Kids and Money – What and When

One of the most valuable things that a parent can do is teach their children about money. If children are raised to understand how money works, they are likely to grow into financially aware adults who are able to make good financial decisions for themselves and their families. Of course, the big question is when to begin teaching them and what to teach them at each age and stage of their development. The earliest form of financial education for children happens without you even necessarily realizing that you are doing it. Children are very observant, and they see and hear … Continue reading

Fun Financial Education for Kids

Allowance is a hot topic in my daughter’s second grade class. Last week, her school hosted a gigantic book fair and kids were given the opportunity to shop during recess. Of course, that meant administrators had to modify their “no money on school property” rule. For the fair’s three-day run, students were allowed to bring up to $40 in cash and keep it in their backpacks until it was time to shop. Naturally, my daughter begged to bring 40 bucks to school. “Do you have 40 dollars?” I asked. “No, but you can give me it,” she responded without hesitation. … Continue reading

Online Allowance

My 7-year-old doesn’t get an allowance. She doesn’t need to, she gets whatever she wants when she wants it, thanks to very generous grandparents. However, that hasn’t stopped her for asking for money. Since entering the second grade, allowance has been a hot topic in our home. My daughter’s classmates get it and she wants it. Given that she is not exactly a prime candidate for Merry Maids and she has very selective hearing, I’ve been reluctant to set-up a chore chart that pays out at the end of the week. Still, I haven’t ruled it out completely. I recently … Continue reading

Kids Need REAL Chores, Not Busy Work

We talk here in the Parents Blog periodically about how important it is for kids to participate in family responsibilities in order to build esteem and character, but it is important that kids have REAL responsibilities and do valuable work and chores, not be given busy work just to keep them occupied. The other day I was out and about and I noticed a parent give a five-year-old a few books to carry, saying: “What a big helper you are!” The child looked at the parent with a combination of confusion and boredom. It was not a terribly challenging “chore” … Continue reading

Reward Points for Kids

Finding a system of allowances and chores for kids can be mind boggling. Then add the complication of differing parenting opinions on the subject, and you are sure to throw your hands up in frustration. Often parents use the combination of chores and allowance to teach kids responsibility and reward good behavior. This process can become lengthy and time consuming, almost to the point of losing the whole lesson altogether. As most of us parents know, once the idea becomes cumbersome and confusing… kids usually tune out. Let me give you an example. A friend of mine wanted to offer … Continue reading

Should Kids Help With Their Own Living Expenses?

Some friends and I were talking recently about how different we thought things were for us when we were growing up. One friend confessed that while she had gone to a private, parochial school, she had to help pay for her own tuition when it became too expensive. Her parents said that she could go to public school, but if she stayed in the private school, she was going to have to contribute to the tuition from her own earnings. As for myself, I know that I had to pay for my own gas, oil, and car repairs once I … Continue reading

To Save, To Spend, To Share – An Early Lesson in Frugality and Generosity

My daughter is turning four next month. This is the first time that she has really understood the concept of birthdays (and gifts) for that matter. I want to thank the Saturday morning advertisers for all of the begging I’ve been putting up with lately, “mommy, maybe for my birthday I can get a big Dora castle like that one…” (and so on…) As a result, I’ve been trying to teach her about money and how it doesn’t grow on trees – as my own mother once warned. I was trying to come up with a simple way to teach … Continue reading

Money Month in Review April 2007

This month in Money there were several great blogs on a variety of topics. There were blogs on budgeting, allowance, debt and credit card scams. Here is a synopsis of everything covered. Michelle shared her accomplishment of being debt free in Debt Free, Debt Free, Debt Free at Last. If you are already debt free or close to there you can read Debt Free! Now What? to learn the next steps to help you on the path to financial freedom. You can read about what to do with the extra money that you have each month. Michelle also warned us … Continue reading

What Sort of Beliefs or Attitudes About Money Are You Passing On to Your Kids?

We’ve explored our various attitudes about allowance and saving money here in the Parenting blog, but I thought it might be interesting to look at how our beliefs and attitudes about money affect our parenting—not only what we DO as parents, but what sort of attitudes and beliefs (inherited, learned, absorbed, etc.) are we also passing on to our own children? I am an extraordinary thrifty person. I don’t really think I was raised to be thrifty, but have developed thrifty-ness as a reaction to the realties of adult life. I am sure that there is room for improvement in … Continue reading

An Allowance Chart and Buying Candy!

My three-year-old daughter took her twenty cents to the grocery store and insisted on buying candy. Twenty cents won’t buy much – in fact it won’t buy anything, and I really worked on getting her to wait another week until she had forty cents. But no, she was so excited to earn money that off we went to find some candy she could buy with her pennies. Teaching my daughter about money is going to be fun, – and also a challenge. She can be pretty strong willed. I’m lucky that she is also very funny and generous so her … Continue reading