Every summer I go out and see as much of the world as I can. It is a lot of fun. This summer, I helped clean up several parks and even went to your credit union.

Can Do
I love parks. There was this one park that was full of garbage. It made me sad. So I found some local Kirby Kids and we started picking up the trash. We found old tires, toys, and cans. When we were done, we took the cans to the recycling center. We had $23.05 from recycling.

We decided to buy doggy bags for people to use at the park. A pack of 500 bags was $15. That left $8.05. There were 15 kids helping clean up, so we bought each one a freeze-pop for 50 cents each. That left 55 cents that we used to make “Do Not Litter” signs with a big piece of paper.

Now, it is a clean park. And the local kids love it. I bet they keep it extra clean.

You Can Find Cans Too
If you are looking for a way to earn some extra money, try finding cans around your neighborhood. Each one can be worth up to 10 cents! That “can” can add up fast.

Hopping Around Town
If you saw me in your town this summer, I hope you got to say “hello.” I love seeing all my Kirby friends. It is a lot of fun to be Kirby Kangaroo.

This winter, I learned something new about money. Whenever I left the United States and went to Canada, I had to exchange my money.

Some Money is Different
It was fun to get new money. I got to trade an American dollar for a Canadian one. Both are very cool. But I needed the right money to buy things. When I traded the dollars, sometimes I would get more money because one was worth more than the other.

Kangaroos Have Money Too
Kangaroos like me love to save and spend their money. My family uses Australian money. Australian money is very colorful and fun, like Canada’s money.

Money Collection
Now I am collecting money from all over the world. I have money from Australia, Canada, U.S., Mexico, and more. Ask your parents if you can collect money too.

When you are a kangaroo (and even when you are a human kid), it is important to get enough exercise. Here are some ideas to get you out of the house and out into the great outdoors…or if there is a lot of snow in your area, head over to a local gym or to your school’s covered play area.

Fun on Wheels Strap on a helmet and hit the sidewalk on your scooter or skateboard or bike. You will have a fun time. Your heart and muscles will too. Every minute you ride around your body will be getting stronger. 

Tennis Anyone? Tennis is good exercise. Plus, there are tennis courts everywhere. If you or someone you know has a racket, go out and play. Or just close your garage door and bounce the ball to yourself.

Soccer or Football: Sports like soccer are played around the world. Of course, soccer is called football back in Australia. We also have a game called rugby. But I think you should stick with soccer for now.

Sing a Song: Dancing around and singing a song can help keep your body healthy. It is fun too. Turn up the radio and sign along. Or go out and make up your own song and share your talent with the world.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

"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!

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.

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!

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!"

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.

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.