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Editor’s Note: This story was originally live on the cheap.
How much do your children know about money?
It doesn’t mean how much they know about how to pull a dollar out of their wallet for a vending machine. I mean, how much do they know about how money is made, saved, invested, and spent?
Teach yourself and your children about money.
As difficult as it may be, most things that have a positive long-term impact on a child’s development are difficult. (Remember potty training?) Hard is worth it.
Difficult but worth it – that’s what my book “” is all about.
Here are some ways to teach your kids about money and start financial education.
1. Start early
Don’t wait until your child is 16 and wants a $400 prom dress, what your child wants and needs is worth it, and every purchase is (or should be) carefully weighed. I will explain.
If your child is old enough to know that money is used to pay for things, he’s old enough to learn that it’s not inexhaustible.
Built-in lessons are all around you. Not long ago my girlfriend’s 7 year old wanted something. I said I didn’t have enough cash at the time.
Yes, it’s a cute story, but the money that’s in the bank is the money we’ve earned and it’s deposited there, that it’s not free, or that it’s bottomless.
Your daily life is full of little ways to engage your kids and financial show-and-tell.
2. Don’t hide the truth
Can’t you take a break this year? Should I skip dinner this month because I had to put new brakes on my 8 year old’s car? It never dies like greenhouse flowers.
Too many parents feel they are protecting their children by hiding the financial truth, but all they are doing is kicking the can and going astray, telling their children You may be misled into believing that your credit card is free.
Of course, be careful that what you’re doing doesn’t cause anxiety for your kids. There is a fine line between doing things and throwing the stress of money onto their shoulders who are still kind.
If you are financially stable and can let your children do good things, like the dream of a debt-free college education, how lucky they are, and to make such a life a reality. Tell them how much effort you put in.
3. Take the kids shopping
Yes, I know—going grocery shopping with a bickering sibling or toddler who’s likely to bolt down the frozen food aisle the moment you turn your back is a relaxing Saturday outing. This is not a recipe for
But stores are a great learning opportunity.
If your child asks for a particular item that you cannot or do not want to buy, explain why. Will you sell it? ”
As your kids get older, you can teach them little tricks like calculating the price difference per pound of chicken breast or cheddar cheese.
Let them see not only the food, but also the comparison shop. Point out how the clothing store marks its merchandise.
4. Give allowances and budgets
I stayed on the fence for a long time about giving allowances to my sons, who are now 7 and 9 years old.
Also because I find the idea of ”paying” a child to do chores (if that’s how you allocate allowances) kind of offensive. Since they live in the house too, shouldn’t they do chores and be responsible?
Ultimately, I decided it was important for my sons to have their own cash to budget. I made it clear to them that this is another indicator of their maturity.
Are they old enough to handle money? Then you’re old enough to put away the laundry, take out the trash, and empty the dishwasher.
They are also old enough to budget the cash or suffer the consequences. The fact that my girlfriend’s 9 year old ran out of $9 in the first week of his summer camp this month?
5. Don’t be afraid to say “no”
We already mentioned how hard the job of parenting is, right? Saying no to your child is certainly among the toughest bets.
Saying “yes” not only brings a fleeting smile to a child’s face, but also a possible tantrum from a toddler, a whine from a school-age child, or a skillful, lawsuit-worthy argument from a tween. It’s for avoiding sex… or teens.
Once you’ve settled on “no,” let’s say “no” depends on your values (don’t wear a whore dress to the 8th grade dance) or your budget (don’t wear designer boots if your mom wears a payless knockoff). Say it calmly and without apology, because it fits. Or fear.
It takes consistency and repetition, but it works. it conveys a message.
Children not only get over the temporary disappointment of not getting what they want when they want it, but they learn that life isn’t about getting what you want when you want it. Nothing of value.