• Home
• About

Custom Search

Teaching You Child Fiscal Responsibility

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Teaching You Child Fiscal Responsibility

Teaching your child fiscal responsibility in times like this can seem like a massive task.  With things as rough as they are, it can seem outright impossible. Well, that’s why I’m writing this.

In all seriousness, and for the sake of full disclosure I used to be someone who could spend money about as quick as I made it.  If I had so much as a dollar it burned a hole in my pocket.  Then I had my daughter, and was forced out of those bad habits really quickly.  Times have gotten tough for everyone and I’m no different.  I wasn’t used to saving, but I was awfully great at spending.

Those times are gone.

It was a hard thing for me to do and get used to, but a few small changes can make a huge difference.  It also feels good to know I’m modeling good practices for my daughter.

*Let your child see you use cash not plastic.

It’s hard for a child to understand how credit and bank cards work. They see mommy and daddy using cards and tend to think it’s a never ending money tree.  With cash, it’s more easily understandable that there is a limited amount to use.

*Let them see you saving for a goal.

This can work in a few ways, and the “goal” doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive, it could just be a special dinner for a day.  The easiest would be to start a “change jar” that you put your extra coins in, when your get enough use it for the “special” thing you’ve been saving for.

*Let them help with finding deals and coupons.

You can turn this into a game (this is also great for math skills).  For instance this one costs x Dollars, can you find one that costs less?  You can also bring with you the pictures on the coupons, go down the aisle where the product is and let your child “find it”.

*Let them see you save and budget.

If they see you giving up something, they might be more inclined to do it themselves.  Let them “in” on the house budget, you don’t have to go into a lot of detail, but explain to them how something are more important than others.

Do you have any great tips to help your child learn how to handle money?

Please, feel free to share in the comments!

Related posts:

1. Holiday Gift Ideas
2. Keep Your Child Holiday ‘Party Safe’
3. Jessica Alba Gives Birth to Baby Girl
4. Hollywood Bump and Baby Watch – July 2008

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.