Talking with kids about money can be a little awkward at times, especially if they don’t fully understand the concept. Decide on an age appropriate time and have that talk with them. Learning to handle money is just as important to learning the facts about life or drugs. You want your kids to be prepared for the future.
Here is how you can teach kids to save money.
Set A Good Example No Matter The Age
This is important if you want to teach kids to save money because managing money successfully is all about making good decisions. Maybe your child won’t understand your bank statement but you can use situations you come across in everyday life to talk to kids about money on their level. It is never too early to teach kids to save money.
When it comes to older kids remember they are very aware of your attitude toward money. They will notice if you talk about saving money daily but in the end all you do is make impulse purchases. Every time you put money in savings, talk about it why and how much you decided to put. If you put aside some of your tax refund for saving, show them the tax calculator you used to determine how much. Think of it this way, you don’t want your kids to pick up bad habits like smoking or excessive drinking so you set the example by not doing those things. It’s the same with money management. Set a good example for your kids. If you think that you can’t save money and you live from paycheck to paycheck, you can check out great post on Mommy Edition. Jayme from that blog found 18 (yes, 18!!) ways you can save money on baby necessities like diapers or formula. Check out the post and get inspired.
As you can see, there are many ways to show your kids how to save money, even on some home necessities.
Give Your Child a Piggy Bank
This can be a great teaching tool for your young ones. Preschoolers like to hear the sound of coins dropping in and as they get older, school aged kids understand that as the piggy bank gets heavier, they’re saving money.
Saving goals shouldn’t be complicated. When the piggy bank is full, help your child count the money and let them spend some of it. This will help them learn goal setting and that sometimes in order to get what they really want, they have to save for it. This is the fun way to teach kids to save money. Encourage them to spend money on something fun but useful, as some nice books you can find in my post about best books for toddlers.
Give Your Older Child Increased Responsibility
Usually around the age of nine your kids can start paying for their own non-essential items like games or other toys. This will increase their incentive to save and make them think about how much they really want that action figure.
Introduce a Bank Account
Some banks like credit unions have accounts made especially for your child with special incentives like small prizes. They can learn to set aside their allowance and put it in their bank account for later. This a good way to teach kids to save money.
Teach Teens About Credit Cards
To most kids, a credit card is an easy and convenient way to pay for things but might not realize the extra costs associated with them. Explain how debit and credit cards are different and how credit cards can be used responsibly. Your teen should understand that using a credit card is like taking out a loan that has to be paid back.
Teach Your Kids About Online Shopping
Now that technology is giving us so much more to do, teaching your kids about online shoppingis becoming all too important. They should learn that entering personal information online is a risk because people can take that information and use money that isn’t theirs.
Make rules regarding online purchases. Explain to them who they have to ask and why a parent or guardian has to be there when there is a purchase to be made.
Learning to save money takes practices as we all know. We will make mistakes but those mistakes can turn into lessons that our children can learn from to become savvier adults.
Remember – it’s never too early to teach kids to save money!
*And just for full disclosure, there are affiliate links in this posts “How to teach kids to save money” That means that I’m sharing something that I think is helpful, and if you make a purchase through the link, I earn a little bit back. No extra cost to you, and just a little help for me to pay for the blog expenses.
What great tips! I was a little spoiled as a child so I want to teach my children the value of money and how to save better, my three year old has a little piggy bank she likes to use but I think I need to teach her more about the concept of money as she doesn’t understand paying for things, and maybe a trip to the bank. Thanks. Found from Meetup Monday.
Great idea! My daughter has just started understanding what coins and dollars are (she calls them “these monies”), so a piggy bank is a great idea!
My son loves putting coins into his piggy bank. Its always good to teach kids to save their money. Early in live is better 🙂 thanks for sharing!
These are such great tips! It’s so important to teach kids about money from an early age. I love how your suggestions are somewhat “tiered,” so you can introduce new money concepts as your child is ready!
