it
would be lots of fun to try and grow some plants himself! He asked
his mom and dad if they would let him use some of the back yard
to start his own little garden. They decided that it would be
a good idea if they all worked on it together. Since his parents
would be helping him in his garden, they offered to help him pay
for the supplies he would need. They worked out a deal where Kirby
would buy the seeds and his parents would pay for any tools that
they needed. So Kirby went by the credit union where he had $23
saved up in his savings account. He took $10 out so that he could
buy the seeds.
That night he sat down and made a list of all of his favorite
vegetables. His list got long as he put down squash, zucchini,
carrots, potatoes, peas, lettuce, and spinach. As Kirby looked
at his list, he realized that all of those plants wouldn’t
fit in his garden, so he decided to pick his favorites.
Kirby decided to plant carrots, zucchini, peas, and lettuce.
He wanted to grow oranges too but when he found out that they
grew on trees, he decided that they wouldn’t fit in his
garden either. Then Kirby went with his parents to the home and
garden store where they bought everything that they needed for
their garden. It cost Kirby $8.00 to purchase all of the seeds
he wanted.
When they got home, everyone went outside and began to work on
the garden. His dad tilled the soil, then his mom mixed it with
fertilizer. Then Kirby went through and planted a row of each
vegetable. After they finished they were all very tired and dirty
but ready to see how the vegetables would turn out.
Kirby watered his vegetable garden regularly, and read books
on how to care for his plants. After a while Kirby’s vegetable
garden had grown and he had all kinds of vegetables. His mom made
salads with all the vegetables that the garden was growing, but
they still had a lot left over.
Kirby decided that he was going to try and sell some of the vegetables.
He loaded all the ones that his family wasn’t going to use
in separate bags and put them in his wagon. Then Kirby made a
sign that said “Vegetables For Sale.” He stood on
the corner with his vegetables and his sign. Before he knew it,
people came by to see what he had. He had 20 Carrots, 5 zucchinis,
6 heads of lettuce, and a bag full of peas. He decided that the
carrots would be $.25 a piece. The zucchini and lettuce would
each cost one dollar, and that people could have a handful of
peas for $.25.
After he had finished selling most of his vegetables, Kirby had
made $15! He took the money to his credit union to put it in his
savings account. Kirby was pretty excited that he had made up
the $10.00 that he had spent on the seeds and earned $5.00 more!
He was also proud of starting his own business!
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Kirby Learns About
Recycling!
Kirby and his mom were driving in the car one day when he noticed
a truck that looked like a garbage truck, but it had a funny green
triangle made out of arrows on the side. Kirby had never seen
that symbol before so he asked his mom what the truck was for.
His mom explained that the truck was a recycling truck, and that
it went around from house to house just like the garbage truck,
except that this truck only collected items that could be recycled.
Kirby didn’t know what types of things could be recycled,
but he had heard that recycling was good for the environment.
So Kirby asked his mom if she could explain a little bit more
to him about recycling. His mom told him that recycling was when
people took old things that they had already used and gave them
to the recycling company to remake the old products into something
brand new that could be used again. Things like old newspapers,
plastic bottles, cans and glass can all be recycled.
Kirby was impressed! He didn’t know that you could take
old garbage and make it into something useful again. Then his
mom told him something more exciting, she said that recycling
companies would give money to people who brought in aluminum cans
to be recycled. When he heard that he could get money for cans
he had a great idea! Kirby decided he would start collecting cans
so that he could recycle them and make some extra money. Before
he started, he called the recycling company and found out that
for every pound of recycled cans he could get .45 cents!
So Kirby started collecting! He picked up cans from the street,
he saved them from his lunch pack, he even collected them from
his house! Kirby collected cans for a whole month before he decided
he had enough to take to the recycling company. When he finally
finished he found that he had 10 pounds of aluminum cans! He did
the math in his head and figured that he would get $4.50 when
he took his cans to the recycling company. Although it wasn’t
a lot of money, Kirby was sure that if he kept collecting and
putting the money he made into his credit union savings account
every month, it would begin to add up. And best of all, he was
doing his part to help the environment!
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One day Kirby was out shopping with his mom. She needed some
new running clothes, so they were at the local sporting goods
store. As he and his mom made their way through the store, Kirby
noticed that there were a lot of sleeping bags that were for sale.
At first the sleeping bags reminded him of the camping trip he
had gone on with his dad, and how much fun it had been. Then he
thought about how much fun it would be to go camping with his
friends, but he soon realized that there would be no way they
could go into the mountains all alone for a few days. He tried
to let the thought go, but it stayed at the back of his mind for
the rest of the day.
