The staff at the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans office in Monroe, Mich., has an an interesting activity at their booth in the Monroe Bank & Trust Expo Center during the Monroe County Fair this week.

There is a big white board standing on an easel with this phrase “Thriving in These Challenging Times.” Visitors to the booth, which is hosted by Thrivent financial consultant Kenneth A. Huner and financial associate Kim E. Huner, are encouraged to write down their money-saving tips on a yellow sticky note and post it on the board.

Chris Anderson, the office assistant who was staffing the booth Thursday afternoon, told me that there have been some really great conversations starting as a result of this activity.

Normally it’s the freebies and prizes that gets attention at an expo or fair. But as children would reach for the candy bowl at the Thrivent table, Ms. Anderson said she’d also direct their attention to the message board. “I ask ‘What are your parents doing? Have you made any changes?’” she said.

Some of the comments posted by kids and adults this week include:

• “Cooking w/ fun, trying different receipts vs. taking out.”
• “Not out to eat as much.”
• “Don’t buy paper towels.”
• “Pray for God to bless us as we honor him with spending.”

“It’s a fun conversation starter,” Ms. Anderson said.

What was my contribution to the message board? “Install more CFL bulbs.” I thought that would be a good one to post since that was a project I took on at home recently. Here are some more tips: