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Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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How to Deal With Your Child’s Wants and Needs

April 2, 2014 | Leave a Comment

My daughter is still young enough that she doesn’t know what she wants yet (I’m find myself reigning my husband in from buying things for our daughter that she thinks she wants and needs ;), he always means well though!).

As she gets older I am fully prepared to have to explain that she can’t have everything she wants all the time. From both a financial and personal development stance, kids need to understand that things aren’t free. Hard work goes into affording all the things they desire and need.

Younger Years

While she’s still pre-school aged, as mentioned she doesn’t want much but she still desires some things.

We were walking through a store the other day and she was pointing towards the cookies in the bakery section. While the cookies only cost $3 they weren’t on the grocery list and a totally unnecessary item to buy. While buying them would have been much easier than listening to her whine the rest of the trip, I needed her to understand that she can’t get something just because she asks for it. I’m not suggesting sporadic treats once and a while aren’t nice but for us this was a moment I needed her to see she can’t always get something for asking.

On a separate occasion my husband went to the store for few items, solo, and came home with a few toys for kiddo. Toys we hadn’t budgeted for but, in his defense they were on an incredible sale. Instead of just giving them to her we opted to use them for future gifts taking from future ”budgets”. Both Easter and her birthday are approaching so we decided to wait and use them for one of these dates instead and reallocate the funds when time comes.

School Aged Kids

A patient of mine has a twelve year old son who decided that he wanted to go on two school trips this year. Both out of province and both quite expensive. Being a single mom with three kids she told him she was limited in what she could contribute and made it clear that if he wanted these trips he was 100% on the hook to pay for them through fundraising events and side jobs.

Mom explained that this was an amazing experience for them.

She had her doubts but her son has reached his goal for one trip and only has $350 left to raise for his second trip. He’s shoveled driveways each storm, walking blocks to get people to pay him, gathered recyclables for refunds ($0.05/can here) and participated in every available fundraising event. Other than the $100 retainer fee mom had to pay to hold his spot for the trips he will be 100% paying his way, all thanks to a ~~little~~ lot of hard work.

Finding ways to make money before the legal working age of 16 is difficult but not impossible. Mom mentioned she was fully prepared to pay him to help with odd jobs that are over and above his daily chores but she hasn’t had to yet. Mom is super proud of his hard work and he’s even more proud of himself knowing he’s going on these trips totally paid for himself, a grand total of almost $2,500.

Any Age

Kids want things other than objects. They want to play organized sports, take music lessons, art classes and travel. No age is too young to have them understand they can’t necessarily do it all, especially if mom and dad are paying. Next summer our daughter will be enrolled in preschool soccer in the summer and dance in the winter. If she decides she wants to do something else instead she will likely have to decide what she wants more because we won’t be in a position to pay for everything she wants.

There’s a fine line between giving your kids an experience and giving them something just because they want it. Make sure you’re able to recognize the difference before deciding what is important to them and your family.

How Do You Deal With Your Child’s Wants?

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

3 Easy Ways Busy Parents Can Be More Frugal

February 13, 2014 | Leave a Comment

As a parent your to-do list can seem endless.

Go to work. Drop the kids off at school. Take the baby to daycare. Pick up the kids. Cook dinner. Take the kids to soccer practice. And, the list goes on and on.

As a busy parent it can be hard to focus on frugality when you can barely keep your head on straight. In these instances it’s the small things that can have the most impact on your financial situation.

Here are three ways busy parents can be more frugal.

Prepare Simple Meals

Keeping your meal planning simple is not only a cost effective strategy but it can free up a ton of time for you. Stock your pantry and freezer with some go-to, simple, and healthy meals that the whole family will enjoy.

What I often do is prepare several meals in advance that I can throw in the crockpot for those busy days. To do this simply gather all of your ingredients, put them in a freezer bag, and toss in the freezer. In the morning simply empty the bag into the crockpot. You’ll have a delicious meal waiting for you when dinner time comes around. Clean up is also extra easy, which is an added bonus!

Use Frugaa When Shopping Online

I tend to do much of my shopping online since it’s a huge time saver. And, every time I do I make sure to check and see if there is a coupon code to go with my purchase.

Frugaa makes this process even simpler. You simply visit Frugaa select your budget and the category or store you want to shop at and Frugaa will show all the available coupon codes that fit your chosen criteria. You won’t have to spend time weeding through different sites or searching for codes that coincide with your budget.

