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Kids learn on the go as vacation budget managers

By Helen Huntley, Times Personal Finance Editor
In print: Sunday, June 1, 2008

Clockwise from top, Nandi Musengwa and her sisters Tendani and Imani will spend a lot of time in the family van this summer on a road trip to New York. Nandi, 11, and Imani, 9, will be in charge of the finances for the vacation.
	[LARA CERRI | Times]

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When the Musengwa family takes off for this summer's vacation trip to New York, 11-year-old Nandi will be in charge of the purse strings. On the trip home, the job will fall to her 9-year-old sister, Imani.

It's one of the best ideas I've come across for teaching children the value of a dollar and helping them develop skills to manage their money. I learned about it from their dad, the Rev. Bobby Musengwa, who is the pastor of my church, Maximo Presbyterian, in St. Petersburg.

He said it was an inspiration born of desperation.

Two years ago his wife, Veronique, went to France to visit her family, taking along only their youngest child, Tendani, who is now 5. The two older girls were crying, upset that they didn't get to go. To cheer them up, Musengwa promised to take them to North Carolina to visit his sister and appointed Nandi "executive director" and Imani "associate executive director" of the trip.

"When I told them the budget was $500, they were ecstatic," he said. Then he broke the news that $350 had to be set aside for gas; Nandi had to cut $350 out of her proposed spending. The first thing to go was the motel. Dad, she decided, could get up early and drive straight through from St. Petersburg to the North Carolina mountains. Soon Nandi was soliciting donations from friends and family to boost her spending power.

They prepared food to take with them — Nandi made the sandwiches — and stocked up on snacks at Wal-Mart. They bought games at dollar stores to pass the time on the road.

Nandi took to her job so enthusiastically, Musengwa occasionally had to overrule her, once by giving Imani her title back after Nandi fired her and another time by allowing Imani to buy a drink in addition to her snack.

"Nandi is really stingy about spending on the road," he said. "Instead of my being the grinch, she's the grinch."

Last year, all three girls went with their dad to visit his brother in Maryland, with their mom joining them a few days later. On that trip Nandi appointed Imani to take charge of their little sister. When Imani rebelled, Nandi instituted a payment system for good behavior: $1 if you're good to the next rest stop.

Nandi writes down purchases and keeps an envelope for receipts. She searches the Internet for ideas to pass the time in the back seat.

"This enterprise ignited a passion for travel and for the details in planning for travel," Musengwa said. "It also, amazingly, ignited a desire to manage the finances."

This summer, Musengwa said, Nandi and Imani each will get $250 to spend on her half of the trip. That won't include gasoline, and they won't need motels because they will stay with family and friends en route.

Nandi, who is finishing up sixth grade at Bay Point Middle School, said she enjoys being in charge.

"I like being able to take control, then when it turns out really well, you have this really great rewarding feeling from doing it," she said. "Everyone can have memories from this great road trip our family took. It's just awesome."

Imani, a third-grader at Sanderlin Elementary School, won't have to worry about Nandi overruling her on the trip home. Their mom is taking another trip to see her family in France, leaving from New York, and this time Nandi is the one who gets to go with her.

Helen Huntley can be reached at
hhuntley@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8230.