Last year my family and I suffered heavy delays on a our flight coming back from Florida, something which no parent wants to experience. After returning home, I was talking to my kids about claiming for compensation from Flight Delay Claims 4 U, and the concept blew their minds. I decided in that moment that the kids had little idea about the value of money, and so I took action.
All parents have experienced being pestered and cajoled by their ever demanding offspring to buy one item or another. Teaching your children about money, its role and value could lessen this continual assault on your finances and teach your children to be financially astute and eventually independent.
Enlist your child’s help doing the in household bills
Many young children see credit cards as magic and infinite as they witness their parents pushing a few buttons and getting either money, gas, food or other items. Getting children to help pay credit card bills and looking at the charges on the bill will draw their attention to the fact that things have to be paid for. Enlisting their help with paying utility bills, rent and cable will also give your child a perspective on how money flows.
Encourage your child to make their own money
Getting your child to earn their own money has many benefits. It is both empowering for them, and educational. There are many ways this can be done for example the traditional lemonade stand is a tried and tested method. Selling outgrown toys or clothes in a yard sale situation is another as is the earning pocket money for completing household chores. Children are far more likely to value money if they have had to expend time and effort to earn it themselves.
Make it a game
Children are never too young to start learning about money and there are many money learning games to be found online. Traditional games like Monopoly are also beneficial. When on a grocery run, having a guess how much the total will cost game is an effective way to make children learn the cost of items and it also improves their numeracy skills. Older children could learn a lot about financial issues by being encouraged to play investment games.
Arrange a visit to the bank for your child
A visit to the bank where children can watch bank transactions in progress can help them to understand what cash actually is. As does opening an account for them and giving them help to track their savings. Lots of banks offer no-fee accounts for children and some have educational materials and online activities to help children’s financial understanding.
Start a clip coupon campaign
Instead of throwing all those annoying circulars that regularly arrive on your doorstep, use them and have a coupon clipping frenzy with your children. By doing this you will educate your child about savings and discounts. Encourage your child to be in charge of the coupons on a shopping trip, this will empower your child and make him or her feel part of the family’s finances. Talk about how much money he or she has saved by this process and put it in a family savings account and let your child watch it grow.
All of these ways should give your children a better insight into financial matters and help prepare them for future financial independence.
