Now that my daughter is in second grad, she has taken an interest in saving money. Right now she is saving up for a Game system or American Girl Doll. She is learning the value of money in school, but will always come up and ask ” how much do I have now?”
We always put the change in separate piles, like pennies in one, nickels in another etc. It seems easier for her to count them that way. We tell her everything in this pile is 1 cent, so count by ones, 5 cents 10 cents and so on.
Even though I am teaching her the value of money, she still asks for crazy things or an allowance. So here are my tips for teaching kids about money.
Nothing is Free- At times I feel like my kids just expect everything to be handed to them, but the way my husband and I were raised was nothing is free. If you want money you have to earn it. We don’t do chore charts or demand anything be done. We expect them to do it on their own. If they clean up their toys, make their beds, etc. without being told to do so then they will be rewarded.
Plan ahead of time: I use to be the shopper that would buy on impulse or go to the store hungry, and it always got me in trouble with my budget. So now when I get ready to shop, whether it is for school supplies or groceries I plan ahead. Always make a list of what you need and stick to it. Have all your coupons together and in order, and check circulars for the best deals.
invest: I am always surprised at how smart my kids are at this age. They are so young, but have already started talking about what they want to be and going to college. We have brought up wanting to invest and save for their college funds. I don’t have a ton of money to put away for them, but we have interested them in a new way to spend their holiday money. We tell them instead of buying the new popular toy (which trust me we don’t need anymore of.) why not put in your piggy bank and save it.
They have actually gone along with this and am so proud of how well they are saving and earning.
Disclosure: This Article was written using Genworth Financial Educational Resources