Children Save Money and Teaching Them on the Value of Money
Does it feel like your kids are constantly asking you buy things for them? Whenever they get hooked on the latest phase, you always seem to end up footing the bill.
“Saving is a very fine thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.” – Winston Churchill
Look at those people out there who always seem to achieve their goals, they typically would have excellent savings habits – habits which they learnt when they were young. So it is extremely important that you teach your kids good saving habits early to set them up for a successful future.
Saving For Children: Where Do I Start?
Do you remember the moment you bought your first car? Do you remember dreaming with your friends how cool would it be to own your own apartment, parties every night, nobody nagging you to clean your room all them time – now that’s a dream worth dreaming!
The trick is to start with your kids strong desires – if they really want something badly they will extremely motivated to save for it. Children save money best when they have a focused goal in the their minds, so let them dream big – as long as they know that they are responsible for making your dream come true.
Make sure you convey to them absolute satisfaction of knowing that you have saved for something all by yourself, the feeling of independence is a feeling that cannot be replaced – its as important as the goal itself. Personally I will always remember when I bought my first car. I saved like a dog for many many months, when I finally bought it I had that feeling that I actually own something, not my parent’s but me – that was a feeling that I will never forget.
Saving For Child: Defining Goals
Get your child to sit down and brainstorm a list of goals, the key is to make sure they write it all down so it becomes real. Boys will typically be wanting to save up for a car, girls possibly wanting more long term goals like saving for college or an apartment.
My recommendation would be to start with baby steps, get them to tackle the short term goals first so they start building the habit. Short term goals might be a must-see concert which is on in a few months, perhaps that awesome bike that was in the window. Short term goals are an excellent place to start – make sure they write them all down.
Savings For Child: Making The Dream Come True
Ok they’ve written it all down, you’re half-way there – now how are they going to save enough money to achieve their goals? Depending on the goal, your child can consider a couple of different strategies
- Work backwards – Let’s say Lady Gaga is having a concert in 2 months time. You child knows she can divide up the number of weeks to work out that she’ll need to save $50 each week to be able to afford the concert.
- Save like crazy! – Let’s say your son really want to buy his first car like right now. There will be 2 deciding factors to manage: income, and expenditure. Get some extra income and spend as little as possible and he will accelerate how quickly he can buy that car.
- Use a regular saving plan – Say your daughter wants to buy her own place, whenever she gets paid by regularly keeping half her pocket money away she will be able to determine that she could buy her own place in 2 years.
Summary
Children save money best when they have a clear goal in mind, as a parent its your role to help them understand the connection between saving and achieving their goals. If you can do this, your child will be well on their way to independence.
Make a positive contribution to your son or daughter’s future now. Come to our website for more information. How To Save Money For Children Educate your child about money and see their financial responsibility grow.