Strategies for Raising Financially Responsible Kids

Before my husband and I had children, we were already worried about how to raise financially responsible children.  We had friends who struggled financially with managing their own money and have also watched children not appreciate the work that goes into earning a dollar! My husband and I both have backgrounds in finance, so you would think if we understood it, our kids would too, right? Not so much. I began listening to the e-book by Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze, Smart Kids, Smart Money. This started my husband and I down the path of making sure we understood what was needed to start planting the seed at a very young age.

Things we do to teach our kids about money management:

Use Clear Jars for Saving

We wanted the amount of money saved to be visual. I made each of our children a holder that includes three jars inside and labeled them Save, Give and Spend. Our boys love it! We wanted them to be able to see what they were saving, especially since money is put into three types of jars. Dave Ramsey mentioned in his book that you want children to know that their savings are growing and this is how we accomplished that.

What I personally love is the Give jar.  A passion of mine is volunteering, giving my time to a cause and donating what we can. One thing that resonated with our kids was the giving trees during the holidays.  We used the money saved in these jars to buy things for children who didn’t have gifts under their tree.
Check out Elmo’s three jars, and what helped our children visualize how other children utilize their three jars.  Sesame Street’s For Me, For You, For Later: Three Jars

Set A Good Example

Kids watch you. How many times have I heard this in my life? It is true, they do. If you tell them to do one thing and then you do something else, they don’t see the importance of it. This applies to money, too!  If they see you spending like crazy and buying things you want without hesitation, then they will do the same.

Let them see you using cash and not always a debit or card. This helped our children understand the amount of money in the jar and what it costs to buy things, by counting out the money. They definitely didn’t understand or appreciate when we would go to the store and then hand a plastic card to the cashier. They assumed you can just buy anything by giving them a card! Explaining how bank accounts work and the use of a debit card that when used, reduces the amount in the bank account where their cash is stored, helped with this. However, cash still resonates more clearly when buying items!

If your children hear and see a consistent message, they will follow.

Pay Commissions, Not Allowance

This idea comes straight from the e-book I  mentioned above, and is how we want our household to work. According to the book, you earn commissions while you are given allowances. This definitely helped our oldest child, after he informed me that I needed to go to work and get money to go shopping, as if it were that simple. Showing him how to earn money was a game changer for us.

Avoid Impulse Buys & Set Goals

At age 2, we had our children learning that things they want cost money. They don’t just appear, and if you want something really bad (isn’t that what we always hear), then we have to think about it and then budget for it.

The first time my son wanted something, I made him go count his money. I then told him how much the item cost.  He didn’t have enough money in his spending jar, so we talked about the process of obtaining enough money to get what he wanted. This also helped with the impulse buy action. We waited a week, and even though he still didn’t have enough money, he no longer wanted the item bad enough to spend his money on it.

As our young children get older, my husband and I know we will face additional challenges with helping our kids understand other aspects of being financially smart.  Things like contentment and not needing the current hot commodity will soon be an issue, and we know that. So enter my next area of research and stay tuned for part II.

What have you done in your home to help your kids become more financially prepared for the world?


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Jenna Marceau
Born and raised in Wichita, full of Shocker pride, Jenna is a boy mom to son's Aiden and Eli. She married her college sweetheart, Danny, and the two keep an active schedule that includes chasing their children and dogs around Northeast Wichita. Jenna is an executive for a local HR Outsourcing organization and a member of the Junior League of Wichita. She likes to spend her spare time helping others or volunteering around the community. You can catch her at local events, supporting entrepreneurs and participating in activities with friends and family. She is a total foodie, loves coffee and craft beer, is an avid podcast listener and is quite fond of a glass of Cabernet to end her day. Keep up with Jenna at @JenMarceau on Instagram!