This is another easy way to save time and money.

Maximize Free Activities

As parents it can sometimes be hard to resist buying the latest toys or signing up children for every after school activity – but really, most of this is unnecessary.

You shouldn’t feel obligated to buy everything you see for your child. Free activities, like spending time outdoors, can be the most fun and memorable things you can do together.

Here are some ideas:

Have a “fancy” dinner in which you and your children dress up, use your good dishes, and eat at the table.
Take a walk through the woods.
Visit parks and watch your children play.
Have your kids put on a play for you.

There are endless free activities you and your children can enjoy, you just have to be willing to use your imagination.

One Small Step at a Time

It can be hard to stretch your frugal muscles when you’re always strapped for time. However, if you take a couple minutes at the start of the day to plan things out you can save time and money.

Start by making a few small changes. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to easily identify opportunities that will benefit your bottom line.

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Saving Money While Traveling With Children

January 19, 2014 | 1 Comment

I previously wrote about how my family was getting ready to partake in a family vacation together. The event was a family reunion and our first vacation with our daughter. Even though she’s still quite young, I can already see how the expenses are adding up with factoring more that just a plus one in your travel plans. Kids eat, sleep and partake in events just as adults do and costs add up!

Getting Ready to Travel

A key to saving with traveling is to prepare appropriately. I like to prep for travel by trying to earn as many points as possible for my travels. For example, with the TD Aeroplan Card, I can earn points faster, and they also have a 2-for-1 travel special. Since my daughter is still young, she can fly on my lap. And with this card, my husband and I can travel for the price of one ticket. Then, you add in points, and we’re well ahead on our path to save money traveling.

Saving Money on Travel with Children

I don’t need to tell anyone that airfare is expensive. While bartering or negotiating posted airfare prices isn’t an option there are other ways to save on travel costs.

Most airlines don’t charge for children under two years of age so travel away with your babies! Younger children will often get discounted tickets as well. Another option for saving on additional ticket costs is to look into any rewards you may have through credit cards or point redemption programs. Even if you don’t have enough rewards for your whole family, having enough to help offset some travel costs will be beneficial on your travel budget.

While flying would have been a fast and convenient option for our family, we chose to drive. The cost of driving the 2800 km (1750 mi) round trip was significantly cheaper than paying for the airfare for our family and, in my opinion, much more fun. We made the road trip fun and apart of the vacation fun.

Saving Money on Events

The easiest way to save money on events is to attend events where kids are free or discounted. We didn’t attend a single event that we had to pay for our child. Even though she’s young (14 months), most places were free under six anyway. Only the professional sporting event would we of had to pay if she didn’t sit on our lap, an event well worth the money should we needed to pay.

Prioritize the events the family wants to do and come up with a budget that suites everyone’s wants.

Saving Money on Food

We saved money on food a few ways. One, we stayed in a hotel that had breakfast included. The hotel had a hot breakfast selection every morning which was great because it kept us well satisfied until late in the day. We often skipped lunch, opting for a snack instead and having a normal dinner. We also had the option of requesting a mini fridge and/or microwave in our room which made things quite easy. We were able to buy some foods at the grocery store and store in our room for the week. This was especially good for having a little one with us and being able to keep her favorite snacks and fruits on hand.

Like the event option, choose restaurants where kids eat free, or cheap. We went to one restaurant where kids ate for $0.10 per pound of body weight. I don’t know if they actually enforced the weigh-in and fee or if they had a generic kids price, but there was a discount for kids.

Travelling with children will be more expensive but with a little more planning you should be able to make it work. Vacations should be about making memories not stressing about money!

How do you make your family vacations more family/budget friendly?

Raising Money Smart Kids

October 7, 2013 | Leave a Comment

In today’s tumultuous economy, it is more important than ever for parents to teach their children how to be financially responsible. Money has to be earned and budgeted before it’s spent, and let’s not forget the importance of continuously saving money for the future. Communicating this to your children is essential to helping shape the financial decisions they will make later in life.

That said here are some helpful tips for raising money-smart kids, at an early age.

