Teach A Child How To Budget

Photo by: olpc

I can still remember being a young teenager and my mom and I going to the bank to open my first checking account.

This was before debit cards were so common, so all I got was a book of checks, causing me to feel very grown up.

Then we went straight to a bookstore where my mom bought me a small booklet that went into the back of the check book. It was a simple booklet of “spreadsheet style” tables. She showed me how to fill out categories, how to use them keep track of how much I had and how much I wanted to spend on any given thing.

We discussed the benefits of watching your money and the potential consequences of mindless spending.

It was simple and easy to grasp (and I’m terrible at math).

I could see right away the advantages I would gain from such a simple system.

I doubt that if she hadn’t taught me how to budget my 95% at that age, that I’d be in as much control of my finances as I am today. I was lucky enough to grow up being very conscious of where my paychecks were going, and managing where they went. (Video games, mostly… at the time. And some savings.)

If you have children, consider teaching them how to budget while they’re young. It’s not a difficult concept for younger folks to grasp and the benefits to them can be huge in the long run.

How do you teach your kids about money?

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