I loved all of the studies and financial data was broken down into small digestible bites. Often when I read books about finances, even if they are books about teaching the younger generation, some of the examples can be really heavy. The author speaks in a very conversational tone that makes the book move quickly. I learned a lot and for the things we were already doing in our family, I found evidence to back up why those things are a good idea. One of my favorite ideas that Beth Kobliner shares is the idea that kids should be expected to do things, just because they are part of the family, parents can choose to compensate extra chores or jobs but some things need to be a regular expectation. I LOVE that she is teaching kids to manage money while teaching them how to function as a family unit.
One of the ideas the author suggest for younger children is separated piggy banks. Every time your child earns some money, (and she advocates giving your children physical money when they are young), you have them separate it into three different jars or piggy banks. This helps them learn from a young age to save, serve others and of course lets them have some of their own spending money. To “piggy back” on this idea, I made each of my girls a set of Piggy Banks.
For this project you will need:
- three piggy banks or jars (I found mine at the dollar store!)
- vinyl
- transfer tape
- a way to cut the vinyl
My local dollar store always seems to have a selection of piggy banks, so it is a great place to grab them. Jars or any other containers will work too. Kobliner suggest finding opaque containers to make dipping into the saving or serving jar a little less tempting.
Find a bright color of vinyl to stand out on each jar and cut them out, I used my Cricut to cut three labels, spending, serving and saving. Using transfer tape, transfer the vinyl from the backing to the the piggy banks.
After you have your piggy banks ready to go, come up with something that works for your family for us, we use the 10% rule. Every time one of my daughters earns some money, 10% automatically goes into saving and another 10% automatically goes into serving. If she wants to add more to her saving jar, I will match anything she does on top of the 10%. This gives her an incentive to save more of her money without feeling like we are forcing her to save.
We have loved the new ideas for allowance, chores and money in our house. I feel like our house is always happier when everyone knows what the expectations of them are and this book has truly helped us find what works for us at the ages our kids are right now and when they get a little older we will move on to the next phase.
What are you doing to help teach your kids money management?
These are always great ideas to help kids learn about money. I've been very fortunate that both my kids prefer to save their money rather than spend it. They have both saved up for big purchases.
I've been lucky that my youngest daughter is a saver. She still has money from birthdays and Christmases past. My oldest daughter who will be 18 in June. Ha! She spends every cent she earns from working. I finally took over her checkbook and confiscated her check card, because she was spending $40 and $50 every other day at school ordering take out from nearby restaurants for lunch.
Love the idea of using piggy banks. I recently had my kids decorate some and we are going to start giving them allowance and doing something similar to what you described. Never too early to learn how to be financially responsible.
My daughter is almost 4, and even though she might be a little young maybe this could help me know how to best explain money to her. You said it gave you some good groundwork for you3 year old and that's awesome.
I have seen this book going around lately. It sounds interesting. I am very bad at teaching my kids money and Im sure this book could help. Love the idea of three piggy banks.
We started allowance about a year ago. We tried (and failed) with the three jars, but at least we are keeping up with the allowance.
My husband and I agree, that some things are just expected out of our children. We don't get paid for helping keep our house clean but for extra chores I like the idea of finding a way to compensate them. This sounds like a perfect book for me and my kids (8 and 3) Adding this to my Goodreads "to-read" shelf now!
This seems to be a popular book these days. Our daughter was always expected to do certain things (mostly centered around helping the family) but if there was something bigger we would negotiate for a fee. She is a great negotiator to this day!
What a great way to teach kids about money. I am definitely going to have to get this book!
This is such a brilliant idea – I used to have tea jars as a kid where I would put my monies! x
I think your kids are never too young to learn about fiscal responsibility and this book is a great tool for making financial smarts fun! I can't wait to share it with my kids! Thanks for putting it on my radar!
My kids LOVE their piggy banks and counting/playing with their money but it ends up all over the house. LOL This was a fun, cute idea for kids. Thanks for sharing.
This is definitely a great idea! I have been trying to teach my kids about money in this exact same way!
What a great idea to have separate piggy banks! I was so frivolous with my allowance as a kid. I definitely want to teach my children to be more responsible.
I have been teaching my kids and I think we are doing a pretty good job. These are great tips.
wow you found these cute little piggy banks at the dollar store thats cute. I have been seeing this book everywhere!
As a military wife who could barely handle her busy schedule I am truly glad I came across your post. That books sounds really awesome. I will definitely check them out and if ever, I will give this as a gift to my best friend who has a 10 year old son already.
Such a great idea, I wish I would have had something like this as a child I think it would have made a huge difference in how I spend vs. save, I am currently a horrible saver.
Teaching kids to save at a young age is so important. We are slowly teaching out kids that to get extras you need to save.
I learned this when I was a child and it has definitely helped me as an adult. It teaches how to make a budget and to see if you really want to spend on certain items.
Such a great idea. I love teaching my kids the value of a dollar, and why they should learn to save. etc. This would be a great idea! – Jeanine
I think it is really important to teach children how to be financially responsible from an early age. This is a very educational resource in order to instill the value of a dollar in them from childhood.
Omg how cute are these piggy banks!!! It's never too soon to start teaching kids about money!!!! The sooner the better!
I didn't get an allowance as a kid but I wish I would have. I have been babysitting since I was 12 so that has helped with my perspective on money!