Finally, after they left the store Kirby realized how he could
go camping with his friends. He decided that they would have a
camp out in his back yard! By now Kirby’s mind was racing
with all of the fun things they would do; tell ghost stories,
eat marshmallows, stay up late, and then it hit him…he didn’t
have a sleeping bag. Sure, he and his dad had used sleeping bags
when they had gone camping the summer before, but they had borrowed
them. Kirby knew the sleeping bags at the store were going to
cost way more than he could afford. Kirby didn’t know how
to fix this little bump in his plans so he asked his mom if she
had any ideas.
His mom thought a camp out was a great idea, and even knew how
Kirby could find a sleeping bag. She knew that there were going
to be several garage sales in their neighborhood that very weekend.
So the next day she took Kirby by the credit union so he could
get some money out of his savings account. Before they got there
she explained to Kirby how important it was to have a set price
in his mind for how much he was willing to spend on the sleeping
bag. Kirby decided that he was going to try and find a sleeping
bag for under $20, so that is how much he took out of his savings
account.
At the first garage sale they found a wonderful sleeping bag,
but the owner wanted $25 for it, Kirby was about to walk away
when the owner asked him to name his price. Kirby didn’t
know what to do, he had never been asked to name a price before.
He looked to his mom for help, and she told him to name a very
low price, so Kirby told the man he would pay $5, though he knew
that the man wouldn’t drop his price that much. The man
thought about it and said, “Ok, I’ll give it to you
for $10.” Kirby looked at his mom and she gave him an encouraging
nod. So he said, “I’ll take it!”
Kirby was so excited when he went home, because his mom had explained
to him that he had just haggled with the sleeping bag owner to
get a better price. Now that he had his sleeping bag, he was ready
for his camp out.
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Kirby was so excited. For his birthday, he had finally gotten
that cool tent that he had wanted for so long. His dad promised
him that they could go camping the very next weekend. Kirby couldn't
wait. He immediately started making a list of all of the things
that he would need to go camping. A sweater, a T-shirt, a pair
of pants, hiking shoes…oh yeah, and underwear too!
Kirby's dad told him that when they went camping he would teach
Kirby to fish. He told Kirby that he had 2 fishing poles, but
that Kirby would need to buy some weights and hooks for his pole.
So Kirby went to the local sporting goods store to see what the
prices were for their hooks and weights. He found that he could
get a package of 5 hooks and 5 weights for $5.00, or he could
buy them individually for $.75 a piece.
Kirby knew from past experience that it was important to shop
around before he made a purchase. So he went to a local fishing
shop. At this shop the prices were much better. He could get 6
hooks and 6 weights for $4.00 or buy them individually for $.50.
So Kirby bought the package of 6 hooks and 6 weights with money
that he had taken out of his savings account at the credit union.
The next weekend Kirby and his dad went camping. They pitched
their tent right next to a big lake where they could go fishing.
Kirby lost one of his hooks because it got caught on something
at the bottom of the lake and broke his line, but he managed to
catch three fish. That night he and his dad had a great dinner
of the fish that they had caught that day.
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Before Kirby knew it, January had passed and February was just
around the corner. He was excited because in two weeks his class
would be having a Valentine's Day party. The teacher said that
everyone needed to decorate a shoe box, and then buy or make Valentines
Day cards for all of their class mates.
That day after school Kirby went home to tell his mom that they
needed to find a school box that he could decorate, and they needed
to start thinking of the materials that they would need to decorate
it. Kirby also needed to start thinking about whether he wanted
to buy or to make the valentines that he was going to send to
his class mates.
The next day at school Kirby was talking to his friend Ellie.
She was telling him how she was going to have to make her valentines
this year because she couldn't afford them. She was also worried
that her shoe box wasn't going to be very pretty because she didn't
have the materials to decorate it. Kirby felt very sorry for Ellie,
but he didn't know what he could do.
That night Kirby told his parents about Ellie's problem. He said
that he wanted to do something to help her, but he didn't know
what to do. Kirby's dad suggested that Kirby make Ellie his valentine.
He told Kirby that he could get an extra shoe box, and decorate
it for her. Then he could use some of his money and buy her valentines
to decorate for her class mates. Kirby thought it was a great
idea.
So the next day Kirby went to the store with his mom to buy Ellie
some valentines to give to her class mates. He took $10.00 out
of his savings account at the credit union to make sure that he
would have enough to buy all of the materials that he needed.
