As spring turns to summer and kids get out of school, we start thinking of family vacations.  Research shows that family vacations create long lasting memories and bring families closer.  So, how do you take that perfect family vacation without breaking the bank?  Stuart Vick Smith, with ML&R Wealth Management, joined KVUE to discuss several tips to hav e the quality family time you want without breaking your budget.

KVUE: Financial Tips for Your Best Summer Vacation

"Making a sports-stuffed schedule work isn't easy, but along the way you're given plenty of opportunities for lessons in prioritizing, managing time, making good choices and being responsible." 

"Is failure a positive opportunity to learn and grow, or is it a negative experience that hinders success?" That question leads off an NPR article that looks at how much parents can affect their children's belief that they can improve their intelligence.

The article is written by Tara Haelle, co-author of "The Informed Parent: A Science-Based Resource for Your Child's First Four Years," and it focuses on a study by a pair of Stanford psychology professors that looks at what parents can do to motivate their kids in school. A big determinant: how parents respond to the academic setbacks of their kids.

> Read the NPR article

It's easy, so easy, to feel overwhelmed when you are a parent. You are overseeing a family schedule that includes some or all of the following: work, school, shopping, extracurricular activities, cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, paying bills, and on and on ...

With a never-ending to-do list it can be natural to fight the urge to carve out time for yourself, and only for yourself. Happify, a website and mobile app that helps you "build skills for a happier life with fun, science-based activities and games," says it's OK to stop the fight, because the ripple effects of incorporating "me time" into your schedule are far-reaching and can aid your emotional well-being. Among the benefits of alone time cited by Happify: helps us unwind, reboots our brain, improves our relationships and allows time for deep thinking.

Parents magazine agrees: "Me time isn't selfish, it's one part of everything you should be doing to be emotionally and physically healthy, just like eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep."

> Check out Happify's infographic on why we need time for ourselves

When to start teaching kids about money? Like, now. That's what the experts say in a Washington Post article. Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist for The New York Times and author of "The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money," advises against waiting for them to learn about money in school, in part because of the strong connection between money and values. "I don't think we should outsource that," says Lieber in the article.

The Post article also talks allowances and explains the three-jar method for budgeting (one for spending, one for saving and one for donating) so kids can start to build a foundation, little by little, to help them understand money and make more informed decisions surrounding it.  

> Read the Washington Post article