Thrifty Thinking: Different Ways to Teach Kids Money Management

Money management is one of the most essential skills we can teach our children as they grow up. They need to learn early on the value of saving money, allocating expenses, and working hard to obtain their own money. You can help teach your children valuable money management skills by employing the following tactics:

1.     Weekly allowance: Give kids a weekly allowance once they’ve completed their chores. Avoid giving allowance advances, and only pay them the allowance once their chores have been completed. This helps teach children early on the importance of working in exchange for monetary compensation.

2.     Money jars: When you give kids money give it to them in smaller bills and have different jars that they can separate the money into. One jar can be for spending, one can be for donations or charity, and one can be for savings. This will help them learn not to spend all of their money at once, the importance of having a savings account, and the importance of giving back to the community, the church, or those less fortunate.

3.     Save or spend: Kids and teenagers often fall victim to the desire of instant gratification, and may want to spend money as soon as they receive it. Instead, teach them the importance of evaluating if what they’re spending their money on is worth the investment, or if it would be better off being saved for something that they desire more but will take longer to save money for. Being able to differentiate between when they should spend and when they should save is an important life skill.

4.     Part-time jobs: Encourage kids to get part-time jobs when they are able to, such as mowing lawns around the neighborhood or babysitting when they’re in their early teens, and then moving on to part-time jobs at stores or restaurants after they are old enough to secure one. Teaching them the value of working for their own money and effectively managing it will help them be better prepared for when they transition into the real world.

5.     Gas and insurance: Once teenagers are old enough to have their own car have them pay for their car’s gas and insurance. By doing this you will teach them how to delegate the money from their part-time job and they will learn how to allocate money for necessary expenses and for entertainment purposes.

Learning effective money management skills early on in life is essential to having good money management throughout life. If kids are never exposed to the necessity of learning to manage money they will flounder once they are out on their own in the world.

Author Bio:

Roxanne Porter is a freelancer & a regular contributor for  nanny jobs.  She helps in providing knowledge about nanny services & love writing on nanny related articles. She helps in giving a fair knowledge about nanny Jobs to the community. You can be in touch with her at r.poter08ATgmail.com.