Kirby wanted to buy the action hero valentines, but his mom said
that Ellie would like the princess ones better. So Kirby bought
the princess ones for her. Kirby's mom was so pleased with Kirby's
desire to help out his class mate, that she bought him some small
chocolates to give to Ellie. Kirby ended up spending $7.00 for
his valentines, and for all of the materials to decorate the boxes.
Then he went home to decorate the boxes. With his mom's help
he made Ellie's box very pink and girly, while Kirby's box was
red and much more boyish. Then he labeled all of the valentines
that he and Ellie were going to give to their classmates. With
his parent's permission, he invited Ellie over the day before
Valentine's Day to give her the box and valentines that he had
made for her. When Ellie saw all that he had done for her she
was very excited. She was so happy that she was going to have
valentines to give her friends, and a pretty box for her friends
to give them to her.
Then during Valentine's Day Kirby put the chocolates in Ellie's
box while she wasn't looking. He put a note on the box that said,
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ellie. From your valentine, Kirby." This
was, by far, Kirby's best Valentine's Day ever!
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Kirby's
New Year's Resolutions
Kirby was very excited that the New Year had finally come. For
most of December he had been considering what new resolutions
he was going to set for himself this year. He had a very long
list that ranged from keeping his room clean, to being a better
student in school.
Kirby thought that he had everything worked out. He had narrowed
his list down to the top 5 things that he wanted to improve this
year. Kirby decided that it would be a good idea to share his
resolutions with his dad, just to make sure that he had done everything
correctly.
So Kirby sat down with his dad and gave him the list of resolutions
that Kirby had set for himself. When his dad looked at the list
he saw 5 very good resolutions. They were:
1. Keep my room clean
2. Respect my teachers
3. Help do the dishes
4. Keep my locker at school clean
5. Do my homework the night that I get it
Kirby’s dad was very pleased with the list of New Year’s
resolutions that Kirby had made. However, he thought it would
be smart for Kirby to consider his savings account at the credit
union. So he asked Kirby what he thought of making a resolution
about his finances this year. Kirby thought about it a moment.
He hadn’t considered making any resolutions about his money,
but he thought it would be a good idea. So Kirby decided to take
10% of his allowance every month and put it into his savings account.
With all of his resolutions down on paper, and the help of his
dad, Kirby was ready to start working toward his goals for the
New Year.
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Kirby Visits His
Grandparents
Kirby was very excited because he was going to visit his grand parents
in another part of the country, and for the first time he would
be flying all by himself! Kirby was so excited, because, as everyone
knows, flying is super fun, but he also felt very grown up because
he was going by himself. His mother told him to take $10 out of
his credit union savings account just in case he needed some extra
money on his trip.
As he was walking through the airport, Kirby saw all kinds of
fun things that he would have liked to spend that $10 on, but
he knew better than to make quick decisions when it came to spending
his money. Kirby had learned how important it was to save your
money from having a credit union savings account. He wanted to
make sure that in case of an emergency he was not caught with
empty pockets. So instead of spending his money right away on
toys, Kirby decided to wait.
As Kirby sat down to wait for his flight to arrive, he discovered
that his plane was going to be an hour late! Kirby was very happy
that he had decided not to spend all of his money on toys right
away, because now he had some money for lunch, and he could also
call his grandparents to let them know that he would be late.
He was always saving!
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Kirby's Special
Assignment
"You are to write a 200 word essay on a subject that relates
to your background," the teacher told the class.
At first, Kirby panicked. He always had trouble writing a
paper, let alone trying to decide what to write about. All
the way home he worried about it.
At dinner he mentioned the assignment to his Mom and Dad.
They reminded him of all the interesting things they had seen
and learned about when they had visited family in Australia.
The history of Australia was very interesting and Kirby had
really enjoyed the hunting he had been shown. The Aborigines
used a boomerang to hunt with. To Kirby this was a very interesting
tool. There are two types of boomerangs - the returning type
and the hunting or non-returning type. Kirby decided this
was the topic he wanted to write about.
The more he thought about it the more he thought he should
buy a boomerang. It would be something different from what
the other guys usually had. He liked that.
He got out his savings passbook from his credit union and
was pleased to see he had more than enough money saved. He
would still have money left after he bought a boomerang. He
was very happy he had learned about saving money for when
you want something special.
Besides the fun of owning a boomerang, he would use it in
class, along with the paper he wrote on hunting with boomerangs,
and be able to get extra credit. He could look at his purchase
as an investment. That means he spent money on something that
could make his life better.
He was always learning!
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Kirby's Uncle Comes
to Visit
Kirby's uncle came to visit and whenever he visited he always
gave Kirby some extra money. "A boy never has enough money,"
he always said with a big smile. It made him feel good to do
something extra for Kirby. This time he gave him $40.00.