Open Up a Savings Account

Has your child been asking for a special toy, a bicycle, a video game? Open them a savings account at your local bank. Discuss how much they will need to set aside to reach their target, on a weekly or monthly basis. You can also explain how a savings account works and how he or she can earn interest on money that is deposited. This is often a nice motivation for your child to use the savings account. You may find that your child uses the account to set and reach a financial goal, which is a great thing to watch.

Let them Earn Allowances

Once your child reaches an age where they can start contributing around the house, you can pay them a small amount of money for helping out. Whether it’s taking out the garbage, watering the plants, or helping with dishes, you need to show them that they have to work for their money. It doesn’t just grow on trees. This is a small amount of money that you give the child for spending on just about whatever he or she so desires. By giving your child an allowance, your child will come to realize the value of a dollar when it comes time to make decisions about what to buy.

Get Your Child Involved

If your child is old enough, you can teach him or her a financial lesson by sending your child on an errand to pick up some groceries. Give your child $20 or so along with a list of items that you know will cost very close to $20. Your child will then have to carefully consider how to make that money stretch to get all the groceries you need. If your child is successful, consider giving him or her some kind of reward.

In order for children to grow up to be financially responsible adults, it is important that parents begin teaching them about how to manage money as early as possible. If you have been putting this off with your own child, then it may very well be time to reconsider.

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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How to Save Money on Food

May 28, 2013 | 2 Comments

Other than housing, food is probably the second largest component in a family’s budget. With food prices only rising, it is important to save as much money as possible without compromising the integrity of your family’s healthy diet.

Eating well and cheap is possible but requires effort and planning. When just starting, expect to set aside at least an hour every week if you plan on getting serious about saving money on food for your family.

Here are some tips for how to save money on food and still eat well:

Meal plan. This is the easiest way to save money on food. With a meal plan, you can shop for the items you need for the whole week ensuring not only that you have all required ingredients, but also that you don’t end up back in the grocery store. When you make multiple trips to the store unnecessary costs will likely occur.
Shop with a list! If you don’t have a list you’ll navigate the store aimlessly and put more things in your cart than required, as well miss items you may need.
Always shop the parameter first. Grocery stores are designed to have all the fresh and frozen items on the exterior of the store. Non-perishables are found on the interior. Fill you cart with the health items first then move to the interior aisles.
Shop late at night. Shopping late at night may mean you score daily mark-downs. At the end of a normal day (usually around 7-8pm) a lot of grocery stores will start marking down things like their meats in preparation for the next day. They need to make room for the fresh product and will start marking down older or near expired items. I have found this to be particularly true for meat and bread.
Coupon. I don’t have a lot of advice to offer on couponing since there are many restrictions on coupon use here in Canada, but I know if done correctly, you’ll be able to save a lot of money and even score free product.
Keep a price book. For items that you frequently buy, keep a log of the different grocery store prices. Compare frequently and watch for sales. This will help establish a budget for your weekly spending.
Freezer cook. Freezer cooking involves preparing multiple meals at once, freezing them and using them as required. I recently partook in a ”Big Cook” where we prepared over 30 meals at once, froze them and had dinners for over a month. Most freezer cooking meals can adapted for crock pot or oven. Thaw the night before, put in slow cooker in the morning and have dinner cooked!
Take advantage of your farmer’s market. Utilizing your local farmer’s market is an easy way to save money on food and get a great product.
Buy seasonally and freeze. We have a large blueberry season where I live so in the summer we’ll go to a local u-pick lot and pick berries to freeze. We eat some fresh then freeze them to use throughout the year for things like baking and smoothies. This is much cheaper than buying them frozen throughout the year.

With a little planning and preparation you’ll be able to save money on groceries for your family and still eat well. It will soon become a routine and take no time at all.

How do you save money on food for your family?

My Wife’s Biggest Money Fear

January 10, 2013 | 3 Comments

Dealing with family finances can be hard, no matter what philosophy of money you fall into: keeping things in one pot or keeping things separate. The bottom line is that everyone will have fears about money – not having enough, not doing the right thing for saving for retirement, or maybe how to raise a family on a budget.

For my wife, her biggest money fear is not knowing. We fall into the philosophy of having a shared pot for everything. Both our paychecks go into one checking account, and we pay all of our bills from it. We also share two credit cards, so we can maximize rewards. That’s where we do all of our spending.

