Most people wait until morning to shovel, but the snowplows start as soon as the drivers can see. Shoveling out is long, hard work. School is cancelled if the roads are blocked, and the "snow day" is a winter holiday for children. The stores are busy after people emerge from snowbound homes—especially the grocery store.
Winter eventually loses its fury. A warmer wind and the meadowlarks' songs
herald the return of spring to the prairie town. The fragrance of new growth is in the air. Spring work fills the days.
A year has passed in the prairie town. Stories of everyday life continue from
season to season. The stories tell of people at work and play. People are busy repairing and maintaining homes, yards, businesses, and services. The post office chimney, a fence, fire trucks, a back yard barn, birdbaths, and dying trees are tended. A junk-filled yard is finally cleaned up.
New construction takes place at the house that burned and at the surveyed
site of the second grain elevator. A treehouse, more visible in fall, is made bigger in summer. A country house is moved to town. A new family moves into a house that sold. More playground equipment was added in the schoolyard.
A lumber spill, a hole in a fishing boat, a runaway cow on sale day, a traffic
ticket, and graffiti on a newly painted water tower are aggravations that cause extra work.
The prairie town experienced the joy of a wedding and the sorrow of death
in this year. There was bounty in the grain fields and the pumpkin patch. And one back yard is filled with new spring puppies.
The Story of Money
from
p. 42mThe first coins
As trade in different parts of the world increased, it became necessary
to find something that was precious to everyone. Gold and other rare metals were already valued for their beauty. In Babylon, chips from gold and silver bars were weighed and used as money. In Egypt, gold and silver bands were weighed on scales using stone or bronze weights in the shapes of animals. These animals had formerly been used as money. The first coins were made about 2,700 years ago.
In China, the first coins were called cash. In Greece, each small coin was
marked with its weight. Later, important gods and rulers were pictured on the coins. Roman bronze coins pictured a cow. This reminded people that coins were valuable in the same way as cattle.
Zach the Yard-Sale Whiz
from
p. 64m$20, they cost about the same as renting skis for a weekend! And when Zach outgrows them, they can probably be resold.
At the last yard sale of the day, Zach buys a backpack with matching
notebook, unused (with tags attached), for $1!
ZACH'S TIPS FOR SHOPPING YARD SALES
1. Resist temptation to overspend. Don't buy what you don't really want or need, just because the price is low.
2. Inspect your selections carefully. Look for chips, stains, wear, and tear.
3. Prices are rarely firm. You can make a fair offer, or just politely ask, "Can you do any better?" You can frequently get 25 percent off the asking price.
4. Be very careful when buying anything electric or electronic. Make sure it works. Ask a parent for advice.
5. Know the retail (store) prices of things you want to buy. Expect to pay about one-quarter the retail price when you buy at a yard sale.
6. Keep your eye out for gifts. Does your mom or dad like to cook? Does your little brother or sister collect action figures?
7. Party and holiday clothes are usually a good buy. Kids often wear these clothes only once or twice before outgrowing them!
8. Clean what you buy. Can it be washed or dry cleaned? Ask for advice.
9. The early bird gets the best picks—but prices often drop in the afternoon.
10. Be proud of what you buy this way. Tell people if you want to—consider it a sign of being a smart consumer!
Where Do You Keep Your Money?
from
p. 86mpower as time goes by, there's one more reason why people usually don't keep their money at home. If you have a lot of money (which would be a really nice problem to have), it gets a little hard to find places for it all.
Of course, no one would really keep a million dollar bills around. They would
at least trade them in for ten thousand hundred-dollar bills!
Our government does print money in higher denominations than hundred-dollar bills, but those bills are not used by the general public.
It just doesn't make sense to keep your money at home. You're tempted to
spend it, and the prices of the things you want keep going up. The longer you hold on to your money, the less it's worth. And, if you did save a fortune, you'd break your back trying to lift it all!
Wait! Don't rush out to spend all your money right now!
There are many ways you can save your money so that the amount you put
in actually grows, even if you don't add a cent more. When you do that, you are making your money earn more money for you. You are an investor.
T.R. TOC
PrintResources