I love my daughter having an understanding of money, and she’s only 3! She loves ‘counting’ her money and she already chooses to buy things she wants using money from her moneybox. When she knows she has to pay for it, she really thinks about whether it is something she really wants.
Thanks for linking up to Marvelous Monday on Smart Party Planning.
Great ideas!
These are great tips. My son is 10 and he still saves in his piggy bank. They have a banking program at his school that I plan on signing him up for next year. Learning how to save money and delay gratification is such an important life skill. Thanks for sharing!
Great tips! We asked out daughter to save up 1/2 of the cost of the dirtbike she wanted and it took a year, but I think it’s her most treasured possession. 4-H clubs are GREAT training for budgeting lessons!
I really like that maze piggy bank! Wonderful tips.
Great tips! I have 3 kids, my oldest is 10 and my other two are 4 and 6. My oldest is usually really good with money and for the most part does great with money. My youngest though are not getting it. Thanks for these tips, it will come in handy.
Melissa
Fantastic tips! We definitely have a responsibility to ensure our children grow up with a solid understanding of finances.
Thank you for sharing with us at #MommyMeetupMondays!
These are wonderful tips and suggestions! My girls got piggie banks when they were 2. It’s such an important step to teaching children about money. Loved this and pinning to my Deliberate PARENTING board.
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo
ive set aside $20 a week into an account for each of my 2 girls, the oldest just turned 13 and wanted an allowance.
she could either have $20 a week or i could continue to load money into the account for her, she decided to keep the account going since its already over $21k with the interest
These are some great tips. My 10 year old saves her birthday money and any other money she receives and pays for her own special things….mostly the sparkly hair clips that I hate to buy because she looses them so much. I notice that she takes care of things more when she has paid for them too.
Excellent ideas! I think it is so important that kids learn about how money works and how to be good stewards of it a young age. Too often that gets missed!
This is awesome, I will be pinning it and will be sharing it on my facebook page. Stopping by from A Bountiful Love.
Great post. And I did not know about bank accounts for kids in Credit Union. I would like to try that.
Great tips. I started putting money into a piggy bank for my son as soon as I found out I was pregnant for him. Now that he’s 5 years old he saves his money he gets for his birthday and other things in his piggy bank. He actually bought his own swing set. I think its important to teach kids the value of money when they’re little! Great post!!
Teaching kids about money is always so important. That is one lesson my kids have learned thoroughly. They know better than to ask me for money because they know my first question is going to be about how they can save for it, work for it, or give up something to have it. And when they come in with something they got on a clearance sale or with a coupon, we are so pleased with them – even my adult children. They are always bragging about the deals they get. Great post!
These are great tips! Teaching teens about credit cards, before college, is so important!
That is awesome! I really hope my daughter will also be like that when she is little bit older. It’s so important that they understand the value about money and saving money.
When I was little I remember that I was saving money to buy myself a small piano set 🙂 I was so proud when I bought that with my own money!
I noticed that we grown ups also take care of things more when we worked hard for them 🙂
That is such a great idea. I wanted to do that for my own daughter, but some things got complicated and I gave up on that idea. I think I will try to do that again!
I didn’t hear that school have banking programs! That is so cool!
So many great tips! My just-turned-3-year-old has become interested in coins the last couple of weeks. Before they were always off-limits to him (he would try to eat them), but now we are trying to teach him more about money. I need to get him his own little piggy bank, and this post was the reminder I needed to do it! Thank you for sharing your ideas with us! I’m glad I found you on SHINE blog hop!
My son is about to turn four! I think it’s time to get a piggy bank and start learning how to save money. Thanks for all the great tips.
Doh! I keep forgetting about dragging them down to get an actual account. Must do this!
thanks for the great tips and the reminder to be an example!
My daughter was trying to eat them too! 😀 I think she realizes now it’s not something tasty. We got her a piggy bank and she enjoys putting coins there.
Very nice post, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.
I love this! great article. Also, made me realize that we don’t even have a piggy bank in my kiddos room!! I need to fix this asap.