However, because of the simple logistics of processing bill payments, sometimes one or the other just handles it. But then the real questions comes up – was it handled? How much do we have left? Do you have a scheduled payment that I don’t know about, so we really don’t have $X in our checking account?

That’s a valid fear. Here is what we’re doing about it.

Where Her Money Fear Comes From

Getting married is great, but it is also tough when it comes to money. We were both two single people who managed our castles just fine. We didn’t need help, and we had full control. We both admit that we’re pretty Type-A, so giving up control is hard. Even though we both trust each other 100%, it’s still hard.

My wife’s fear comes from a self-admitted place of not having control. For example, before Christmas, when our spending was probably at it’s peak getting ready for family dinners and buying gifts, she was very stressed because she didn’t see every single transaction each day – I was spending too. It was hard for her.

While I don’t get to the same place, I can relate to when she spends and I don’t know where the money is going as well.

Solutions for Overcoming My Wife’s Biggest Money Fear

Since overcoming my wife’s biggest money fear was the most important challenge in our marriage, here are some of the solutions that we’ve put into place that have been working well for us. While they may not work for everyone, they have helped eliminate 90% of the fear.

Shared and Agreed Upon Organization

The first thing is coming up with a shared and agreed upon system for keeping everything financial organized. A huge part of fear comes from just not knowing. So make sure that you both put into place a system where you will know.

For us, we rely on two key systems:

For Quicken, we have all of our accounts synced so that in one update, either of us can get a clear picture of where we stand financially. Quicken is great for our household finances because it will pull from all of our accounts, and show all of our recent transactions. Plus, it has a lot of great reports that either of us can view, so we can really get a clear picture of our spending.

HomeFile is our way of organizing all of our records and financial documents. It’s basically a filing system, that has tabs and organization for everything you need for your records. For my wife, I wanted to make it easy for her to find anything, say insurance papers or auto records, should anything happen. With the HomeFile system, we can both easily file everything, and find records as needed.

Now, neither of us must depend on the other to handle financial stuff. This relieves some of the fear and stress around our finances.

Open Accounts and Passwords

With trust and transparency, it is important that we both have access to each other’s accounts. When we got married, we gave each other Power of Attorney for Finances for all of our accounts, and we also gave each other access to our passwords. Sometimes, you can’t always see pending transactions in Quicken, or investments take several days to post and update. As such, we have a list of all our accounts – even our not shared ones like IRAs, with passwords, so we can both access them as needed. This eliminates any fear of manipulating Quicken numbers or deleting transactions. If either of us wants to, we can always go and look online for ourselves.

Clear Understand of Expectations

Finally, we both have setup clear expectations for handling money with each other. For example, we’ve agreed that we can buy food and lunch whenever we want – no need to discuss anything with each other about that type of spending. However, we’ve set limits on buying things for the house – like furniture or electronics – unless we both agree on it and setup a plan for action.

The bottom line is that we both have solid expectations for each other when it comes to spending money, and so we know what is good and bad to do.

Remember, at the end of the day, a happy wife is a happy life. As such, it is essential that we work to solve my wife’s biggest money fear and make sure she is comfortable with the family finances at all times – whether she physically pays the bills or not. Sitting up and wondering or worrying is not healthy, and doesn’t make for a good relationship. This is what worked for us, what has worked for you?

How have you overcome family money fears?

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Handling Allowance With My Daughter

January 8, 2013 | 1 Comment

I didn’t grow up receiving a regular weekly allowance. I can honestly say as an adult that this has played a huge role in the financial choices I made growing up. Since no one taught me, I had no idea how about money management. Sure, I played with monopoly (play) money in grade school for pretend math class assignments, and gladly handed over my pocket change when the credit union came each week to collect our money putting it into a savings account for us, but I really had no understanding of money. Even as I grew up and got my first part-time paid job in high school, I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing with my paycheques. All I knew was that I was making my own money now and no longer needed mommy every time I wanted something.

The Importance of Allowance

For these reasons I personally believe allotting an allowance for kids is important. I plan on implementing a weekly allowance for our daughter when she’s old enough to understand what money is, probably around the age of six to seven. I want her to understand why she cannot have something other than me just saying ‘no’. I want her involved in purchases that affect her and help make the decision. I need her to understand the importance of savings. All of these things cannot be fully understood with ‘play’ money.

Have you ever tried to play a poker game with fake money? The betting can get ridiculous because you have no real ‘skin in the game’ so-to-speak.

