Teaching Kids About Money

My younger sister can’t save money for anything. If she gets $20, she goes out and gets her nails done, without any idea how she will pay for the upkeep. Watching her made me realize that I needed to teach my children about money.

Give your children an allowance that is age appropriate. For our kids, they get half of their age in allowance. So, on their birthday, they always get a 50 cent raise. We provide chores during the summer and expect them to help out when needed during the school year. Set some rules for earning the allowance and an amount for your children.

Now that they are earning some money, teach them about saving it. Many banks have savings accounts for children. Help them decide how much money they want to have to spend and how much to put away. Make them a chart that keeps track of their money so they can watch it grow.

Let them spend some of it and be silly. Part of the fun of having money is spending it. I had a friend who would not allow their child to spend any of his money. He had over $100 in the bank but couldn’t use it. Letting your kids spend their money teaches them the value of things and how to use money wisely. Make sure your kids only spend what they have. Don’t loan money against the allowance they will receive. Our boss doesn’t give a paycheck advance, kids need to learn this too.

Teaching your kids about money will provide them a valuable tool for when they are older and get their first job. Make spending and saving money a success for them.

Getting A Child To Clean Their Room

I have had a lot of experience with getting a child to clean their room. Each child is different and what works with one will not work with another. Some children don’t need help in this area, this article is written for the ones that do. Rewards and punishments work for some children, but not for others. Some children look at a messy room and have no idea how to begin cleaning it. For kids that are just completely overwhelmed, here are some ideas for helping them.

Break down the job into different areas. For example, have your child pick up all the books in the room. When that is done, have them put all the clothes in a pile. Breaking down the mess into small messes helps make the job more manageable.

Make a game out of cleaning. Set a time limit for different items and see what they can clean up the fastest. Write down the times and find out which items was the easiest to clean.

Pull everything together in one big pile. Have your child pick out the biggest item from the pile and put that away first. Or find everything that is the color red and put that away. Sometimes just cleaning up in a different way is all it takes to get the job done.

Setting rewards and punishments can work sometimes, but helping your child learn how to manage the mess and get it cleaned timely is the key to success every time. Teaching them how to clean their room saves you from harassing them every day to get it cleaned. And it can give your child a great sense of accomplishment once they are done.

Start Giving Your Children An Allowance

It’s never too early to start teaching your children about money. A great way to begin this is by giving them an allowance. There are several ways to do this, and I’ll talk about a few of them.

You can give allowance based on chores with specific money amounts. For example, you can decide to pay fifty cents for setting the dinner table, $1.00 for keeping their bedroom clean all week. You decide the chores you would like your child to do, and then show them how to do the work correctly. Let them know ahead of time how much they get for each job, and keep track. Decide how often they will receive the money they have earned.

Another option is to have a set amount of allowance based on their age. My children earn half their age in allowance. My five year old gets $2.50 a week. In order to earn their allowance, they have to keep their room clean, do an assigned job each day, and help out with other things that we might need. When they don’t do jobs or keep their room clean, they lose part of their allowance for the week.

Some parents give their children money without requiring the child to earn it. I don’t like this option because I like giving a value to the money. When children have to earn it, it means more to them. However, if you don’t like the idea of putting your kids to work, you can still teach them about money. I would still suggest assigning a requirement to the money, such as good grades or good behavior.

Whatever option you chose, staring an allowance with your children will teach them about working, how to spend money, and how to save it as well.