It’s Never Too Early for Dollars and Sense
December 31st, 2009
by Lisa
A few weeks ago, my four-year-old was excitedly flipping through a department store circular filled with toy ads. As he sat there mesmerized by the brightly colored action figures, trucks and building blocks, I cautioned him to pick only three things that he wanted for Christmas.
I may as well have asked him to solve the Riemann hypothesis. When you’re four, it’s virtually impossible to fathom a world in which wallets have limits — especially when there’s something you really, really, really want.
For parents like me, National Consumer Protection Week is an ideal time to introduce kids to the concepts of money and budgeting. This year’s theme — Dollars & Sense: Rated A for All Ages — is a reminder that the lessons of responsible spending, budgeting and overall money management can never be taught too early — and never learned too late.
In fact, this year we have added a new section to the NCPW website just for kids and parents. As NCPW gets closer, we’ll be adding more resources to this page and highlighting some of them on the blog. After all, being a smart consumer isn’t something you get from your parents naturally, like hair color. And it doesn’t come with a diploma the way free chips (or a bag of carrots) come with the lunch special. It’s a skill that must be developed from an early age, and it helps to have cool websites and funny videos.
I still have a long way to go with my four-year-old, so I’ll be checking the kids page often. I hope you’ll join me!
Tags: budget, children, kids, Money, teaching
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 9:50 am and is filed under For Kids, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Teaching your kids about money is such an important topic. I was watching a talk show the other day, and they asked kids (probably around the 4th grade) questions like “How much is your parents mortgage?” or “How much do you buy in groceries each week?” and kids had no idea how much that stuff costs.
But then they asked the kids “How much is this Play Station?” and “How much is this Ipod?” they new EXACTLY how much it costs.
So if we include kids and show them how our household budget works – maybe they’ll understand why we sometimes have to say no.
I’m so glad your theme this year includes kids – I can’t wait to read more.
RE: Stylin’ Mom
I didn’t see that show, but I believe it. I think it’s a good idea to include our kids in the household budgeting. A mortgage, car payment, and utilities sure sound like a lot compared to a PlayStation and an iPod and you’re right, maybe kids would understand why we have to make tough choices. Good idea, I’m going to try it. I sure want my kids to know how to budget wisely by the time they go off to college!
I’ll check out the kids’ page, too!
Understanding money, and debt is very important lesson to learn. Usually it is something to be taught at home, since it is not offered in all schools. If you don’t understand it yourself, then usually your child wont either. So learn, and repair your financial situation. Make a household budget. Make it a family activity. Create rewards for the entire family, when you reach goals. Pay off that credit card, and take a family day trip as reward. This will provide knowledge that will last a lifetime, and make the process fun for everyone, while correcting your family’s finances. Open a savings account for your child, and teach them how to use a ledger. When they are teen, open a checking account, teach them how to balance their money. Teach the values of debt management. for more free information on how to resolve your credit and debt related issues.
very nice site:))
This is such great idea. Keep up the good work.
Regards,
James,
Knowing what debt is, and explaining the responsibilities of paying your debt to your children is an extremely critical step in restoring the future of our economical well-being.