Have the cents to teach your kids about money.

 

    Money!   I have heard it said that money isn't everything but that everything needs money.  I would argue that not everything needs money but most things do.  If our world revolves around money then we all including our children need to have an understanding about money.  How do we get it?  What do we do with it?  How will it help us? 

HOW DO WE GET IT?

    The old adage "money doesn't grow on trees" is unfortunately true! Because it doesn't grow on trees we need to teach our children how to get it.  

    First, it is important to teach our children the value of hard work.  You want your children to be contributing citizens in the world so they need to understand how to work and why they need to work.  Explain to them the work that you do whether it is in the home or outside the home has value and blesses your family.  Share your experiences of chores you did when you were young and jobs you may have held as you grew up. Encourage your children to be creative about ways they can make money.  Have a family council and brainstorm ideas together about how they can earn money.  These might include babysitting, mowing, cleaning up dog waste in yards, power washing garbage cans, cleaning windows, dog walking. Let them be entrepreneurs. If they are old enough they can apply to work at local stores or restaurants.  

    In an article by Marvin J Ashton he says "One of the greatest favors parents can do for their children is to teach them to work. Much has been said over the years about children and monthly allowances, and opinions and recommendations vary greatly. I’m from the “old school.” I believe that children should earn their money needs through service and appropriate chores. I think it is unfortunate for a child to grow up in a home where the seed is planted in the child’s mind that there is a family money tree that automatically drops “green stuff” once a week or once a month."  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/09/one-for-the-money?lang=eng

    Work can be fun!  Especially when we work together as a family.  Here is a clip of our children working hard to help rip up our old flooring in our kitchen.  It was work but they had fun.  Amazingly no one was injured in the process.  

    Other than big family projects you will want to teach your child the importance of consistent work. Getting children to participate in daily chores can be difficult. There are many wonderful chore charts you can create or find online.  Here is a link to one that has printable chore charts as well as a list of age appropriate suggested chores.  https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/printable-chore-charts-1388450  Don't feel limited to just this suggested one there are tons of different charts including digital ones that work great.  We tried many different ones through the years.  Remember what works for one child may not work for another.  Be flexible and try new ways.   

    Along with teaching them the value of work we have to also let them experience the consequences of choosing not to work.  Which leads me to my second question.  

WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT?

    Dave Ramsey an an American personal finance advisor, radio show host, author, and businessman says there are three things we can do with money "spend it, save it, and give it away."  https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-to-manage-your-money  

    This is a great time to introduce your children to the idea of a budget.  For our family we expect our children to put 50% of their income into their savings this money is untouchable until they either serve a mission or go to college.  The next 40% is their spending money.  I encourage you to use an envelope system like Dave Ramsey suggests.  We allow our children to use this 40% for their own entertainment, or to save  for a larger item they want like a new pair of basketball sneakers or phone. At this point it is really important to teach our children the differences between a want and a need. 

 The last 10% is not required of them but we strongly encourage them to use that to pay an honest tithe.  We don't require this because the Lord asks for a willing heart so we do too.  You may feel like you want your children to put more away into their savings and that is perfectly fine.  These percentages were what we felt fit best for our family.    

    We don't have a designated set of chores that our children do daily in order to paid.  We do however typically work together to clean up after dinner, and there are daily tasks I ask the children to help with such as putting the clean dishes away, taking out the trash, cleaning up after the animals, helping put away groceries, and picking up around the house.  Saturdays are our big chore day.  Chores vary from week to week but always include a cleaning of their bedrooms.  If they have plans with friends for Saturday then they have to spend Friday evening doing their chores.  They are part of a family and are expected to complete their chores before having fun with their friends.  

    Now that we are down to the last two of our five children we have decided to try a new approach to reign in the spending of money for the activities that our teenagers want to go and do.  It seems like there is always something going on at school or with friends that require money.  We decided to give our teenagers $25 a month.  This money is given to them it is not earned by chores.  We decided to give it to them for the purpose of them learning to budget with a steady income and they alone are responsible for it.  They can use this for activities, eating out, or birthday gifts for friends, etc.  We have told them if they have a big activity coming up they may want to save their monthly money for that activity, but it is ultimately their choice. Our daughter learned pretty quickly the importance of budgeting her money when she went out to eat with her friends and could only get water because she did not have the funds available to buy anything else.  It is a valuable life lesson for them. No money = you can't buy anything.

HOW WILL IT HELP US?

    It isn't uncommon to hear about the "evils" of money.  Having money is not a bad thing.  It is what we choose to do with our money.  We want to teach our children that money is an instrument that we use.  We are expected to control our money not have our money control us.  Money is necessary and can be used to do much good. 

    As children mature it is important to help them see and understand where the money we earn goes.  Talk to them about needing more detailed budgets as we become adults. It is important for them to know that we have to budget for a house payment, car insurance, groceries, gas, electricity, cell phones, internet usage, etc.  Most of these things are the necessities of life.  This goes back to our earlier topic of wants vs. needs.  Money is necessary to pay the bills.

    Not only can money help us individually and as families, but we can use our money to help those around us.  Teach your children the importance of giving.  This reminds me of the story in the Bible when the Savior tells the rich man to sell all he has and come follow Him.  The man went away troubled because he had so much and was unwilling to part with it.  Because of that choice he missed out on a wonderful opportunity to be with the Savior.  

I love this quote from Mother Theresa. 

    The monetary amount our children give is not as important as the attitude they have towards giving.  There are many wonderful opportunities to give individually and as a family in the community. One way to help promote a giving heart in our children is through modeling that behavior.  Involve your children in your discussions on how you will give whether it be through paying a tithe, offerings, or donations to local charities.  

    Hold a family council and discuss something your family could sacrifice in order to bless another family.  Our family decided this next year instead of getting Christmas pajamas we wanted to us that money give to those who struggle with the basics in life such as clean water and food.  We have loved the tradition of  having matching pajamas but we knew that our money could be used to do something better.  And this will create wonderful memories and feelings that will last a lifetime. It has been exciting to have the children do research with us and decide exactly where we want our money to go, a cow, a couple of goats, maybe 10 or more chickens. As we give our hearts are filled with joy and somehow we begin to feel more content with the things we are blessed with.   

   Knowledge about money and how to budget will bring our children freedom from the bondage of debt that so many people experience.  Those bonds and other unnecessary financial hardships are hard.  

    "In the home, money management between husband and wife should be on a partnership basis, with both parties having a voice in decision and policy making. When children come along and reach the age of accountability, they, too, should be involved in money concerns on a limited-partnership basis. Peace, contentment, love, and security in the home are not possible when financial anxieties and bickerings prevail." (Ashton Marvin J.   https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/09/one-for-the-money?lang=eng )

    When we teach and prepare our children to earn and handle money we are preparing them for independence and adulthood.