My husband was jogging while my 9 year old was riding his bike. My husband had to stop to see what was slowing down my son. When my son reached my husband, my husband asked, “Why did you stop?” My son answered, “There was a penny on the ground that I picked up.”
This is the same son that I overheard talking to his 6 year old little brother. Little bro says, “If you want that game, just ask mommy if you can get money from your bank account.” Big bro says, “No, I’m saving for college. Do you know that college costs a lot of money?”
How do you raise two boys in the same household that have totally different ways of thinking??
One of the most important things parents can do is teach their kids good money-management skills, help them create good financial habits and be good examples of great stewards of money. Remember that kids are more in tune with what you do and not as much with what you say. You tell them not to waste their money on dumb toys, they see you spending money on clothes and shoes when they know you have lots of that stuff in the closet. They’re thinking it’s *dumb* clothes. You tell them not to spend money just because you have it and they see you grabbing products off the store’s shelf impulsively. You tell them not to go over their minutes and text messages on their cell phone plan and they see you chatting on the phone all the time, hearing nonsense conversation. I know, you’re the adult, you pay for your stuff, we shouldn’t compare yourself to your kids but the truth is that your kids are watching you and learning from your actions.
There’s so many things that us parents can do to help teach our kids to value money and watch their spending. But remember that each kid may need different techniques. First things first is I tell my kids that whatever I have in my possession today is a gift, I don’t deserve anything. I don’t deserve it because I worked for it. I don’t deserve it because my other friends have it. Truly I deserve nothing and what I have should be appreciated. The next thing I try to do is keep them focused by encouraging them in friendships that have the same values. It’s so hard for me to teach my kids these skills when they have a good friend that has parents that give their kids EVERYTHING. Even if I could give my kids everything, I just wouldn’t. Remember Warren Buffett?
The rest of the lessons will go on from here. There are just too many different philosophies out there that will work for some kids and will not work for others. Whether you have to play Monopoly or the Game of Life with your kids, whether you have to give them allowance(or not), whether you have to let them earn money to buy things, whatever it is, that is your call. But truly, teach them to really understand that whatever they have, they need to value it. Growing up we never went on vacations a lot, we didn’t have much but I never thought we were poor. I remember vividly this time where I wanted something that was expensive. I knew it was expensive and my mom saw my reservations. She didn’t tell me not to get it, she just said, “Sometimes if you really like something, you need to get it.” What does it mean? I’m not sure, but I know I never thought I was without and even when we had money, we never became spoiled brats.
Anyway, here are some online resources that your kids may have fun learning with and may just teach them about money earning, saving, spending and investing.
Kablinga and Planet Orange
I can’t believe I almost forgot this part. Teach your kids how to be good givers too, cheerful givers. I don’t think it’s good to hold on to all the stuff that’s out there. Give it away, just be smart about it!
