Teaching
our Kids the real value of money
Teaching our kids the real value of money at an early age
will help them succeed in life and will also help our country’s economy. If
they know how to take care of their money they will learn how to improve their
economic situation. You could think “how can I teach something that I don’t
know myself?” You can learn together. Let’s start with simple things.
How many times your son or daughter had asked you for a
dollar because they want to buy something at the store? Many times they don’t
even know what they want to buy. Ask your kids what is the price of what they
want to buy. If they know and it is less than a dollar it will make them start
thinking about the value of money and create a conscience of the concept. Take a
coin of every denomination and ask them to pick the exact amount that they need.
If they don’t know how much each coin is worth, teach them how to distinguish
each coin by its value. When your kids do not know how to count, you most start
there. Sometimes you will give your kids more than what they need but you most
tell them to ask for the change. This procedure will start their process of
recognizing that each thing has a different value.
It is important to teach your kids how to make money. The
intention is not to put them to work but to condition their mind to learn to
appreciate things. They most understand that “money does not grow on trees”.
If you are the type of parent that gives his kids a weekly allowance, you most
condition it according to their behavior. If you are not used to a weekly
allowance, you could start now and establish some rules to get it. It will help
you teach them good manners and help them at the same time. When your kid asks
you for more money to spend, ask them to earn it by cleaning their room or by
performing a regular chore. This simple action will help them valuate the money
he/she is getting. Do not make them any promises that you can accomplish.
It is very important to lead with the example and establish
a family economy culture; one of money management. Remember that our economy can
change at any moment. As you make your weekly budget, show your kids how it is
done starting by priorities. If you are not used to make a budget for your
expenses it is time to start. Make sure you let your kids know how much of that
budget most go to the savings account or allocation to have money for your
vacations and or anything else you may need to acquire in the future. If you can
only assign one dollar to your savings account because it was a bad week, do it
anyway. Remember that by proceeding this way, it will serve two purposes. Save
money and educate your kids. Ask
your kids to make their weekly budget utilizing only the allowance amount that
they usually get or will start getting. Make sure they know how long it is going
to take before they get another weekly allowance. Do not tell your kids how to
spend their money. You may give them a suggestion but always remember that it is
their money. It would be a mistake to condition their expenses to what you want.
Do not make them depend on you to manage their money.
Parents usually inherit many of their personal behavior patterns to their kids. It is never too late to start establishing a conscious way to economically educate our kids and our selves. It is very important to make an afford to educate our kids to succeed in life and, unfortunately, money is a very important part of it. Teaching our kids the value of money from an early age will give them an advantage to succeed.
Luisrcg
Back to Articles Corner
Useful links: citizenship Test, The constitutuion, US President, Bill of Rights