Kirby was very excited because he had been looking at a new
soccer ball and it cost $20.00. That meant he could buy the
soccer ball and have money left. He could think of a lot of
ways to spend the rest of his money - movies, the amusement
park, CD's and lots of other things. The $20.00 he would have
left sounded like a lot of money but when he started thinking
about ways to spend it, he found it didn't go very far. He
found it's an expensive world we live in.
Then he remembered something he shouldn't have forgotten.
When you get extra money, you should always save part of it.
Now he really had to do some thinking about what to do.
He decided he would get the soccer ball for $20.00. Then
he would take $10.00 of the $20.00 he had left and pick one
special thing he wanted from the many things he had thought
of to spend it on. He thought he would really like to see
the new movie that he and his friends had been talking about.
That left $10.00 for his savings account at the credit union.
He would really liked to have had fun spending all of his
money but he felt good about the fact he had saved some. He
was especially happy when his parents told him they were going
on a special vacation that summer and he knew he would have
money of his own that he had saved to do things he wanted
to do.
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Kirby Kangaroo and his parents are planning a summer vacation!
They have decided to go to the beach for a whole week! Kirby’s
mom tells him that they have a lot to do before they can leave
town, and he will have to help out to get everything done.
One thing on Kirby’s mom’s list is to do some
vacation shopping. Kirby dreads shopping with his mother…it
seems like she stays at the store all day! First Kirby and
his mom make a list for their shopping. His family has set
a budget for their trip and Kirby’s mom has set aside
a certain amount of money for the supplies they need to take
with them. Kirby, his mom and dad will all need new swimming
suits for the trip. They’ll also need shorts, sunglasses
and shoes for the beach. Along with new clothes, they’ll
have to buy supplies like sunscreen and snacks.
Kirby and his mom head for the mall. Kirby can’t understand
why his mom makes him shop around for the clothes they’ll
need. She is looking for the best prices on the items they
need to buy.
“Mom, this is taking forever!” says Kirby. “Why
don’t you just get some more money from the credit union?
Then we can buy everything we need at one store and go home
to pack for our trip.”
“Kirby!” his mom scolds. “You know about
saving your money at the credit union. You only have as much
as you put in, plus the interest you earn. If we waste all
of our budgeted trip-money at the mall, we won’t have
enough left over to go to the beach. We still have to buy
gas, meals, pay for a motel and have our car serviced. We
have to stick to the budget your Dad and I created for our
trip.”
“So if we spend too much money today, we won’t
be able to go to the beach?” asks Kirby.
“You got it!” says his mom. “That’s
why it is so important to budget and keep track of your money
in your savings account. You can find yourself in a bind if
you don’t stick to your savings plans.”
For the rest of the day, Kirby helped his mom find the best
prices on the items they needed for their trip. When he finally
got home from his full day of shopping, he checked his savings
passbook to remind himself of the money in his own savings
account. Kirby had learned the importance of sticking to your
budget and savings plan. Thankfully, Kirby was a good saver
and he had plenty of money to take along on his trip. He couldn’t
wait to leave the next day!
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Kirby's friend Jack got a new puppy last weekend, named Max.
When Kirby went over to Jack's, he couldn't believe how much
fun they had playing with Max. Max chased a ball with them in
the yard, ate half their ice cream and even took a nap with
the boys! As Kirby walked home from Jack's that afternoon, he
decided he had to have a puppy of his own.
As soon as Kirby got home, he checked his savings passbook
from his credit union. Kirby was sure he had enough money
for a puppy! So he asked his dad to take him down to the pet
store.
Kirby's dad asked, "Are you sure you have enough money for
a puppy?"
"Yep," replied Kirby, "I got my savings passbook right here!"
"I'll tell you what," Kirby's dad said, "Let's go down to
the pet store and check out all the prices before we take
your money out of your savings account at the credit union.
I want to show you first hand just how much it costs to take
care of a puppy."
Kirby agreed and off they went to the pet store. Kirby ran
right over to the puppy section and picked out a black and
white one he thought was perfect. And, he had just enough
money in his savings account!
"Ok," said Kirby's dad, "now that you've picked out your
puppy, let's write down the cost of all the other supplies
you'll need."
"What other supplies?" said Kirby.
Kirby's dad took him around the store showing him all the
things he would need for a new puppy. Kirby would need a collar,
a leash, tags, two dog bowls, one for water and one for food,
a chew bone and a bag of dog food. Next, Kirby's dad found
a brochure on the cost of taking a new puppy to see a veterinarian,
a special doctor just for animals. Kirby learned his new puppy
would have to get shots so that he wouldn't get sick after
they brought him home. Who knew that a puppy was going to
cost Kirby this much?
