What do you do to teach your kids about money and personal spending? - Page 2

DebbieL · 12-21-2006, 01:10 PM

"I actually did have an awesome class in high school that taught us alot about budgeting, balancing a checkbook, comparison shopping and paying bills. He taught us that sometimes you pay more for "packaging" than you do the actual product. Which is basicly along the same lines as generic vs brand name. Like if we picked up a bottle of hand lotion and read the ingredients off the back, both products contain the same ingredients only one is more expensive because it has prettier packaging and a major name behind it. He had us go thru the newspapers and try to figure out how much rent we could afford and would give us a fake salary to try and live on."

Me too! It was called consumer education, and back then it was mandatory. You had to take it in high school, but you could pick when (between grades 9-12). I learned alot in that class. I often think a class like that should still be a requirement in high school.

kotasmomma03 · 12-21-2006, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KathrynHannah

I really wish it was taught in all schools too!

For us we have given the kids a very small (started at $1 a week and now it's up to $2 a week) allowance. Whenever they ask for something, we always say, "Sure you can have it, do you have enough money saved up?" They sure want less stuff when they have to pay for it themselves!

Now that they are in grade school, I've opened a bank account for each. I give them their allowance once a month by cheque, they depsoit it (so they learn how). They save 10%, give 10%, and have 80% to do what they like with. Any Birthday or Christmas money goes into their account too.

I've also never said, "We can't afford that." I don't want them to feel poor even though we have very little. When we can't afford something I'll say something like, "Well, let's start saving our money and see if we can save up for it." 99% of the time they forget about what it is they wanted and that 1% of the time they really work hard at saving it up. And I'll often say, "Our family is so rich. We're just full of love." It will be interesting in the future to hear from the kids to see if they knew how little we really had.

We also volunteer once every few months feeding the homeless. This goes WAY outside of my confort zone (but I don't tell the kids that) and they love it. They feel incredibly rich after helping people who have so much less than we do.

This is just awesome, I love the way you handle your children and money. That just makes so much sense to me. I will definitely be borrowing some of your ideas with my own son when he is old enough!

One other thing we did for our son is open a 529 college savings account through Upromise.com Its an awesome site and I'm SO glad I found it. I can earn a percentage back from purchases we make to contribute to his account and then we also have $50 a month put directly into his 529 fund. I have it on the aggressive option and he's already earned over $100 in profit since we opened it!!

We're hoping he'll get a scholarship so we can use the money to buy him a car and help out with other college related expenses. Other than that, he is too young yet to do allowance or a savings account.

2littleonesmommy · 12-23-2006, 04:44 PM

When I was a teenager my older brother with his brand new shoes that my parents bought him walked thru a muddy puddle. He then would take them off without undoing the laces. Eventually, the shoes were horrible looking (probably in a month). My parents were horrified when he said for them just to buy a new pair. So at that point in time my parents put us on a clothing allowance. They figured out how much money they were willing to spend on clothes (underwear, socks, shirts, pants etc) except special occasion (i.e. suit for graduation or a nice dress for an event) for the year. We got a weekly budget. We both learned things the hardway. Like when my dear older brother took his shoes that he just bought off without undoing the laces and the back ripped. Since it was his "money" he tried everything to fix them and no longer took off his shoes without undoing the laces. I learned how to budget. Sometimes I ran out of money and could not buy something I really wanted because I had already spent it. The lessons I learned then I still use today. When my kiddos get older I will be putting them on a clothing allowance.

CAgirl · 12-27-2006, 12:52 AM

Like Claire, this is one of my pet peeves....why don't we teach our kids personal finance in school...it is one of the most practical, useful lessons we could ever give them.

My parents paid for my college education; however, they didn't just write a check for my tuition or give me money whenever I needed it. Instead, they figured out how much it would cost me to go to school on a yearly basis and gave me 1/12 of that amount every month. It was my responsibility to pay my rent and tuition when it was due and I had to make sure I had the $$$ in my account. The other part of the "deal" with my parents was that I always had to work 40 hrs. a week during the summers between school years. That money was to be used to pay for books and other expenses (car insurance, clothing, going to the movies, etc.). I really mastered managing money during these years --- it was a great way to learn to be responsible but still having my parents pay for school.

KathrynHannah · 12-27-2006, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAgirl

My parents paid for my college education; however, they didn't just write a check for my tuition or give me money whenever I needed it. Instead, they figured out how much it would cost me to go to school on a yearly basis and gave me 1/12 of that amount every month. It was my responsibility to pay my rent and tuition when it was due and I had to make sure I had the $$$ in my account. The other part of the "deal" with my parents was that I always had to work 40 hrs. a week during the summers between school years. That money was to be used to pay for books and other expenses (car insurance, clothing, going to the movies, etc.). I really mastered managing money during these years --- it was a great way to learn to be responsible but still having my parents pay for school.

What a great idea! I'm going to remember this one when the time comes.

brensmom · 12-27-2006, 02:35 PM

my kids already at a young age know money does not just grow on trees or come out of a machine or is on plastic..when they recieve cash as a gift they have to put half in there bank accts the other have they can do what they want with 9 tmes out of 10 they choose to save it all even at the young age of 2 and 5. they both are currently saving there mad portions of there money for an outing to a zoo to get a fun token to bring home. when we go to the store we are allowed to look at the toys but we never buy them unless it is a birthday or christmas or they have mad money or a gift card...they appreciate that things cost money and you have to work hard to get them.