By MAD21
My parents were not good at teaching me the value of money growing up. I received an allowance starting around 9 or 10, but it was usually spent before the day I received it was over. I didn't learn to save until I was well into adulthood.
Things didn't change much once I was older and had a job. I was working by age 16 and my paychecks disappeared just as fast as the allowance I received when I was younger. Even once I was living on my own, I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, not saving a penny.
At some point, I realized things needed to change. And by that I mean I was in my late 20s and had maxed out my two credit cards. I realized I had become a slave to my debt, and I didn't want to live that way anymore. I worked hard to be more responsible with the money I earned, paying off my debt as best I could.
Now married, I am the one that handles the family's budget. I am careful with where our hard-earned money goes. Realizing first, and most important, Who's money it truly is. I want to be sure that our children learn the value of money, how to save, and how to protect themselves from ever becoming a slave to their debt.
Our kids are now old enough to start getting a small allowance. We have worked with them a little bit already trying to teach them responsibility with the charts, and when something got broken. They help us out a lot around the house, so now we will start to give them a few dollars a week, to help them learn about saving, offering, and spending.
For every dollar:
10 cents goes to offering
50 cents goes into savings
40 cents can get either spent, or saved to buy something later
When they are older and are earning more money, we will teach them about investments. Help them learn to make their money work for them. At that point, we will determine how much of their savings will stay as liquid savings, verses how much will go into investments.
I once saw a great craft you could do with your kids to help them with their money. You get three similar cans/containers (like peanut canisters or small oatmeal caniters), have the children paint/decorate them and designate them: Offering; Savings; Spend. Cut a small slit in the lid of each container to put the money in. As the children earn money, or money is given to them, they can split the money up into each "account." There are also piggy banks (such as the one to the right) that you can buy that already have dividers for the money. Either way, it's a good visual for the kids to see where their money is going, and gets them involved.
Our bank has a great program for kids. We are going this week to open accounts for them. Once a month, we will take the kids and their money they designated for savings and have them put it into their account. And we will work with them to keep track of how much they have.
I think this is an important thing for our kids to learn. Especially in a society where so many people live off of credit. I would love for my kids to learn how to live of of cash. Hard earned, earnestly saved.
How do you handle money with your kids? How do you teach them the value of hard work?
Every Wednesday, fellow blogger Kristen at We are THAT Family posts clever ideas for getting things done. She calls it, "Works For Me Wednesday" or WFMW. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.