Teaching your kids the importance of money is a vital life lesson. By teaching your kids this value, they’ll be prepared for the challenges of saving money and meeting your financial obligations in later life. But how can you achieve this? Read on to find out.
Make it fun
Keeping your kids engaged when discussing money can be difficult. One way to retain their attention is by making it more fun. By combining lessons about money with games, board games and online games, you can teach them the core values while making it entertaining at the same time.
Familiarity
Getting your child familiar with money can help them prepare for responsibilities later on in life. By making mistakes now with smaller, inconsequential amounts they can avoid mistakes later. You can achieve this through simple gestures such as giving them pocket money or by buying them a piggy bank. If they’re a little bit older, you could consider opening a children’s savings account to help them learn how to grow their money.
Make saving a habit
Ideally, you’ll be able to make saving money habitual for your kids. You can do this by setting a good example as a parent. This might be through avoiding making too many frivolous purchases, or by showing your kids that treats and presents should be rare joys rather than constant. If your kids are older, you can also show them the monthly budget your set yourself to show them the value of coordinated, careful saving.
Go to the shops
Taking your kids to the shops can help teach them the importance of money too. For a start, you can show them how you shop: you should budget for your essentials while trying to keep your luxury purchases to a minimum. But you can also give your kids some responsibilities. By letting them handle and use their own money to pay for items, they can learn the basics of using money.
Create opportunities to earn money
You should also create opportunities for your kids to earn money. This can make them appreciate the work that goes into earning money and value it more. You could pay them for chores like walking the dog, emptying the dishwasher, ironing their clothes or cleaning their bedrooms. Just think of a task you can set them that will take a little effort and pay them pocket money accordingly.
Teaching your kids the value of money will set them up well for later life. And by implementing some of the tips above, you’ll soon find that your kids begin to learn about money.