Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man’s world
Money, money, money
Always sunny
In the rich man’s world
Aha-ahaaa
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It’s a rich man’s world
Yes, I admit I am an Abba fan! The ‘Money, Money, Money….” lyrics is something that I often have an urge to sing when my kids ask for the moon. But in all seriousness, I do recognize the importance of teaching my children about personal finances. They will, without a double, encounter a time in their life when they need to truly understand how to budget and the value of money. It’s never too early to teach our children about money and the importance of savings.
I’ve narrowed it down to what I call ‘The Tree S Lesson’ – Save, Share and Spend!
- How to Save? Help teach your kids how to set a goal to buy something and then give them opportunities to work and earn money to achieve their goal. The goals should be realistic and attainable. Here’s also a chance to show them that you will match/reward hard work.
- How to Share? We aren’t all as fortunate as others. Teaching our children gratitude and showing them how to share the wealth is an important lesson. Introduce them to charity organizations and show how they can contribute.
- How to Spend Wisely? Do your kids understand how to use coupons and how to compare prices? What does it take to evaluate products and make good decisions? Is this something they need or want? What is the difference? Play a shopping game where they have to find the best deals and try to help you shop efficiently.
As a busy mom of three, I’m always looking for parenting tools to help make my life easier. Over the years, I have found some great tools to help me teach my kids about finances. Here are a few of my favorites:
Chore Charts – Chores are a great place to start. I recently discovered myjobchart.com which is a wonderful online tool to set up for your kids. They can earn points that convert to money. You even have the ability to have them save points that can be matched by parents and/or grandparents/caretakers etc.
Savings Bank – Every child needs a savings bank! Why not buy or make one that divides their money into the save, spend and share categories.
Fun Future for All is a fabulous product that combines a book and a bank. It starts with a simple conversation from a book to teach the concept of contributing to separate sections. Save up for your Fun toy, your future goals, and for all of the people out there who don’t have the things they truly need. And here’s the cool part – it’s a creative craft. Your kids actually make the bank and can draw little pictures to show their goals.
And for those of you that want something pre-made, Moon Jar is a savings bank already divided into these three categories. This company also offers an award-winning school program.
Books for Every Age – I love books because they start a conversation with your kids. They allow you to show the basics of personal finances through adventure and characters.
The Money We’ll Save by Brock Cole (ages 4 – 8) A story of love, family, and penny pinching.
Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts (ages 5-8) A great way to introduce the concept of needs versus wants.
Amelia Bedelia Means Business by Herman Parish (ages 6-8)Amelia determined to earn money!
The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies (ages 8-12) A story about entrepreneurship, basic planning and money management.
The Kids’ Money Book: Earning, Saving, Spending, Investing and Donating by Jamie McGillian.
The Everything Kids’ Money Book: Earn it, save it, and watch it grow! By Brette Sember.
The start of a new year is a perfect time to make this a priority for 2016. Good luck! Do you have any tips or tools to share with us?
We hope you enjoyed our round up. Do you have a favorite Book that inspires you? We would love to know who that is. Please leave a comment and share your inspiration.
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About Suzanne Wind
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