4 ways to teach our children good money habits

AD – I am forever on the heels of my children to save. Making them aware of how important it is to save up their pocket money each week – especially when they ask me for Fortnite bundles or cinema trip money! Them understanding that saving their money can help them buy things they want or go to places with their friends is possible – but only when you save. 

Another way to help children learn and develop good money handling habits is PSECU – they have lots of great money habit ideas. Such as the three-jar scheme, which I am totally going to start using {check out their website for more information on that!}. 

How do we do saving in our house? 

We do chores. Chores that are your responsibility i.e. you get no monetary compensation for doing them. Then there are chores that will help you earn your weekly pocket money and maybe even a little extra depending on how much you help out {or how little you moan about doing it!}. 

Instead of handing the kids their pocket money {because we all know it would burn a hole in their little child-like pockets} we have GoHenry cards for them. These are brilliant. The kids get their weekly pocket money and through the app on their phones, can choose to save it {it goes into a separate section and cannot be touched until it’s activated to do so}. Or they just keep it on their overall balance. 

It works for us and it works for them. Plus, it gives them a little more control over their own finances. 

Birthday/Christmas money

All of our kids get a little flush around their birthdays and Christmas, right? My Jacob has held onto quite a pleasant sum of money {for any 10yr old!} for the last 6mths – untouched. The force is strong with this one. 

He likes to have the option to go out with his mates when he can {because he has his own money} and also enjoys the idea of being able to buy himself that slush puppy that I said no to buying him, {bad Mummy!}. So I think, right off the bat, that Jacob has the best money saving willpower out of us all. 

Doing extra chores

Doing extra chores like, cutting the garden or taking a bags of clothing round to the nearest clothing bank – always earns my bunch some extra money. This is great for them, especially when they are saving for something in particular.

They know if birthdays are coming up, or if they need {or want} extra money for their summer holiday. Then they have to handle their finances sensibly. I think this technique is the best way for my children in particular to develop good money handling habits. 

Model good financial behaviour

Children look up to their parents, right? In turn, as Parents model good money handling behaviour. Or try our best to at the very least! Children are very observant and can often adopt many actions from simply watching their parents. 

I know I got my own saving and money habits {all good ones} from watching my Dad as I grew up. He taught me how to save wisely, how to do my shopping on a budget after I left home. Making sure I collected any useful coupons that came through my door. Every penny counts, he’d say! But he certainly instilled some good money management skills into me and I am now instilling those onto my children. 

Get the kids involved in budgeting & shopping

This is a great one and admittedly, something I have only asked the kids to help with recently. But now I really enjoy asking them to each takes a role when it comes to our weekly budget. 

I let the kids take charge of the shopping list {taking turns, obviously!} and I encourage them to buy the best products with the budget they have been given. I think budgeting plays a massive part, if not the most important part in the development of good money habits. So helping them develop those skills can only ever be a good thing! 

So there you go, 4 ways to teach our children good money habits. Do you have any other way {that I haven’t mentioned above} that you do at home to help your children with money? If so, I’d love to hear about them – so please leave me a wee comment.

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