Hey, Everyone! I hope you are having a great day! Today I want to talk about kids and money and teaching them to manage money well. There are so many ways to do this and so many good ideas out there but I’m just going to share what we do and what works for our family.
Neither my husband or I were taught about money growing up. We grew up in families where money was tight and there was never much to go around. Our parents were very frugal but budgeting was not something either of us learned growing up. When we got married we had NO clue what we were doing. It took several years of screwing it all up to realize that this was not how we wanted to live and not the legacy we wanted to pass on to our children. How much easier those first few years would have been if we had known how to budget and been financially literate! We decided to change it going forward and give our kids the training and practice we didn’t have.
We have an eight year old and an almost 5 year old that are old enough for paid chores. They have some things they have to do to contribute to the household and then they have paid chores. My children have to keep their rooms cleaned and toys properly put away, feed and water the dog twice a day, feed and water the chickens, put dishes away, help with laundry and put all their clothes away. These chores will change as they get older or as needs change around the house. The most important thing though is that money is tied to work. They don’t get an allowance, the get paid for work that they do. No work, no pay.
When we first started this, we were at a loss as to how much money to pay our kids. How much was too much? How much was too little? We didn’t know. We just decided on an amount and started. As time has gone on and we started paying our second child for chores, things have morphed a bit for us and we have found what feels very reasonable for us. We decided to pay them $0.50/wk per year of their age. This gives them a raise every year as their abilities and responsibilities increase. They each have jars for saving and spending and then they have a jar for their chicken money. Our son has one chicken and our daughter has 3. I buy eggs from them at the going rate for farm eggs and then they are responsible for buying their feed and supplies. This also helps them track the finances of a mini business.
If they want anything that is not a need, they have to buy it with their money. When we started paying our oldest, it was amazing how dramatically it cut down on her asking for things or wanting us to buy her this or that. It gave her the power over what and when she bought things and if she wanted something, she had to figure out how to get it instead of asking us for it.
Time will only tell how much impact this is having on them but it is our hope that giving them money and practice throughout their childhood will help them when they transition to adults and hopefully they will have a much better understanding of how money works than we did!
Until next time …
Grace