This is a great way to educate your child on finances early!
Finance expert Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche is releasing a new children’s book to help promote financial literacy.
The book centers on Mali, a little Black girl celebrating her 6th birthday. While at her birthday party, Mali has to make a choice between what’s important to her as her gifts began to overwhelm her guests. Aliche spoke exclusively to Because Of Them We Can about why she felt it was important to share this story with this character.
“When I was younger I didn’t see little girls with my skin tone and hair texture on the cover of books. Now that I have a bonus daughter, aka Super Girl, I wanted to make sure that wasn’t her reality. I used her as a model to ensure that her chocolate skin and beautiful hair was reflected in a book she’s reading,” Aliche said.
As a financial guru, Aliche has spent nearly a decade building her brand as “The Budgetnista.” It’s a platform where people can go to get tips, tricks and advice on how to save, manage and budget their money. Through her “Live Richer Movement,” she has already helped over 1 million women pay off millions of dollars worth of debt.
Coupled with her own experiences and years of financial mastery, Aliche has been able to start a real movement. A former preschool teacher with a Master’s degree in Education she’s now looking to expand her financial influence to young people. Her new children’s book, Happy Birthday Mali More, helps teach basic financial principles to children ages 3-7.
“These current, challenging, economic times are an illustration of why teaching basic, financial education at home is so important. The earlier we can start the better. This is why, Happy Birthday Mali More, is great for children as young as 2 years old,” Aliche said.
The book also stresses the importance of service and community. Aliche has been instrumental in her own community, working to make financial literacy a priority for women, people of color and young people. She recently helped to push The Budgetnista Law (A1414) in New Jersey, making financial education mandatory in all middle schools in the state.
Aliche believes that making sure financial lessons are taught early is critical for young people. Research supports this assertion, with studies showing that financial education for youth has a direct correlation to how they handle money as adults. Her new book helps to deliver those lessons in ways that are fun and age-appropriate.
A Kickstarter campaign for the book surpassed its initial goal of $35,000 in no time, raising more than $60,000 in total. Proceeds from the campaign will allow Aliche to donate thousands of books to children in underserved communities, allow supporters to pre order copies of the book, and hire teachers to write financial education lessons for children.
“It is critically important that all children have access to quality books at home. This is especially essential for children that live in low-income communities. My aim for Happy Birthday Mali More is to be able to donate books to those children and their families. The Kickstarter campaign that I started raised almost double the initial goal, and as a result, I am now able to donate over 2,000 books to these children,” said Aliche.
With April being National Financial Literacy Month, this is a great gift for the children in your life. For more information on The Budgetnista or to see how to purchase Happy Birthday Mali More, follow the pages via social media @thebudgetnista and @mali_more or visit www.malimore.com to order your copy.
Congratulations Tiffany! We’re getting ready to stock up!
Photo Courtesy of Tiffany Aliche