Random Thoughts

Here's another article worth posting for us parents. Saving skills are skills that our kids will benefit for the rest of their lives. It's nice to stumble upon an article that will help us teach them how to do it. ♥♥♥

Jumpstart your kid’s saving skills by MomCenter.com.ph

Parents, when do you start teaching your kids the value of money? At what age do you begin giving them allowances? When they want to buy something high-value, do you buy it for them or let them save up?

Among many important values, I think being money-wise is something parents should teach their kids early.

With our kids returning to school in a few days, allowances and budgeting are some of the concerns we and our kids will be dealing with. Here are some tips on how to help your kids learn the value of saving.

1. Teach them the concept of saving early on with piggy banks. What my kids and I do is start a piggy bank account at the beginning of the year and use the savings for something they want for themselves during Christmas. This way, they will learn in a tangible way that saving money has its rewards.

2. Give older children allowances. My two daughters started receiving a weekly allowance when they got to Grade 3. Hub and I decided to give the allowance weekly instead of daily to teach them how to budget. If they used up the allowance before the week was over, sorry – they’ll have to do better next time.

I also encourage my kids to set aside a small amount from their allowances – a few coins each day will do. Last Christmas, Patch told me she wanted to give gifts to her classmates. I told her I only had little budget for that, and if she wanted to spend more, she will have to save for it. And so she saved from her allowances.

An allowance gives kids some feeling of empowerment, as well as a sense of responsibility. As they master their spending and budgeting skills, they become more confident.

3. Live by example. The kids must see how you yourselves as their parents are saving and budgeting. We can’t tell them “no, that’s too expensive” when they see us splurging on unnecessary luxuries, can we? When I buy groceries, I compare prices and stick to the ones I know are cheaper but with comparable quality. My kids have seen me whip out the calculator in the supermarket and compare, say, toilet paper prices per roll. LOL. I think my kids have absorbed the price-conscious attitude.

4. Let them spend their money. On the opposite end of saving is spending. I think it is not good to be too stingy to the point of Scrooge-ness. It’s good to let your kids enjoy the fruits of their savings once in a while. Spend and save in moderation – I think that’s a good guide. (My Chinese Hub would say “always save more than what you spend.”)

Guide your child as he/she decides on the purchase. Sometimes, letting your child make a mistake is a good learning experience that he/she will remember for a long time. This is something I learned from Hub – don’t be afraid to let the kids make mistakes because that’s how they learn.

5. Open a savings account. Again, a good time to do this would be after Christmas and New Year when they have gotten ang paos (red envelop) or money gifts from angkong and ama, titos and titas, or ninongs and ninangs.

SOURCE.