Saving Money and Kids

This post was underwritten by BMO Harris Bank, which offers a matching $25 on a new savings account opened for your child through their Helpful Steps for Parents program. Learn more at bmoharris.com/parents.

Saving and Helping your kids to understand money and its value

What a topic!!

I am pretty excited that I was chosen for this blog post opportuniy – I’m all about saving money!  And it’s my responsibility as a parent to pass that love and knowledge on to my children.

Funny, this is perfect timing – just last night I taught my cub scout class a less on “Saving Well, Spending Well”. Straight from the Cub Scout BEAR book: “Money is going to be important to you all of your life.  Now is a good time to learn how to manage it”

I don’t think any child is too early to learn the power of saving money.  Even my toddler has his own money jug, as do the rest of my kids:

Our children get money each week for specific duties that they do.  With that total, they then divide it up into tithing, saving, and spending.  It is so fulfilling to see them save up to buy something they really want!

We talk about money a lot – what it can get you, how you can save up, etc – make it a part of daily conversations.  I want them to know how to save, along with how to plan what to spend, find good deals, etc.  When we went on our trip to Florida, we explained how we had saved up money for the trip and were super excited to go, but at the same time we couldn’t do everything in Florida because that wasn’t in the budget – we had them pick 2 theme parks that cost money and several other free activities.  Keeping them involved is huge!  Another example is showing kids how to be wise in spending – my son loves LEGO sets, so when he saves his money, that’s what it is usually for.  He knows to look at the store, price what he wants, then come home and check Ebay to see how prices compare.  He’s also used Craigslist to sell some of his old toys.  Ever learning…..
My girls think garage sales are like stores and often remark how they need something and maybe we could put it on the garage sale list.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but we’re pretty big into Dave Ramsey and the no debt philosophy.  Duh, to buy something, you need to have money to do so.  So save your money, and then buy something.  Credit is not necessary.  I’m sure you’ve seen this bit before:

I feel strongly about this whole concept, and want to pass that on to my children.  I’m sure these books will be in our future.  Writing this post makes me want to buy them right now…

In a post a while back, I mentioned how my husband wanted a fun car.  For a year, he bought and sold LEGOS on Ebay.  It was hard work – hours in the evenings packing and sorting legos.  But hard work pays off, and he bought his “lego car” with cash in hand.

In fact, we’ve never had a car payment – always saved up and bought something in our budget.  So it’s doable – I’m living proof!   We’ve already told our kids if they start saving for a car now, we’ll match what they save.  So when my son turns 16 and has $1000, then we’ll give him $1000, and he can grab a starter car for $2000.  Another way to instill the saving bug.

Anyways, thanks for letting me ramble about teaching kids about money and saving – – it’s a HUGE life skill that all kids need!!

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. To learn more about BMO Harris Bank, visit their website https://bmoharris.com/parents.