Do your kids think that money grows on tree's
I think that, every kid in the world, at one age or another, thinks that money grows on tree's. Moms purse and Dad's wallet become the First National Bank, in their eyes. We tend to make matters worse by over indulgin our kids to some degree. We dont always realize that we are doing it and that is part of the problem.
Families are big and gifts are plentiful ( even if they are small gifts) for a lot of people, when it comes to birthdays and Christmas at least! We don't always purchase only half of the presents that they would normally get and put the other half in the bank. Remember when grandma and grandpa would buy savings bonds for kids presents, to make sure that we had money when we grew up or to go towards our college education? Somehow, our generation forgot a lot of the things that our parents provided and helped to save for us.
It is no wonder, that our kids are having a problem understanding the concept of saving money and paying bills. There are a lot of kids that can't even make change, because the cash register 'tells' them how much change to give back! It is up to us to make sure that kids understand the responsibility of paying rent, utilities, putting gas in the car etc. They should be able to have a budget (even if it is allowance money that they have as income) in order to purchase certain items, save money for Christmas, football games etc.
Some little guidelines to help you set the rules are:
1. Relate to your childhood for the rules that were set down for you.
2. When were you the most happy with something? When you earned it, when you were given it without any problem, when you dreamed about getting it for a long time are a few questions you might ask yourself.
3.How much of a specific item can your child use at one time? Does he need four balls, 12 shirts,4 pairs of shoes, seven trucks? Does she need 4 pairs of shoes, 8 pairs of jeans, 7 dolls, 3 jackets?
4. Does your child know how to save money, does he/she have a savings account with thier name on it, does your child take a trip weekly and 'go to the bank' to add money to his/her account?
5. Do they look for sales and bargains when they shop, so their money stretches farther?
Now is the time that they are learning the value of a dollar and how to make that dollar stretch as far as possible. Help them, by setting the guidelines for them to follow that will do them the most good.
They say that everyone learns from their mistakes; maybe our kids can learn a little too!
Jan Hayner offers tips and hints on organizing, saving money and time, reducing stress in our lives and how to do it all, the easy way. Go to www.organizing your life the easy way.com for her newsletter, free checklists and her new book '101 Hints for Around the Home'.
