4 Tips to Teach Children about Budgeting Their Money

Teaching children about the wide world of finance is not the easiest. Most children these days tend to tune out any discussion about their spending habits, as financial security does not weigh on their minds just yet.

When helping your kids learn the value of money, there are many ways to do it. By being a good example to your children, you are setting up expectations for them to handle financial concerns independently.

Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when teaching your kids about budgeting.

1. Talk to Your Kids About Budgeting from a Place of Concern

If you berate your kids about their bad spending habits, chances are it will come off as “nagging” and won’t have the impact you think it will. Instead of thinking that this is not something they should do again, they will probably chalk it up to another thing their parents get mad at them about.

When discussing financial matters with your kids, talk to them in a calm, reasonable manner. Discuss with them openly about the decisions they have made and more suitable alternatives they could have chosen.

This helps foster an environment where your child can feel like they can make mistakes without getting punished twice. It will also motivate them to learn more about the payoffs of budgeting.‍

2. Don’t Get Them Gifts as a Reward All the Time

It’s perfectly normal to want to spoil your children with gifts or reward them for their achievements. However, making this a habit will not help your kids find value in money.  Especially if they believe that they can get what they want if they just do good things.

To combat this, you can set terms and conditions. If there is a thing they want, make them work for it. For example, they could have a gadget that they want, based on the agreed-upon amount of chores they will do in exchange for it.

This will make their items more valuable as well, as they know how much they worked for it.‍

3. Set a Good Financial Example

When you set a good example for your kids in terms of financial values, they will likely mimic these habits. If you can, make a household budget and involve them in the budgeting process. They will learn a lot about saving money and spending money where they should be spending it.

Teach them the best ways to budget their allowance, let them keep track of their spending. If they get a job, teach them how to save their earnings and allocate it in a way that they can still have extra money for entertainment purposes.‍

4. Give Them a Financial Responsibility

They say that experience is the best teacher. To help your kids learn the value of money, give them financial responsibility. 

For instance, you can get them a credit card with a low-spending limit so that you can teach them to be responsible for themselves and monitor it at the same time. It will also teach them how to manage their credit so as not to fall into debt.

Conclusion

Teaching your kids about finance at an early age is vital to their growth. If they grow up with a responsible attitude towards money, it will help them become more financially adept when they grow up.

Want to learn more about how to teach your child to count money? Find a way to make learning about finance fun for both of you by downloading Kiddie Kredit. It is a mobile app that gives kids a credit system to build on by completing their chores. Download our app today to start your kids’ financial journey.