How to Teach Kids About Money

Teaching your kids about money is hard to instill because it takes a lot of repetition to teach this and at times sometimes we model inconsistent behavior ourselves. Today I’m going to cover a few ways that I try to teach my kids about money.

What tips can you use to teach kids about money?

1. Each of my children has a bank.
2. They can spend their money as they please. When we go places, they can bring their money and choose to spend it as they please. I let my daughter get one of those cash debit cards at a local amusement park. I advised her not to do so for various reasons. She wanted to get the card though! The amusement park was cashless so she put her money on that card. She decided that day to not spend her money. A few months later she decided to use it. She to a store to buy some earrings and tried to use the card. But there was no money left! Upon checking the overall balance on her card, I found out that she was charged a $4.50 fee for multiple months! This essentially wiped away all of her money! So she got to spend zero of her $10. This was a great lesson learned for her. That said, I’ll say it’s quite frustrating that everything’s going cashless right now. This makes it harder for our children to learn how to spend their money using cash. Research has broken that we spend less and make better decisions with cash!
3. I provide my children with guidance as they make those purchases so that they can learn the purchasing process and start thinking about spending their money and finding value so that they get the most out of the money for the items that they are purchasing.
4. I also like to weave in the ideas of being minimalistic and not buying so many things just because they see them and like them. I try to encourage them to be intentional with their money. And to only buy things that will bring joy and value to their life.
5. As I am making purchases, I speak to them about my thoughts as I am thinking through that purchase. This way they can learn how to think through their future purchases with that same mindset.
6. I like to explain to my children how much it costs to do certain activities. Plus, I like to make sure they are being intentional with those activities. For example, two of my children take gymnastics. When it’s time to sign them up for the next session, I always ask them if they still enjoy it. I also talk to them about the cost of the sessions and ask them if they’d rather spend that money doing something else or something new. I let them know how much it costs to do things so that in the future they can understand how much it costs to do things as well.
7. Allow your children to earn money with chores. This also helps them learn how to spend that money.

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In what ways do you teach your children about money?