Teaching Kids To Save Money

In 2007 we got each of our kids these handy little banks for Christmas. That following January we started working on saving money. We also set them up with their own savings account at our bank.



For them to earn money:
I have tried several different methods to allow the kids to earn money, the chore chart, a chore tree, a job jar, you name it we probably tried it. But, what we settled in on last year was this: We had a family meeting and explained to the kids that there are certain things that need to get done around the house and as a family we need to work together to get these things accomplished. We also explained that they would no longer be getting paid by the job (for example: making their bed each morning, making sure their rooms are picked up, emptying the trash, etc.) and instead would be paid one set amount per week.



The amount we give as allowance is probably pretty small and lame, but it works for us - we decided to give them half of their age as an allowance (Spirit is 8 so he gets $4.00 each week, Lefty is 6 right now so he gets $3.00 and Lady Bug at 3 years old gets $1.50 each week).

The saving:
We have them put 10% in the slot marked "Store" and 10% goes in the slot marked "Bank" and another 10% goes into the slot marked "Church" then the remainder of their money goes into their wallet for spending.

The "Church" section is often taken to church and placed in the basket, but other times if we see a charity they are interested in we let them donate their money to the cause if they desire to.



We decided to use the part of the bank marked "Store" as a way for the kids to save up for Christmas shopping. When we did this in 2008 the kids ended up with a nice little "pad" for spending on Christmas gifts for each other. It worked so nicely that the kids are even more excited to do this in 2009. They were so excited to be able to spend their own money on each other, it meant so much to them. They got so excited about it and couldn't wait for everyone to open the present "they bought"! [This could work for birthdays too, but our kid' birthdays are in January, February and April so we would have to plan for this so we don't spend it all on Christmas!]



For the part of the bank marked "Bank" we empty that out once every few months or so and deposit it into their savings account (at $0.30 a week it takes a little bit to build it up to be something that is worth depositing!) . It works really nicely though and they look forward to the times we get to make the deposit.



Lefty, my little money manager, actually will sometimes deposit more in his piggy bank than we ask him to and because of this, he had quite a bit more than Spirit did for spending on Christmas presents!



This is what works for me! For other helpful tips go here.