How (And Why) You Should Teach Your Kids To Be Money Smart
Teaching kids is just plain easier than teaching adults and this principle definitely applies to financial matters. Getting children in the habit of saving as opposed to over spending can and should start early in their lives. Consider the follow suggestions on how it can be accomplished most effectively:
Play money games with your kids. Monopoly was a popular game when I was a kid and kids still like it today. Choosing to buy or sell properties and negotiating fees with other players is good practice for dealing with real money. Just because you have the money to develop your properties doesn’t mean that you have the money for upkeep. Players have to make decisions based on present and future earnings.
When Mom and Dad buy everything, children often don’t even consider the expense involved in buying the things they want. But if the child has to use their own money to make a purchase, they are sure to think more seriously about how much they really want to part with their money.
Don’t let your kids get hooked on name brand clothing at an early age. It’s okay to have a few name brand items, but they are not the only clothes that will fit their bodies. Take them shopping when you go to Wal-Mart, Target, or a consignment shop. As they choose what to wear, advise them to peruse all of the racks to compare all the prices instead of picking the most expensive clothing.
Take your kids to the grocery store with you. Let them help you make out the grocery list and clip the coupons. As you bargain shop, tell the kids what you are doing. You don’t have to go into great detail; just give them an overview of the process.
Practice what you preach. Children learn by observing adults, and you will be giving your kids a very bad example to follow if you make impulsive purchases every time you have some extra cash. Control your spending and stick to your budget so that your children learn to do the same.
Get a piggy bank. Coins are money too and children can learn to save up all their loose change in a piggy bank. Kids can pick out a coin bank that they like and start saving their money.
You’ll be surprised how quickly the coins will collect. I find coins on the floor and in the couch cushions all the time. Every three months or so, take a trip to the coin machine in the grocery store and find out how much you have saved. The kids can put a portion of their money away for savings and keep the rest to use as they wish.
We learn how to handle money through a series of trials and errors, and kids have to learn too. You can help them to do so successfully by helping them to know how to make good financial decisions and allowing them to suffer the occasional bad consequences of bad choices.
