The moment our children our born we talk to them constantly. We tell them how much we love them and how happy we are to have them with us.
We instill values in them, teach them right from wrong, how to share, love and be nice. This we teach to them to make sure they grow up to be a healthy and happy adult that’s our goal.
One thing we sometimes wait too long to teach them is the value of a dollar. By the time many of them become adolescent, they believe money can be found easily.
Since they don’t understand all the hard work that goes into acquiring the almighty dollar, they think it’s easy as pie to come up with $50, $100 or more for a pair of shoes, a handbag, video games, etc. It’s not their fault, it’s ours. We want to give them everything we can, which is not completely wrong but not right either.
We need to teach them how important it is to save, be responsible and most of all that is not a bad thing to be frugal. With the way the economy is today and all we are going through, it’s a good idea we start teaching them everything we can to help them out.
The financial crisis this country is going through will happen again, history has shown that, of course we hope it won’t be this bad again. But, no matter what, if we teach our children the value of money, then when they are adults, they will know how to survive.
SAVE
Children receive money as gift from grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. They also receive allowances. Teach them to save part of that money. Have them put away at least half each time, explain to them that later on they will have more money to use for things they may need. When they are old enough open a bank account with their name.
FRUGAL
As the children grow up, they get more into fashions and fads. They want the latest tennis shoes, coolest games, name brand jeans and bags. We all know they can be extremely pricey. Teach them the difference between “necessity” and “wanting”. When you go shopping, for items such as these, tell them they have to pay. See how quickly they will back off when the money is disappearing too fast.
VALUE
Allowances are good thing to give your children, $1 per age. But is it good to give them money in exchange for nothing? It’s best that they earn this money. As a child most of us had chores to do around the house. We also received incentives. If we had excellent grades, for each one we received a certain amount of money. This was and still is a good thing to do with our children. It teaches them that money does not come easy and that with hard work we can get what we desire or want.