We have an idea.. we have started working on this with our oldest.  this year we told her that we are taking a vacation.  She is in charge of it.  She decides where, and what we do.  We will work with her one planning out the cost for hotels and activities, food and gas.  Then we will put together the budget with her and calculate how much needs to be set aside each month.  If it is more than we can afford she will have to cut things out.  Once we are on the vacation she will have a budget sheet that she will work from. She is in charge of how we spend the Money. She will not be allowed to be unfair in buying gifts or toys. But she will decide on our activities.The rule is  that once we are down to the last $100 or what ever we had decided was enough to get home.  Then we leave.  Even if we had planned to be there longer.  A week vacation could be only 4 days.  This is a limit we can live with.Our daughter is only 8 so it will be interesting to see how well it works.  

By Ann on 1/30/2009

Teach them to use CASH ONLY!  No credit cards!  If only my parents would have taught me that....

By Britany on 1/30/2009

Our family does not do allowance.  We don't pay our children for household chores; they do that to help our famliy have a neat, safe home. They can do extra chores for money on their own time.  We have a list of available chores and the the dollar amounts.  Also, we encourage them to recycle.  When we go for walks or out and about, they keep a lookout for cans or bottles.  We help them turn it in.  Once they get money from whereever, we instruct them to put some aside for church offering, save some, and the rest they plan what to do with it.  We also instruct them on having enough money for what they want.  If the item is more than what they have then they save more or choose something else.  My husband and I don't give them extra to "cover them".  We are the example we want them to follow, mistakes and all.  Take heart and hang in there.

By Kim on 1/31/2009

My kids are old enough now I don't do this, but when they were young, we'd give them 50 cents for every year they were old to buy whatever they wanted.  That included bubble gum machines or whatever.  If they ran out, tough, wait till payday just like we do.  It taught them to budget, and to spend wisely as money doesn't come in as fast as it goes out.   They are still very wise consumers.

By Deb on 2/3/2009

When the kids get money for an event (birthday, Christmas, grandma, chores, etc) they are responsible for it. If their sibling tries (or succeeds) to take it, we tell them they should have put it away safer. They usually want something expensive so they save (sometimes for 2 years) until they can afford it. This has taught them that life is expensive, not always right (siblings take or hide money to cause trouble), with time and patience, better things can happen. Usually the kids have us put money in the safe or have us take them to the bank. They enjoy lookng at their money on-line. The kids are 8,6,5 and already appreciate the value of money.

By Juliw on 2/3/2009

As early as age 8 when I could use scissors, my mother started making me cut coupons out the paper and sorting them in categories. I am now 32 yrs old and I still do that to save money and you cannot imagine how much I saved per shopping trip.

By TANISHIA on 2/3/2009

Saving and giving of course is something we teach as well as smart shopping such as not paying regular price for anything (well, most anything).  Like Tanishia's posting - couponing and sales means more money stays in their pockets. 

By Tami on 2/3/2009

My twins are only 3 years old, but we are already trying to teach them money concepts.  They have to pick up after baths and dinner, but at bedtime if they help pick up their toys they get some change for their piggy banks.  It is interesting when one gets paid and the other doesn't - talk about teachable moments.  Our household is completely run on cash, so the kids never see us swipe a card.  When out shopping we try to explain why we cannot buy something they want:  "We have enough money in the envelope to buy what we need, when it is gone, it is gone."  or  "We did not plan to have the money to buy that this month, but if you really want it, we can plan and save to buy it later."  It is amazing what kids can understand at only 3 years old.

By Becky on 2/3/2009

Have your children develop a household/daily living budget.  It can be very simple for young children and more complex for teens. Make sure a savings program is in the budget.  This helps them to understand that one must earn in order to spend, that purchases have to be thought about and not be spontaneous.  My teen started to look at a shirt as not the purchase price but how many hours she needed to work to pay for an item.  Then she could decide if it was really worth that much labor.

By Kandy on 2/3/2009

When my grandson was about five years old he spent one night a week at our house (and still does). I started having him pull the bags out of the small trash cans in our 3 bathrooms and replace them with a clean bag. I gave him $1.50 in quarters each week for this chore. Caleb had three banks to put his money in, 0.25 to God, 0.25 to savings and $1.00 to spend. Once he had saved $5.00 for God and $5.00 for savings he was then able to spend the $20.00 he saved for himself. It really was not until he was able to spend his $20.00 when he really "got" the concept of what he was doing. Since then teaching him to save money has been easy and giving to God will become second nature to him as an adult. Now he saves his $20.00 until he has more so that he can buy video games, etc. Caleb is now going to go to a larger chore and my smaller grandson who is now old enough to take over the bathroom trash cans will and the lessons that have been started with the oldest one will continue. I did not teach my children to handle money very well, maybe grandparenting is a second chance to do it right.

By Vickie on 2/3/2009

When telling my young son he couldn't have something because I didn't have the money, he'd say "just use the money machine" or  "just write a check" (HA HA!). One day instead of depositing a large check, I took the cash. He said "Wow we're rich!" I made a pile for each of the the bills that needed paying,with a very small amount left, I asked him if he thought we should buy food or a new toy. It took him a minute to get it, but it taught him the importance of prioritizing and making a good choice.

