Teaching Your Kids Early About Money Management

The following post contains Amazon Affiliate Links, meaning I make a tiny commission off of sales from this post. Thank you for your support!

I have a seven year old son and a five year old daughter. They are at ages where they want a lot of toys - but they are not bringing in their own incomes to finance their wants. We talk about needs vs. wants in our house, but at the end of the day, we work in a consumer-centric society that places too much importance on buying Thneeds.

It is NEVER too late to start teaching your kids about money. How to save, how to plan, and how to spend are great lessons that your kids need to hear starting at a young age in order to help them to become financially responsible.

Our kids get an allowance. And yes, we take away tax (about 25%). There’s no point in teaching them that they would get to keep every dollar they earn, since that is not the reality of the real world.

Below are several toy ideas for teaching your kids how to earn and responsibly handle money.

1) Get an inexpensive Chore Chart to keep your kids organized and to track chore completion.

• Be firm - don’t give allowance for skipped or partially completed chores

• You may need to guide your child the first several times on how to efficiently do the chore

• Kids work best in short bursts - break the chores down into manageable pieces so they can be successful at completion

2) Give your little a place to store their earned allowance. Try a bank with a password (makes tracking money fun!)

3) If your kids are ready, try a bank with a play debit cart and balance calculator:

4) Get your child a wallet or purse so they can safely transport their cash:

5) Incorporate family educational money games into family game night:

Teaching your kids about money will take a lifetime - start early, make it fun, and get some of those toys cleaned up as your kids learn how work can translate into dollars earned.