How Much?

Honestly, right now (her being seven months old) I don’t have an exact amount in mind that we’ll give her but it will be a percentage of money we plan on spending on her anyways. What I mean, is that we don’t necessarily plan on creating a whole new section of our budget for kids allowance, rather allocate money to her from money we would have spent anyway (clothing or shoes for her, school supplies etc). This way she can be involved in how her money is spent. As parents we are responsible for spending money on her for the next 18 or so years, why shouldn’t she have some involvement?

One option is giving a weekly amount (say, $3.00 a week to start) and teaching how to save a percentage and budget for things desired. When she gets older maybe we will make her responsible for handling and helping budget for larger purchases like back-to-school shopping. Whatever option ends up working for us, the key is to have her directly involved in buying items so she can learn to respect money and understand that it is not an infinite resource.

I also don’t want to pay her only when she does household chores which is a common criteria for parents to award allowance. As a member of our family, when she gets old enough, she will have an unpaid responsibility to contribute to our household. Should she go over and above her required chores and do extra, she may be able to make some extra money, but I refuse to pay her for normal expectations.

Learn From My Mistakes

When we go shopping I want her to understand the importance of shopping with a list and sticking to it. This will teach her the importance of budgeting and planning. She will learn that if something is not on the list we won’t be buying it today, and if we (she) sees something while we’re out that she may want, we have to make a plan on how to buy it.

These are all tools I wish I had in my back pocket. Not that I grew up thinking money was an infinite resource, but I never appreciated the value of a dollar until I was much older and in a boat-load of debt. Everything I know about money is 100% self-taught. I still have a way to go but my hope is that through allocating a proper allowance and starting early enough my daughter can avoid the same paths I’ve already been down.

If you have kids, do you give them an allowance? How much?

Yes, Stay at home moms can get loans

Entertaining Kids During Christmas Break

December 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment

With kids being out of school for a few weeks during the Christmas break, it’s easy to run out of ideas on how to entertain them. Growing up, my mom would send me to the mall with friends, handing me $40.00 to basically entertain myself for the day. While a nice treat once in a while, for most families, especially during the holiday season, this would quickly add up to be a big budget buster.

Here are a few ideas to entertain the kids (young and old) while on their Christmas break:

Host a Gingerbread House Building Party

This is loads of fun for kids of all ages. Have your child invite their friends over, either with a gingerbread house kit in hand, or you can provide the house for them (using an easy recipe and template). Have candy provided in dishes (on your well wrapped table, it will be messy!) and let them have fun creating. Don’t want to do a whole house? Try decorating gingerbread or sugar cookies instead.

Have them Volunteer

While volunteering with your children year round is encouraged, Christmas is usually a time when extra help is needed. Soup kitchens and food banks in particular are often looking for extra help during the season. If your child is under the age of 16, you may either need to grant permission or be present. Check to see if your local mall needs gift wrappers. Many malls offer gift wrapping services, often provided by volunteers, with funds raised going to local charities. Although this should never be the only reason why one does it, volunteer work looks great on university and college applications too.

Host a Christmas Themed Pajama Movie Party/Sleepover

Have a few of your kids friends over for a fun night of watching Christmas movies in their PJ’s (sleepover or not, you have to be comfy!). Provide a few snacks or have them help you make a homemade pizza and you’ve got yourself a budget-friendly party. You could even make use of one of the best vpns for torrenting and download the movies the kids want to watch in advance so that you don’t have to worry about the dreaded buffering sign appearing during the movie and derailing things when everyone is quiet and engaged in the magic of Christmas movies.

Go Outside and Play

Especially in today’s technology driven world, we forget about the simplicity of encouraging outdoor play without an abundance of toys. Encourage them to explore; pick up a stick and use their imagination! Make sure they’re well bundled if you’re fortunate enough to live in a cold winter environment and let them enjoy the fresh air.

Have them Help You Prep Meals for the Holidays.

Most kids like to explore in the kitchen. It’s a great opportunity to have the learn some kitchen skills from you and your family. Yes, it will take longer than if you did it yourself and yes, your kitchen will likely be much messier but the skills that you’ll be able to teach are much more important than some spilled flour.

Check to See if Your Local Theater Offers Christmas Break Discounts

Most movie theater chains will offer discounted tickets during the local school break as a way of encouraging the movie-going experience so check it out!