By Nancy on 2/3/2009

When my children get their allowance it is split into three.  One third to spend, one third to save and one third for a charity.  They can decide how the charity money is used.  Either the giving project at school around the holidays, donations to health related charities or buying food for the local food pantry (or something else if it comes up).  It makes them aware of what a little money can do for someone less fortunate that may be very close to home.

By Beth on 2/3/2009

Get then to keep a record of what they spend there money for and how much . This will help to know what the money is spent for.

By Mary on 2/3/2009

My children are now 20 & 21, but when they started college, I was amazed at the credit card offers that came in the mail and the kiosks on capuses.  I told them not to sign up for credit cards just to get the gift... i.e. a t-shirt, cooler, beverage cups, etc.  If it was that important, and they felt like they needed that item, I personally would go out and buy it for them.  In the long run, that t-shirt, etc. would wind up costing way more than they ever anticipated.  I explained to them what the "offer" really meant.  Yeah, they don't have any credit cards or the debt that's associated with them!

By Beth on 2/3/2009

when my kids were little i  use  to put money they would get  for their birhtday or chritmas i would start off with putting their money in jar or botttle with their names on it and tell them . and put it a side for them also it can help out with college in the furtune

By JACQUELINE on 2/3/2009

I have a 16 year old and a nine year old: and we give them a monthly money allotment and anything they need for school or outside activities have to come out of that money.  They learn how to budget and plan ahead.  Of course we have to help the nine year old much more.  On action unexpected things pop up that we have to help out the 16 year old, but that’s an important lesson as well.  Sometimes we all need help and we need to know the right way to go about getting the help we need.

By Leah on 2/3/2009

When our kids were about 3 we started their own bank accounts. Whenever  they got any money from grandma or from anyone else half went for their banks, half they could keep for whatever thay wanted. Even if it was only a dollar we kept enforcing save half, keep half for something they wanted. When the money added up we turned the money into CD's. We let them watch their accounts grow. Now they are 18 and 13, and they still try to bank half and keep half. The 18 year old(she works part time now) was thrilled when she got her first car and still had money to put in a new stereo system and it didn't hurt her college budget at all.

By Karen on 2/3/2009

My son is 12 yrs old, and my daughter is 9yrs old..  We want them to know that they will be paid for work they do, even house chores.. although we live on a very tight budget, they earn money by helping with dinner, taking out trash, caring for our birds, and other stuff.. and since house chores do not come with over time.. we give them bonuses for example if one of them clean the bathroom it's worth $2.50 because putting dishes away and wiping off the kitchen table is only worth $0.25..  my daughter is not very good at saving up to purchase something she really wants.. as to pose my son will save till he has enough to buy a video game... i don't just push chores on them, they know the rule is... if you want to make money, come and tell me you want a chore list.. they get the max of 4 chores a day and a bonus chore if I dont have to keep telling them to correct what they've just done which the bonus chore is worth  $0.75  so at the end of 2 weeks sometime one will make $4.00 and the other $9.00 and when we go out to a restraunt which is very rare, we will ask the kids how do u think the waiter/waitress did on bringing your food.. or was he/she nice.. and when they finally come to an agreement.. i let them know she too is doing a chore, and it is up to us to give her credit.. so my daughter will happily give her $1.00 and my son will usually give $2.00 and as parents, we put in the rest.

By Cynthia on 2/3/2009

My children are grown now so this goes back to the 70’s and 80’s. When my children were old enough to work, it was with conditions. Here they were.

1. Whatever you earn in a pay check you have to save fifty percent of it in a savings account.
2. Of the fifty percent that was left you had to use twenty-five percent of it on items you need.
3. That leaves you twenty-five percent for indulgences.

By Roberta on 2/3/2009

We have a money jar for each kid.  They are paid for certain things and money is taken away for certaint things.  Before they spend the money 10% goes to God, 10% goes to savings (we help them but the 6 year old is getting good at the 10% concept).  Then when they want a new item they use this money.  If they don't have enough for the item including tax we don't give them more they must save it.

By Kelli on 2/3/2009

Children need to understand the concept of working and receiving a reward for it early on.  This is what happens when you leave home and take a job.  Most teenagers are lousy employees because they are not taught this as children.  If you do your chores you receive earnings appropriate for the task and age of the child.  This way if a child does not do what is asked of them they do not receive the earnings for said task.  That is the way it is in the world.  If a child is not taught this at home, they will have a difficult time when they start working out in the world.  It's very simple, but seldom taught in this "entitled" world in which we now live.  Youth believe they should not have to work for anything and everything should just come to them for free. 

By Catherine on 2/3/2009

To have your child handle money wisely, you must set an example and use money wisely yourself.  As adults, we have cash envelopes that we place money in monthly for such things as birthdays, car taxes, insurance, spending money, etc.  We also have a budget that we stick to all the time.  We have also talked with our kids all of their lives about money and spending habits and what was good and what was bad and how easy it is to get into trouble with excessive spending They have seen our budget and know where our money is going.  Now that the kids are older and in college, they too are basically on a budget.  We send them a monthly amount and they are required to pay rent, utilities, and groceries with this money AND then any other spending.  They have both done a really great job!  I’m really proud of them!

By Debbie on 2/3/2009

Last year, we made a pact that we would save all found money in a jar for the entire year.  By found money, I mean picking up coins from the sidewalk, in the laundry or anywhere.  At the end of the year, we counted the money and then the kids got to decide what to do with it.  They chose to give it to our church's food pantry.  That way they both learned how to save and how to give.

By Brenda on 2/3/2009