Comments on: Raising a Deal-Seeking Kid

By: BK

BK — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:35:59 +0000

I read about a mom with a cool strategy a while ago (sorry, but I don’t remember where I read it – it may have even been a DSM link!). She said that she didn’t have time to clip coupons, but made it a game for he son/daughter. She’d give her child a list of groceries she needed & they’d have to find the coupons (using sites she’d bookmarked). Any coupons they found for her, they’d get to keep the money for. If they found a 50 cent coupon for the bread & a $1 coupon for the crackers needed, the child would get $1.50. I think this is a really neat system. The kid learns great strategies and mom has an easy system of ‘giving’ her child money withougt just ‘giving’ it.

By: The Leonards

The Leonards — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:52:43 +0000

I think allowance is a good thing for kids. I am fairly young and while growing you with 4 other siblings, my mother gave us $5 allowance each week. We had daily chores. Whenever we got report cards, we got a set amount for each A we had. I think that prepared us for the real world and taught us the value of money. It taught us to work for the things we need and save for the things we want.

By: Laura - Frugal Friends in Northern Virginia

Laura - Frugal Friends in Northern Virginia — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:43:22 +0000

Thanks for a great guest post on teaching your children to be financially savvy! I agree on its importance! I recently found my old 8th grade Civics Class "Budget Project" and it made me laugh so hard...I budgeted more for clothes for a month than for food! It was not just comical, but a huge eye opener that I need to train up my children to be much more financially savvy than I was as a kid! I did a blog post on it here: My 8th grade budget project

By: Serendipity is Sweet

Serendipity is Sweet — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Great tips. This was a helpful post and I shared it on fb.
Thanks :D

By: mewithoutdebt

mewithoutdebt — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:03:32 +0000

Interesting article in NYTimes “For Kids, a Chance to Learn Millionaire Habits” on kid financial camp at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/20/business/0920-BACKDROP_index.html

By: mari

mari — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:55:36 +0000

I also think that kids should earn their money.My kids have chores they need to do and thats including homework ,getting ready,leaving house on time,and behaving at school as well.On sunday night if they have done everything they will get their money. My 9 yr old gets $5.50 we split it 3 ways: saving ,spending ,saving for something they want ex:video game.My 6 yr old gets $3.00

By: Renae @ Madame Deals

Renae @ Madame Deals — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:20:36 +0000

My three year old knows what coupons are and knows to look for sale items. He is pretty funny! For his birthday I got him a shirt with Woody from Toy Story on it. He loved it! As he was trying it on he said “Did you get this on sale, mom?” He knows his mom so well!
He also helps me sort my coupons. When we do major sorting of coupons he says “We are having a coupon workshop!”
I also take him to yard sales. I let him pay for the items he wants.

By: Somie

Somie — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:06:31 +0000

I am not a mom but I do agree that every parent needs to teach their kids how to manage their money! That’s the most important lesson a parent can teach their kids.

By: DebbieP

DebbieP — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:36:54 +0000

Dave Ramsey has he best down-to-earth advice for money management, and he lives it. You really can change your family tree(as Dave says) by doing his Total Money Make-Over-your kids never have to know debt like most of us have grown up with. Debt is the norm in today’s society-unfortunately, you cannot build wealth that way.

By: Jan

Jan — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:13:41 +0000

My son and I started playing “supermarket math” when he was a toddler. First he had to match the coupon picture to the item in the supermarket. We’d talk about the price of the item, whether generic was cheaper than brand-with-coupon, and unit pricing (sometimes bigger sizes aren’t better deals.) Later I showed him how to read the supermarket circular and determine what’s a bargain. Now that he’s a teen, he’s my “recorder” when we shop. We use a spiral notebook to record items and coupons used, and determine what we’ll pay at checkout compared to the value of what’s in the cart. He gets to see firsthand how much we can save by budgeting and careful shopping, which frees up money for other things, like the occasional Dairy Queen splurge!

By: Frugal Rocks

Frugal Rocks — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:55:33 +0000

My husband and I have been huge Dave Ramsey fans for years and because of his principles we are debt free. One day when we have children, we will be using his kit for children!

By: dana

dana — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:39:05 +0000

My son saw my paycheck once and thought we were rich…I don’t make that much but to him it was huge. I decided to have him help with the bill paying that month. He quickly realized that paycheck he thought was so huge disappeared really fast on things he didn’t even think about…..like utilities, house payments, groceries. I also found that if I give him a clothing budget he is much more frugal than even I would be when he feels he is spending his own money……He even haggles with the sales people!
He still has the gimmes, but the arguments are settled a lot faster when I say, “Let’s pay the bills again!”

By: mewithoutdebt

mewithoutdebt — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:17:12 +0000

I cannot emphasis how important it is to “Set a Good Example”. Kids do learn from you.

By: rebecca meyers

rebecca meyers — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:49:49 +0000

I agree with you john. My son who is 3 1/2 dose chores every day and at the end of the week if he did all of his chores every day ( we use A sticker chart) he get’s $2.00 , he is alowed to spend $1.00 and he put’s the other $1.00 in his piggy bank. If he dosen’t do his chores then he dosen’t get any money. He works for his money!!!

By: jon

jon — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:43:14 +0000

While there are some that think of an allowance as “free money”, there are many others that think of an allowance as money earned.

The pennies my son gets are for good things he does. Picking up the playroom for example.

When he’s old enough he will have weekly chores, and when they are completed he will earn his weekly allowance.

That sounds pretty real world to me!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:14:40 +0000

I agree with Marla. What good is a system that just hands kids money? They learn that mommy and daddy will just give them money without earning it…causes confusion when they get older and expect them to just give them money. What would kids need to buy when they are so young anyways? I never had an allowance. If I wanted to go to a movie, my parents gave me money. I had a paper route when I was young and I also grew and sold pumpkins, babysitting when i turned 12. I worked hard for my money. Let’s give kids responsibilities (if they are old enough to spend money, they are old enough to have responsibilities that go along with it) before we fork over money to them. Giving them money without working for it teaches them nothing.

By: Marla

Marla — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:50:25 +0000

I don’t believe in giving kids allowance. Although we do use the Dave Ramsey set shown in the pic. I don’t think allowance teaches kids about the real world. We have to work hard for our paycheck, so my kids have to work for theirs too. The Dave Ramsey system pays kids for chores that you set. You choose the chores and pay. They get their money based on how hard they work. Just like in the real world. No free handouts. They also give part of their money back to God, and save some for bigger purchases. I LOVE the set, it has envelopes for everything. It works really well. I would highly recommend it!!

By: jon

jon — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:59:04 +0000

I’ve actually started this with my son (he’s 2 1/2) and its a lot of fun.

He has his own coupons (a combination of expired ones, and one’s he’s made himself) and he even made himself a coupon organizer. He goes to the store with me and we discuss what were buying and he helps put in the cart.

He doesn’t get an allowance per se, but he does get pennies, which he can use at the store (granted I subsidize it for him, ).

It has actually made shopping with him easier. He doesn’t take things of the shelve without asking about it, does melt down when I say no, and when we hit the check out he knows that he needs to pay for things (candy) before taking (eating).

At home he’ll gather up coupons, get in his little car and “drive to the store” (the pantry). He’ll pick out what he wants to buy and pay for it, then “drive home”.

By: Monroe on a Budget

Monroe on a Budget — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:22:42 +0000

One of my frugal blogging friends has her teen daughter so well trained on shopping for bargains that the kid is frugal blogging too!

Mom’s blog: http://marilynsmoneyway.blogspot.com/
Daughter’s blog: http://kristiekaysway.blogspot.com/