Crafts

Have your kids make everything from Christmas cards or gift tags to tree ornaments. The possibilities are endless and most require very few supplies. Who wouldn’t love a homemade card from your young one?

Encourage the Inner Entrepreneur

If you have older kids, encourage them to use their time off to make some money during their break. Ideas include: shoveling driveways, offering to get groceries (or run errands) for people who need extra help, or dog walking for people who may be away or just too busy to do it themselves.

Christmas can be stressful enough, you shouldn’t have to worry about what your kids are going to be doing while off from school. With a little creative planning, you can quickly fill their time without breaking the bank!

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Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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What Fate for Annuities?

September 3, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Use a calculator to determine your annuties rates — Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As the Eurozone crisis rages, many people approaching retirement age will be worried about how they fit in to the wider picture of financial security – especially in relation to annuities, which have been falling more or less constantly in recent years.

An annuity is a regular income paid out in exchange for a lump sum, usually after years of paying into a tax-free pension fund. They’re intended to be guaranteed for life, irrespective of lifespan (although the amount in each regular payout is age-dependent).

What is the Fate of Annuities?

For the lucky few who retired when the market peaked, it’s all cruises and second homes. But for those currently awaiting an annuity, the outlook doesn’t look as rosy.

Pensioners have in fact been getting squeezed for longer than most, with many reports citing a year on year drop off in rates since the early nineties. So what is happening to annuity rates? And how can people prepare for them to continue falling?

In short, the ongoing financial meltdown in Greece has severely dented the confidence of many investors, who have moved their money to British and German bonds, resulting in rising prices and falling yields.

What About Other Investments?

Of course it goes much deeper than that. Increased life expectancy has lowered the returns for everyone approaching retirement, as has a move towards more gender equality between annuity prices. In the face of an aging population, many governments and banks are in denial about the prospects for pensioners, arguing that the rising value of bonds will compensate for lower rates.

But many people simply don’t invest in bonds or corporate funds, and are wholly reliant on stable annuity rates. Those feeling the pinch are advised to seek some alternatives for their future financial security, and to shift their focus away from traditional annuities.

Remember, once you buy an annuity the rate is fixed, so even if rates go up in the future, your payments remain the same. Cast around on the web by searching for best annuity rates UK, and look at alternative investment funds (this article offers some solid advice on investment) so you can stop worrying and start enjoying your retirement.

How have lower rates on annuities affected your retirement accounts?

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Christmas as a Catalyst for Money Talk

November 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Christmas is a season most often related to parties and gift-giving. This is especially true for the little ones. If you have kids, and young kids like I do, you will hear a non-stop stream of Santa wishes the moment you put your tree up. I was thinking about this as I was decorating my tree with my son and daughter and I thought now would be as good a time as any to start teaching them about money.

To be honest, this was a tough one for me There are so many schools of thought about how to go about doing this. When should you give your child an allowance, how much should this be, should you tie this to chores or not, and the list of questions goes on and on. I did some research and decided to try to combine a lot of what I thought made sense to me and I could actually apply.

Teach Your Child The Money Basics

Carol Wilson, a financial adviser from Salt Lake City, says that children learn about money the moment you start taking them to the store.

Your toddler begins learning about money from what she observes during visits to the store. When she reaches age 3 or 4, you should be explaining some of your shopping decisions: ‘We’re buying peaches today because they’re on sale,” or “We’re using coupons from the newspaper to help pay for our cereal.”

I found this to be so true. I’ve been taking my kids to the stores with me as soon as they were allowed by their pediatrician to venture out into the world and I must say my 5-year old knows all about buying food items, our grocery schedule, the fact that when I say “we have to buy more bread”, he knows that means a trip to the grocery store to pick out a loaf which will be paid for at the cashier. And my 3-year old is not far behind.

Now, I know that they know what money is and that it gets us goods and services (ok, services is stretching it, but you get the drift), I’ve decided to start teaching about the value of money. Ok, I’m going to do my best. This is not the easiest topic to teach.

Tips in Learning About the Value of Money:

Here are some tips I think are constructive and realistic when teaching your kids about money

Identifying money. Make sure that she knows the difference between a nickel and quarter.

Currency is different here in Manila but I get the gist of this point. My son knows the difference between all the bills and the coins but not the difference in values yet. Hmmmm….something to work on.

