3 Easy Ways To Raise Frugal Kids
Many things are possible; even financially savvy children. It’s essential you teach your young ones both the value of money and how best to manage it.
When kids are able to add two and two together, it’s time to start teaching them good money habits—though different tactics will work more or less for different ages.
1. Teaching Value Through Letting Kids Buy Things
Many young children don’t understand the value of money. They understand that things can be purchased with it and that parents have it. So they expect this resource has an endless quality to it which is bestowed on an individual upon adulthood.
Credit card companies work double-time to make this misunderstanding of money’s reality something which follows young adults into their thirties and couples them with substantial—as well as unnecessary—debt.
A better way to do this would be to have an allowance for your children and let them pay for varying items on occasion. For example, if you’re eating out as a family, and your eight-year-old has a $10 per week allowance, but pitches a fit when you only let them have water, you might let them pay for their own soda or other drink.
At $2 to $5 per drink, they’re going to learn real quick that taste and value aren’t the same things. Or, if they find they do like the soda or other drink enough to waste their allowance, they may be prompted to seek means of making money in other ways. Either way, it’s a win-win for you and your wallet, and they learn how to more carefully husband scant resources.
2. Putting Them To Work
You want to be careful here. Paying children to do chores is wise, but they should do what you say regardless of whether you pay. Payment for work accomplished is a privilege. The work itself isn’t optional in a home situation. As mothers and fathers are wont to say today, the household isn’t a democracy, it’s a monarchy, and mom and dad are king and queen.
So give them a dollar for vacuuming the basement, maybe one or two for cleaning the kitchen. Do this right and they’ll start doing chores just because they want some extra cash. You’ll want to anticipate as much and only pay out that which is reasonable for you to afford, and which represents the true worth of the chores being done.
3. Allowing Free Spending, And Teaching Children To Save
When children earn money through being put to work and have been taught value through being allowed to purchase things you otherwise wouldn’t buy to save money, they start to get an idea for the value of money.
Another thing that can do this is allowing them to spend freely. Initially, they’re going to buy candy, toys, and other trivialities. But soon they’ll find something they really want which costs more than they have.
They may ask you for money, but you can say you’ve already given it to them, and if they want, say, a new PlayStation, they’ll have to save. Teaching children how to save is key. Successfully done, you’ll see them work harder, spend less, and steadily push toward a goal. When they reach goals, it will be all the better: they’ll have passed milestones on their own.
Teaching Good Money Habits Early
Teaching value, putting kids to work, and letting them learn how to save money are all good tactics in helping them learn how to manage their resources. There are blogs such as the one from Debt Busters that can offer professional tips you may want to consider; it’s good to use expert materials as a means of maximizing your financial capability.
