Parenting Pointers: 6 Family Goals to Set During Financial Literacy Month

Setting goals as a family opens up several learning opportunities as parents and children learn and accomplish together. Working together toward a common goal can open the discussion about the importance of serving others, being a team player, saving money, and being responsible citizens. Your family will grow closer as you develop important values together that will stay with you and your children throughout your lives.

Here are six family goals you can set with your children.

1. Save Money for a Shared Expense

If your children express a desire to take a vacation, say to Disneyland, invite them to have a conversation about how the family can work together to accomplish that goal. Talk about ways you can save extra money to afford the trip, and ways the children can get involved to develop financial literacy early in life. This can be any expense all members of the family desire, not just a trip. Maybe a basketball hoop, video game console, or new TV would be appropriate for your family.

2. Plan One Service Project You Can Do Together

Teach your children the importance of service by choosing a service project to do together. Lifelong happiness can be found in charitable acts, so involving your children at a young age to prioritize service is a very important lesson. If you have a friend or neighbor in need of lawn work, perhaps your family could dedicate a Saturday to helping them out. You could also use this link to find local service projects near you in need of volunteers.

3. Set a Goal to Eat Dinner Together

Busy schedules may interfere with family dinners, but setting a goal together to prioritize that special time together would be a worthwhile endeavor. Knowing about the details of each other’s daily lives will strengthen your relationships, so striving to have that time together, at least a few times a week, would be a great goal to set together.

4. Evaluate Your Family’s Chores and Allowances

Having regular discussions about family responsibilities can help maintain positive attitudes about chores and help children maintain perspective. Attaching specific, agreed-upon rewards for various chores can help children learn the importance of working hard and earning money. Set time aside to ask your kids for input about their jobs, and make reasonable adjustments if necessary.

5. Spend Less Time on Screens

Most families would agree that screens often replace quality time or activities, so set goals together to participate in activities that will force you to put the screens down. This could include going for an evening walk together, playing a card game together, or reading a book together. Maybe you could have your children list activities they like and you could make a “Screen-free Activity Jar” from which you could draw a random activity.

6. Plan for the Holidays

The holidays tend to sneak up on us and catch us, and our bank accounts, off guard. With the help of your children, make a plan in advance of holiday activities they would like to do, and save for them ahead of time to avoid unnecessary debt. Perhaps your children want to go skiing or snowboarding, or host a Christmas party with friends. Maybe you could do a gift exchange among siblings or plan to make gifts for each other rather than have everyone buy gifts for everyone else. Teach your kids the importance of money management and saving, and not to splurge during the holidays.

About BusyKid

BusyKid is the first online chore chart where children can earn, save, share, spend and invest real money wisely. Formerly known as My Job Chart, BusyKid is easy to use, revolutionary and allows kids to receive a real allowance from their parents each Friday. No more points or trying to convert imaginary money.

BusyKid is committed to helping children learn the important basic financial principles they don’t get anywhere else. Designed as a platform that is easy for parents to implement, BusyKid features pre-loaded chores based on children’s ages and making chore payment approvals is as simple as answering a text message. BusyKid is the only online chore/allowance platform that allows children to earn real allowance and use it immediately to buy gift cards, make a donation or invest in real stock. For more information, go to www.busykid.com.