As you and your children work through their homework, along with their lessons in grammar and math, you should try to include some lessons on budgeting and money-saving. You must think it’s impossible to teach kids the concept of depositing or withdrawing from the bank and saving at a young age. However, it can be done with a bit of patience, some creative visual aids, and a fun approach!
Financial knowledge at an early age is essential if you want your children to become financially responsible when they become adults. Here are some things that you can try with your kids:
1. Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees or Come from the ATM
It’s easy for kids to believe that the ATM is a magical machine that gives mom and dad money to buy their toys and food. However, if you want your kids to have a healthy view of money, you must teach them as early as possible that money actually comes from one’s work.
Explain to your children about the work you do and how you get paid to do that job. To instill the lesson better, you might want to consider giving your kids their own jobs for which they’ll get paid. You can make a chore chart with an equivalent pay rate for each chore. Make sure these are age-appropriate chores. If your kids are old enough, you can even negotiate the rates with them.
If you do not feel comfortable doing this, you can still teach your kids some skills like baking cupcakes, making treats, or even accessories that they can sell to their family and friends!
2. The Three-Jar Tactic
When your kids ask you for something, do you give it to them with no question? That’s all right if there are special occasions. Yet, you should not miss out on this perfect teaching opportunity.
Tell them that they can only buy the toy when they’ve saved up money for it. So, if they want to buy something worth $20, and they’ve earned $5 the past week, they need to do some more work until they save up enough for what they want.
You can also start the three-jar tactic, wherein you set up three jars for your child: one for savings, one for spending, and one for sharing. Whenever you pay your child for their chores, they need to divide their earnings between those three jars.
Allow the child to decide on how much they want to put in each jar. This is how they’ll learn the concept of budgeting. Tell them that they can choose whether the “savings” jar goes to something they want to buy at the end of the year or if they want it to go to their bank account. If they choose to save it in the bank, they can temporarily hold the money from the “spend” jar for something they want to buy instead of immediately spending them on candies or snacks. Finally, the “sharing” jar is going to teach them the importance of sharing what they have with others. Let them choose where to donate their money, whether that’s to the animal shelter, the orphanage, or other causes.
Conclusion
Children should get financial education as early as possible. It’s your responsibility as a parent to set them on the right track so that they’ll get the importance of the lessons you work hard to teach them as they get older.
With the help of Kiddie Kredit, the best chore tracker app, you can teach your child the credit system and the value of working to earn money. Download the app now and raise financially literate kids!
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