I'm hearing plenty of people chuckling over the news that superstar couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie limit the time their kids spend watching television to avoid exposure to commercials. Pitt says the more commercials they see, the more toys they want. Many parents I've debated over the years believe TV or no TV, kids are hard-wired to want the big, expensive toys that lead to credit card overload every holiday season. I disagree. I have had an outright ban on television for my children ever since they were born, and they rarely ask for toys. Once they were two years old, they were allowed to watch movies on VHS or DVD, but still no television. I figure kids need to be at least 8 or 9 until they can begin to understand how commercials work and how they don't need — and can't possibly afford — everything they see advertised on TV. In the meantime, I'm teaching my kids why they need to save money, how to decide when to spend some of it and how buying some things at thrift stores or garage sales can stretch their buying power. A few weeks ago, both of my children visited with Santa. I heard the two children before them asking for some pretty big ticket items — a snowmobile, a big-screen TV, an MP3 player, a cell phone, a Nintendo Wii. When my children got up to Santa, he had to press them to come up with something they wanted for Christmas. Finally, my daughter finally said, "well, some little Legos might be nice for me and my brother, please." The way I look at it, you either teach your kids about money when they're little, or they are going to learn the hard way when they're older. Teach them early, and you'll save a lot of money, too.