Dear Readers: In a recent column, Dr. T asked you to submit nominations for money-smart kids - children who, through financial resourcefulness, acumen, common sense or just plain seriousness of purpose have dispelled the commonly held notion that children today are irresponsible spendthrifts.
I'd like to salute Diana Foster, of Mahomet, Ill., as this week's money-smart kid. She was nominated by her father, Jerry Foster, in the following letter:
Question - Last summer my daughter, Diana, who is 14 years old, wanted to go on a trip to Washington, D.C., with a church youth group. Both her mother and I gave our consent, but we felt it was important for her to earn part of the needed $650.
Diana had in the past done baby-sitting and occasional lawn mowing. However, these jobs weren't going to provide her with the needed money in the short amount of time she had before leaving. We encouraged her to be creative and think of ways she might earn the necessary money quickly.
After much thought, she hit upon the idea of selling baked goods. She enjoyed cooking and felt this would be something she could do. We encouraged her to scale down this idea to something more manageable, such as cooking only certain items. She decided on cookies.
Diana negotiated with us to contribute the ingredients as our contribution to her trip. She then went to her computer (another hobby of hers) and developed an order and price list, which she distributed at church, among family and neighbors, and at her mother's and my workplaces.
The orders started flowing in. The cost of the cookies was $3 to $5 per dozen, and she was able to earn more than $900 in under four weeks. The business would have continued had she not gone on her trip and then started summer school.
She kept an account of what she spent on ingredients, and her net profit would still have exceeded $700 had we not contributed the ingredients.
I feel Diana's entrepreneurship deserves mention in your column.
Answer - You and Diana's mother also deserve mention for helping to channel your daughter's energy into a project that she could manage, and then taking a businesslike approach to your own contribution. You provided support without doing the actual work.
Send nominations for money-smart kids to Janet Bodnar at 1729 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006, or via e-mail to jbodnar@kiplinger.com.