Kirby realized that not only would a new puppy wipe out his
entire savings at the credit union, he would never be able
to save any more money because it would all have to go for
dog food and trips to the veterinarian.
"Well dad, I guess I don't have enough money for a dog right
now," said Kirby. "I guess I'll just have to go over to Jack's
everyday and play with Max…for FREE!"
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As Kirby Kangaroo hopped to his credit union, he couldn’t
help but have a good feeling and a smile on his face when he
felt the money jingling in his pocket. He had worked hard to
save his money and it made him feel even better knowing his
Mom and Dad were so proud of him.
It all started when he wanted to go to the amusement park
with his friends and he didn’t have any money. He asked
his Mom but she said, “No, I told you not to spend your
allowance as soon as you got it.” He asked his Dad and
he said, “No. You have to learn to save money for special
things instead of spending it on bubble gum and candy. If
your Mom and I spend everything we earn right away on foolish
things we want, but don’t need or that aren’t
special, how do you think we would be able to take you on
trips or give you special gifts?”
Kirby did some serious thinking about this. Ever since Kirby
had outgrown his mother’s pouch, life had seemed to
become a lot harder. It wasn’t going to be easy, but
he made up his mind to save his money and see how it worked
out. It was very difficult at first to talk himself out of
buying a candy bar when his stomach kept telling him, “Go
ahead, it’s only one candy bar. I’m really hungry
for something sweet.” He told his stomach to forget
it.
In a few weeks Kirby was pleasantly surprised to find out
how easy it was to save money! He already had a growing amount
in his savings account at the credit union, and he was proud
of what he had saved. He felt very grown up and good about
himself. He even had enough money to go to the amusement park
with his friends the next time they went. Now, Kirby doesn’t
even miss the bubble gum and candy.
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One day Kirby Kangaroo was riding his bike home from a friend’s
house when he found a wallet on the sidewalk. He was very excited
because he thought there might be money in it, and he certainly
had a lot of uses for extra money. He looked inside and found
$75.00. There were also credit cards, a driver’s license
and other personal items in the wallet. As he was looking at the
items his excitement started to be replaced with guilt. He knew
the right thing to do was to contact the owner and return the
wallet—money and all.
When Kirby got home, he went straight to his room. He sat down
and started thinking of all the fun things he could buy with all
that money. The more he thought the worse he felt. He picked up
the wallet and decided to show it to his dad. Kirby told his dad
all the things he had been thinking and feeling about the money
in the wallet.
Kirby and his dad decided the right thing to do was to call the
man who owned the wallet. Kirby’s dad reminded him of his
savings account at the credit union. When there were special things
he wanted, Kirby could use part of the money and still keep some
in savings. This way, he could be proud of his new things knowing
that he had worked to save for them.
The gentleman that owned the wallet came by to pick it up. He
was very impressed that someone as young as Kirby was so honest
and responsible. He gave Kirby a $25.00 reward for his good deed.
Kirby was very excited again, and this time he didn’t have
to feel bad about it. The $25.00 would go straight into his savings
account at the credit union.
A few months later Kirby found a skateboard at the store he just
knew he couldn’t live without. He was able to use his reward
money in his savings account to buy the skateboard. Kirby still
had money left in his account for things he might want or need
in the future, and he felt very good about his new skateboard
because he paid for it himself. Returning the man’s wallet
was one of the best decisions Kirby had ever made.
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Kirby Kangaroo woke up early. It was Saturday and he was very
excited to go to the golf course with his grandfather. They
were going to practice hitting golf balls and then play real
golf. He had practiced before and played miniature golf but
never the real thing.
One day, a few months ago, grandfather and Uncle Ken were going
to play golf and Kirby wanted to go. But Kirby didn’t
have any golf clubs. His father told him to start saving more
money in his savings account at the credit union. If he saved
his allowance and any other money he earned and got as gifts,
then he could buy golf clubs and learn to play. His father told
him he would help by adding the same amount that Kirby saved
as soon as Kirby saved $50 on his own.
Kirby knew his money would be safe at the credit union, and
it would earn interest. Interest is money the credit union pays
you for keeping your money with them so that your money actually
grows when it’s in your savings account. Soon Kirby had
$50 saved. His father added $50 and they went shopping. He was
only able to get a couple of golf clubs with the money, but
he had learned a lot about saving. Kirby knew that soon he would
have enough to buy more golf clubs.
Kirby and his grandfather had a wonderful day, and Kirby couldn’t
wait to go golfing again.
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