I walked into our bedroom this morning and the above is what I saw.
My husband was patiently explaining to Silas how much cash to put into each of our cash envelopes and then having Silas count it out. It melted my heart to see father and son working together on our family’s finances.
Truly, I am so blessed to be married to a man who is committed to not only being wise and intentional in how we spend our money, but who is also committed to passing on money management skills to our children.
Oftentimes, people will ask us when they think you should start teaching your children about good money management. My answer? It’s never too early to start. It’s amazing what children pick up from a young age.
Talk to your children about sticking with a budget. Let them see you paying with hard-earned cash. Explain why you’re waiting to purchase something until you have enough money to pay for it.
Give them opportunities to earn and spend money. It’s never too early to teach them to be wise with their money. It’s an amazing gift to give your children that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
And also? They can pick up some great math skills in the process!
I think it is adorable that your husband was going over the envelopes and counting money with your son! What life lessons!
That picture is so sweet. I know y’all are enjoying having Jesse at home with you more since the move. What a blessing!!
We started on the Kids Wealth program when my son was four (can’t seem to find the website now, though, so they may have gone out of business), and adapted it a few times over the years (he’s almost 11 now). The one thing I have loved about this is giving the power of choice away. Now, if he asks me for something, I can say, “Yes, do you have enough money and are you sure this is what you want to spend it on?” He has learned that when he spends all his money on packs of Pokemon cards and only gets one good card, that maybe that is not a good use of “his” money. I like that he is learning about choices now when the consequences are as small as this one.
Our children really don’t get money of their own very often but they are now pros in the grocery store of reading the price per unit on the tag instead of the big price tag. I hope they take this knowledge with them to college so that they can afford more than ramen.
I agree! I took my 11 year old daughter to the homeschooling second hand curriculum sale last week and had her make all the change. She did really well. She also learned a lesson on how to “front a store” as she watch me hustle all day moving things on the table around. At one point this particular curriculum was not selling so I told her “hmm…maybe people don’t know what this is” she watched me move it and open it up and write a label explaining what it was and then her eyes got big as 2 minutes later we had 3 people at our table all wanting it. By the end of the day she was suggesting to me how to spread things out. 🙂
I think it’s awesome to see you all sharing the envelope system with your kids! We are giving our kids a few dollars a week and helping them Tithe, Save and Spend properly. Do you have any good suggestions on how to split Save and Spend? I am also trying to figure out how to organize everything. We were hoping to find a system that they could see and physically do themselves.
I allow my son to choose how much goes into each category give, save and spend. He’s a natural giver and saver. He likes to put the majority into his give bank. I do require him to put some into each category and a minimum amount into the give bank. Currently, he is 5 and I am waiting until he has a certain amount in the give bank before we donate it to a charity of his choice. I pay in pennies, nickels, and dimes as I’m a single mom, but he works for his money and I do pay him.