Children Be Wise with your Dollars and Sense

By Keith Ritman

This story is seen from the eyes of an inner-city teen named BH, who lives in a housing project with his father and mother. BH and his family practice Christian values and wisdom to guide them through their journey from the project to owning their own home in the suburbs. By the grace of God and the wisdom of their stewardship, they are blessed with a portfolio of businesses and income properties. This amazing story is about the goals and the focus through the brilliant mind of BH, which is fascinating to see how he manages his time as a teenage entrepreneur in various business adventures that were birthed from mere pastime events. So buckle up and join BH and his parents on their exciting journey from their humble beginnings to receiving the pure favor of God's grace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685260071

Book preview

Table of Contents

Cover

Title

Copyright

Prologue

The Guiding Light

The First Snow

Church

A New Season

Profit Margin

A Summer Season to Earn and Learn

Saving Sense

The School Dance

Making Deposits

The Loan

Praise the Lord

Making Moves

A Helping Hand

Elevation

Golden Nuggets

Dream

Giving

Wisdom

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Things to Remember

Honor Thy Parents

Family

Love, Wealth, and Success

About the Author

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Children Be Wise with your Dollars and Sense

Keith Ritman

ISBN 978-1-68526-006-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68526-007-1 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Keith Ritman

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

To friends and families in Montgomery Garden Projects in Jersey City, New Jersey. My wife, Tamitha Ritman; daughters, Norbya, Brianna; and son, Jamal.

Dear young people, it is with my love and affection that I applaud you because you are the present and the future of this world. I encourage you to be diligent in your choices today because your fingerprints will crystalize the future's history by whacking this planet indubitably. The grasp of your consciousness can soar you into your own bend of discretion. Your brain holds the keys to your existence. Unlock your mind, and explore your own path of greatness. If you can see it, you can have it, if you desire to obtain it, approach your quest like the bite of a bulldog salivating with an insatiable appetite with boldness by throwing yourself into your work. Your mind can take you to the moon without a rocket. If you can conceive it, believe it, and you can achieve it. A mind is a terrible thing to waste on the likes of chemical substance abuse that will assassinate your brain matter. Begin by spoon-feeding your starving brains to bear fruit from publications, dreams, and curiosity. For the Lord did not give you the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind. Learn from your mistakes through trial and error and celebrate your new beginnings by knowing that tomorrow is another opportunity because nothing beats a failure but trying.

The Guiding Light

Here in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the Montgomery Gardens Housing Project lived a fifteen-year-old boy named Benny. His family and friends call him Bankhead or BH for short. BH dreamed of being healthy, wealthy, and wise. BH and his parents lived in a housing project that consisted of six ten-story redbrick buildings. They lived on the fifth floor of building 6. Several times throughout the year, the building would be dark and spooky because the building would lose electrical power for hours and the old squeaky elevators, which reeked of ripe urine, would be trapped between floors because of the electrical power outage, which would force people to trudge the stairs with caution to and from their apartment in gloomy darkness.

Many of the kids would wait outside the building until the lights would come back on. Kids that were already in the apartments often make the treacherous journey down the stairs by using makeshift torches that were fashioned from tightly twisted sheets of newspaper or brown paper bags. These makeshift torches illuminated a small flame of fire that would give off just enough light to divide the consuming darkness to pave their way from the apartments to the outside.

It was at this time that BH seized his opportunity to make some money by charging twenty-five cents to lead people to their apartments with his flashlight. He enjoyed making money and watching his money grow with interest in his savings account at the bank. When he was ten years old, his mother explained to him the value of saving money while on their way to the bank to open him a saving account for his birthday. One of his mother's favorite sayings was, You will never have nothing if you don't put away something. This was his first lesson in finance.

Although his parents did not live in the best neighborhood, they provided the best way that they knew how for him. BH's father was a humble unemployed carpenter that could not find steady work. His father constantly reminded him to always do the right thing even if it was not in his best interest. His father would often say to him, Son, always do your best by preparing for your best.

He was also told to respect girls and to always keep God first in his life. His mother was a nurse's aide, who instilled in him that he should always strive to do his best in school and to never use the words like I can't.

You must always believe that you can accomplish anything, his mother would say. She often told him that he could do anything if he gave a mind to.

Yes, the beginning of his wealth started with the five dollars that he got as a birthday gift from his mom and dad to open his savings account at the Trust Bank downtown.

Unaware at the time, BH had no idea how this five-dollar gift was a blessing that would change his life forever in how he looked at money.

BH began to see money as a tool of sorts, like something that you could save and use as needed for trading for goods and services. He also understood the value and the sacrifices that were made in order to make money honestly. There were days when his dad would leave early in the morning for work and would not return back home from work until the late evening. Sometimes, his dad worked every day of the week without having a day off from work to provide for him and his mother. BH would hear his dad drag his tired body into the house, where his mother met him with a kiss and a quick hot meal on the table for his dinner. His mother would ask his dad about his work day, and his dad's reply would always be the same, saying, Another honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Never complaining or mumbling a harsh word but giving thanks to God for another day of work.

After dinner, his dad would come into his bedroom and kiss him on the forehead before saying good night. Other times, when his dad made it home before his bedtime, they talked about his day at dinner and watched a Western movie on the TV.

The First Snow

After waking, BH dashed to gaze out the steamy window with a sparkle in his eye and a million-dollar smile on his face and with sizzling thoughts of how much money he could possibly earn on this day that the Lord has made.

This frosty winter morning greeted the city with a deep, rich white blanket of fluffy snow that covered the roads, cars, rooftops of buildings, houses, and window ledges throughout the city. BH saw this cold blanket of snow as a hot stream of income.

Yo, BH! shouted his best friend Change from outside up to BH's fifth-floor apartment window.

Change, what's up, man? screamed BH.

When you coming out?

I am coming downstairs now. After dressing in layered clothing for warmth, BH hurried out of his apartment.

Rather than waiting for the slow, old, creaking elevator to come to the fifth floor, BH ran down the stairs to save time.

On the stairwell of the fourth-floor landing laid Mr. Black, drunk again from another night of cheap wine and mumbling what sounded to be Bible scriptures and asking the Lord for forgiveness. Mr. Black lay sprawled on the cold filthy floor in his soiled navy blue two-piece