Children and Money

[kib]

I'm a big fan of the blog "The Simple Dollar" and I thought the "money savvy pig" (http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2011/01/04/young-children-allowances-and-financial-focus)was interesting. It's a piggy bank that gives a child the chance to choose what to do with their allowance in a very visual, hands-on way that starts the idea of saving, giving, and spending at an early age.

[lhamo]

We started giving our kids an allowance last year. First we were giving it in cash, and noticed that they tended to spend it. So as soon as I could, I opened accounts for them at our US credit union and started doing a direct deposit every week intstead. Now they both ask periodically to see how much is in there -- they get $1/week for each year they are old. They have not been tempted to spend it AT ALL, and DS now has over $600 in his and DD over $250 in hers. They love to watch it grow, and every time Suze Orman has kids on the "Can I Afford It" segment they always want to see if they have more savings than the kids on the show. This week they got book order forms at school. I told them I would buy them each three books, but if they wanted more than that they would have to pay out of their allowance. They both chose to limit themselves to three. When they ask for little extra stuff, I tell them they can take it out of allowance. Almost every time they have elected to keep their cash. I think they have already started to learn quite well the difference between needs and wants.

I know some people hate Suze, but watching the show with the kids has turned into a favorite weekly family activity, and is really building my kids money skills. My DS (9.5) has become a pretty good Financial Planner -- he can immediately predict who she will approve and who she will deny on Can I Afford IT, and he is pretty good at giving people grades on How Am I Doing, too.

lhamo

[Gina]

I love hearing stories about kids learning to be smart with money. When I was a kid I kept whatever money my folks gave me in a small drawer in Mom's dresser. I doubt I ever spent any of it. (Money is to be spent??? ;)) We did not get regular allowances but could earn small amounts by doing specific tasks. One I remember was getting a bounty for snails (1 cent each) collected around the yard.

I also remember in grade school the teachers had arranged for each of the students to have their own separage little bank accounts in a local bank. We each had our own little bank books. I only remember that happening 1 year, and don't remember much more about it. Doubt something like that would happen these days.

[Simplemind]

I have never given my son an allowance. He has been offered jobs that he was paid for. It didn't take him long to figure out which things around the house that I hated to do that I would pay him to do. The biggest was washing my car and cleaning the inside. Mowing the lawn is another. The kicker is that the job pays more if you don't have to be asked. We'll call that a tip!