Gifting Sense

☀️ School’s Out. Spending Ed is In: Driver’s Ed for Money!

We don’t hand over the car keys without driver’s ed and a learner’s permit. So why do we expect kids to navigate money without first having practice?

As the summer begins, have your kids take a quick 10-question quiz to earn their “Smart Spending Learner’s Permit,” then hand them the wheel for all the small spending decisions school vacation brings. 🚗

👀 Our latest blog post (https://giftingsense.org/happy-summer-time-for-spending-ed-drivers-ed-for-money/) has the link to the quiz, the free permit, and more of our most popular free tools— all in one place.

Make 2026 the year your kids start to get “good with money”! 💸

The First Car DIMS - DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® Score Calculator is live — and two respected organizations are helping us introduce it to educators ahead of Financial Literacy Month.

If you teach young people about money and want a practical, engaging tool for teaching mindful spending, we hope you’ll join us.

Thursday night’s one-hour session with the (San Diego Center for Economics Education SDCEE) focuses on the 🚘 First Car DIMS SCORE® Calculator & supporting Lesson Plan. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4N3qcGG2des6OMOAuQfq73--Udo4iQBh_Dj0qEpr5_5rWQw/viewform

Saturday’s session is part of the (Council for Economic Education’s) Annual Spring Bootcamp and offers a comprehensive two-hour look at teaching mindful spending to students in Grades 5 through 12. 🪀 + 🎟️ + 🚘 From toys to tickets to cars, we’ve got every age covered. Register here: https://econedlink.org/webinar/money-smart-spring-foundations-first/

Here’s to early financial education — and all that it makes possible.

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We’re grateful for strong educator engagement with our mindful spending tool. 🙏

Last month, we partnered with the Council for Economic Education to deliver a live demo of the DIMS – DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® Score Calculator.

Our webinar, “Start 2026 With Smart Spending Habits,” is currently featured as the most-viewed teacher professional development session on EconEdLink this month (see screenshot).

The session shows educators how to guide students through real purchasing decisions—clarifying priorities, weighing trade-offs, comparing options, and deciding whether a purchase truly “makes sense.”

Students generate a clear, shareable summary of their reasoning, helping turn spending conversations at home or in the classroom into calmer, more thoughtful discussions grounded in visible thinking.

The full webinar is available to watch on demand (free with registration), and participants receive a PD certificate upon completion.

Curious? Watch it here (the CEE handles registration, which only requires an email address): https://econedlink.org/webinar/start-2026-with-smart-spending-habits/

Late last year, a Grade 4 class at Grand Avenue Elementary put mindful spending into action. 💡

Using the DIMS - DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® SCORE Calculator, students researched Christmas gifts they were hoping for—digging into real costs, use, and value.

Many later reported back that they received the item they truly wanted. 🎁

That’s the power of thinking before buying. ⚡️

Teaching kids how to pause, ask questions, and uncover the hidden costs of a purchase helps them make smarter decisions—not just during the holidays, but for life.

As one parent shared:
“This is fantastic! So relevant. Thank you for bringing this important conversation to the class.”

Curious how it works?��Try the DIMS SCORE® Calculator today! It’s permissionless (no registration, login or paywall), and easy to use. Learn how here: https://giftingsense.org/how-it-works/

Ever wonder what happens in a Gifting Sense mindful spending workshop? 👀💡

📣 In partnership with the , we’re hosting our first Educator Webinar of 2026 Thursday, Jan 29 | 5:00 PM EST

✨ Tour the Gifting Sense platform
✨ Experience the workshop just like students do
✨ Discover why thinking before buying is a powerful, sticky life skill for young people

🎟️ Register here: https://econedlink.org/webinar/start-2026-with-smart-spending-habits/

Buying gift cards for your family this holiday season?

Gift cards sound good… until you realize the purchasing power is locked up. 🔒

There’s $23B+ in unused gift cards in the U.S. alone — money families meant to spend wisely but never actually got value from.

Plus, gift cards don’t teach the life skills kids truly need:
💡 Thoughtful decision-making
💡 Understanding trade-offs
💡 Total cost awareness

At Gifting Sense, we help kids build lifelong money confidence by learning to pause, gather information, and think before they buy.

Instead of giving store credit, consider sharing a free tool that helps families avoid waste, improve harmony, and choose gifts that actually get used:

✨ The DIMS — DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® — Score Calculator ✨

When kids learn to make thoughtful choices, nothing gets wasted — including your money.

🔓 Free your gifting. 💪Empower their future. All at once!

Link how the DIMS SCORE® Calculator works here: https://giftingsense.org/how-it-works/

“He’s devoted to this goal—and it shows!” 🎤

This 4th-grader has been saving since last summer for a dream trip to the World Cup next year. Along the way, he’s been exercising all sorts of muscles, chief among them the idea that patience and planning can make big dreams possible.

His mother sent us this photo of him filling in his “Worth the Wait Goal Tracker,” which has held a proud spot on the fridge since August.

Does a young person in your life have a special purchase you’d be excited to H-E-L-P them reach?

Introduce them to the powerful habit of spending with a plan. We’ll show you how.

Learn more about our permissionless mindful-spending tools—including our visual goal tracker here: https://giftingsense.org/five-fun-financial-literacy-activities-for-kids/



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