Making change. Make sure that she knows how to present enough money to cover a purchase and to count her change.

Ok, my son and daughter have very recently taken to buying a local tapioca and soy drink. A vendor passes by our house every morning and they come running to me for coins to make their purchase. This is a simple way to present covering a purchase and getting change. I’m happy about this.

Being responsible for money. If she loses the dollar that was in her pocket, she has to know that it’s her loss (you won’t replace it). This will teach her to be more careful in carrying money.

One morning last week, I gave my son some coins to buy his current favorite tapioca-soy drink. But the vendor didn’t come around that day and I didn’t get my coins back. The vendor did come the next day though and, like clockwork, both my kids came runing into the room to ask for change. So I asked my son where yesterday’s change was and he shrugged and said he dropped it. I told him that money was valuable and that he had to take care of it or he wouldn’t have any the next tiome he wanted to buy something. He didn’t get his drink that morning and seeing those big, fat tears almost made me cave. But he hasn’t misplaced his coins since. I’m hoping the lesson wasn’t too harsh.

Understanding that things cost money. From the candy she eyes at the supermarket checkout counter to the premium movie channels on TV, she must know that nothing comes free.

Well, the way I handle this is, every time we go out, I tell my kids that we can make 1 minor toy purchase only (if any). Antyhing they want after that has to go to the next trip becuase I only bring enough money for 1 toy each.

I also try to teach them about caring for their toys becuase these cost money and can’t easily be replaced. The verdict is still out on both attempts to teach my young ones about nothing being free.

Handling an allowance. Make sure that she learns to live with the allowance she’s given and to meet any expectations for it that you might set. For example, this may include a modest savings plan to pay for things she wants.

OK, I’m not sure about this part. I’m honestly not sure about how to introduce an allowance. So far, I’ve tried to connect chores to fun activities and rewards (rewards sometimes being the pride in a job well done). I’ve read that it is ok to connect chores to payment too as this will teach kids that they have to work for money. I am thinking that it might teach them that the only value in a job well done is its monetary equivalent. I haven’t decided. I do know I am going to give an allowance when they hit elementary but i’m still fuzzy on how to teach this. Suggestions anyone?

I hope I’ve listed down some helpful suggestions for getting started on the money lesson. I guess at the end of the day, I really want them to learn that they need to understand and value money, that it IS important, but there are other important things too like going for excellence, and being cautious, etc. This is a work-in-progress for me so any other tips are highly appreciated.

Have you explained money and value to your children? What prompted you to discuss it?

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Teaching Children About Money

October 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Teaching our children about money may sound easy to do but many times it is not. As our children get older they will begin to understand more so don’t give up and think your children will always think money just appears.

When children are about 5-6 years old they seem to love collecting coins. This is a great time to start the “piggy bank” or “money collection”. As they get a bit older they begin to understand that each coin has a different value. And when theses coins are added up it is enough to buy something that they have been wanting.

So how do we as parents begin to teach them the value of money and how to save? This is not an easy task at times but it is a very important lesson. Teaching our children to save for a certain item not only teaches them self discipline but also allow them to set goals.

Allowances and Chores

In many households the parents reward for chores that are completed by giving the child an allowance. By earning the money the child feels good about the accomplishment and then is able to save the money earned to buy something.

If the child wants something of a larger value the child will then have to save for it. This may mean more than a week worth of chores. And be warned, there are those that do not want to wait and will asked to be paid ahead of time. What we tell our children is that when a job or chore has been completed that is when they will receive the allowance. We do not pay for chores that have not been completed yet. By doing this we are teaching the child that things have to be earned. There is something about actually earning what they have bought that makes the child seem much happier with the item when they are finally able to buy it.

Saving Money

The next lesson is teaching about saving money. How much is the right amount to save? This is up to the individual parents. Some teach their children to save more while others just have their children put away a small amount to get the hang of saving up money.

When children get a bit older and have small jobs they are then able to set bigger goals. As they get older the “toys” also become more expensive. What was once a small truck or doll now may become a cell phone or video game. We as parents know just how expensive the “toys” can get.

It takes time to teach our children about money. With time and patience they will be saving money as well as setting goals for items that they want.

Do you have any ideas on teaching our children about money that you have used or are planning to use?