Five clever ways to help your child learn the value of money
Transform your child from spontaneous spendthrift into prudent piggy-banker
Young children love to imitate adults with imaginative games, providing an opportunity for smart parents to impart some simple life skills. When your child sets up shop in your kitchen and offers to sell you the contents of your refrigerator, try introducing some plastic coins or real pennies into the game. Teaching very young children about what money is for and how it changes hands will lay the foundations for more complex shop games involving change giving and basic numeracy skills.
Whilst you may envy your impulsive child’s ability to live in the moment, a little bit of future planning is a wonderful thing for keeping financial matters in check. Introduce your child to the concept of saving in its simplest form by encouraging her to squirrel away her pennies in a piggy bank. As the pile of money grows before her eyes so will her delight and her appreciation of the power of not spending.
As your child’s most influential role model it is important that she sees you spending money in a responsible way, which probably does not include ignoring bills and putting a new pair of Louboutins on plastic instead. Ask your child to help you write shopping lists, discuss the difference between essential items and luxuries and stress the importance of budgeting. Being a parent and trying to set a good example can bring out the best in you and is the perfect time to iron out any bad spending habits of your own.
Try to resist the temptation to micro-manage your child’s spending. If you have told her she is allowed one treat on shopping trip, respect her decision to have a novelty mug from a cards r us rather than a lovely new doll from a luxury toy shop. As a parent your job is to offer wisdom and guidance, but when it comes to headstrong children the old cliché very much applies – let her learn from her own mistakes.
Another cash concerned cliché which should be stressed to little ones is the old adage, money isn’t everything. Try not to use money as a tool for reward or punishment or to obsess over rich celebrities and lottery fantasies; this will give out the message that money equates to happiness. It is important to teach your child the uses and value of money when utilised properly yet it is equally important that she understands that happiness and fulfillment can not be found through material things.
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