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How do we teach young ones about money?

August 25th, 2007 at 03:53 am

One of my goals is to begin teaching my little ones about money. I'd like to begin incorporating chores (that they will do simply because they belong in our family) and extra things they can do to earn money. I need a way to keep track of this each week. They are young, 2 and 4 so the method has to be simple and easy for them to understand. I'd really like feedback if anyone has suggestions.

On another note, I finally went to the grocery store. I haven't been in about 2 weeks simply because I haven't had time. Lo and behold, I didn't run out of food! This got me thinking...maybe I could shop for 2 weeks in advance...which led to further thoughts...I made a menu of 4 dishes to be served each week for 5 weeks. So each week, we'll be having 4 different dishes. Preparing only 4 allows us to eat leftovers and misc. during the other days of the week. Then I made a mock grocery list for every ingredient I would need that week. I grocery shop for 2 weeks worth of menus (8 dishes) and have a ready made list. I can easily eliminate the things I already have in my pantry. With this in mind, I went shopping.

Randalls - $30.93 for 11 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, and 4 boxes of Cheerios.
CVS - 2 gallons of milk @ $2.99 each = 5.98
Walmart - $126.75 this includes household items as well as grocery items. I bought 6 whole fryers that I roast, dice and freeze.

Total coupons savings = 19.00

I thought it went pretty well. I am thinking, however, about going back to Randalls and getting more chicken breasts. $1.99/lb is the best I've seen in a while.

I also bought a toaster oven, but I will return it. I want to be able to save energy while cooking, but the oven wasn't big enough to fit a 9x13 pan.

4 Responses to “How do we teach young ones about money?”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    1188012438

    There is a good section about kids and money in the book America's Cheapest Family by Steve and Annette Economides. It might give you a starting place.

  2. princessperky Says:
    1188067085

    in a word 'frequently'

    if you want lots of advice, try searching on the main forums for 'kids money' look for appropriate titles.

    or for my own take try:
    Text is midway down, 4 points and Link is http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/personal-finance/29217-any-advice-teaching-kids-about.html?highlight=kids
    midway down, 4 points

  3. reflectionite Says:
    1188092551

    when i was younger we used the "star system" for our pocket money. basically it was a laminated poster with our names and columns on it. we were automatically entitled to 50c for each year of our age ( i was 12, so i got $6 a week). BUT we only got this if we did our chores that we were supposed to do normally, like making our beds, folding the washing and doing the dishes. then we would "earn" 20c for each extra chore that we did, like vaccuming, weeding, cleaning the windows, cleaning the car etc. it gave us a good sense of the hard work involved in earning money. it was always up to the parents to decide if the chore was worth the 20c, and if we were naughty, our total would go down to zero for the week, and we would have to work it back up if we wanted pocet money.
    aaaah the memories....
    i imagine when i have kids i will use this system too. i notice a lot of juniors that i work with have no sense of work ethic and i think its the parents that have to instill this. i think my parents did a good job...

  4. Amber Says:
    1188094569

    Great idea on starting the kids off young, wish my mom had with me. If I ever have kids I will definately teach them about making good financial decisions/savings

    In regards to your dinner calendar I use to keep a month long calendar with dinner, snack and breackfast for each day of the month including left overs and only bought what was on the list and it is definately a money saver. I just have too many excuses now Frown

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