One thing to carefully consider when family budget planning is what will apply in the future. Children are not that much different as they are growing up. The only problem is they don’t have the money so they get it by asking for it. And of course children usually start wanting stuff when they are still too young to get a job. So of course when they spend it is usually money out of their parents budget and that is why when it comes down to family budget planning the children need to be included.
Including your children’s needs in your budget becomes very important for a number of reasons as the children are growing up. First of all and very quickly it is going to help us as parents and children understand the difference between the things they need and the things they want. Of course children are always wanting things and of course parents truly enjoy being able to give these things to their kids. The problem comes into play because the children do not understand what a budget is and at some point mom and dad will need to stop spending. Right there is the main focus and reason we need to include children when it comes to family budget planning.
Once the budget is set it is something that needs to be stuck to. So if there’s something that the children want that were not included in the budget then they do have a few options.
1. For older children we can start a jar for their chores. Inside this jar will be pieces of paper that will offer other jobs for different amounts of money. Please do not confuse this with your children’s regular list of chores. For those they will already be getting paid through an allowance which is allowed through the budget. New items like painting the inside of the garage or washing out the eaves trough can be the kind of jobs that they get extra money for.
2. The next thing you want to do is help your children start a bank account. In this account they can deposit any extra money they get because of Christmas, birthdays or any other holidays. So throughout the year when your child wants to get something you can help them check their balance and see if their budget allows them to get the item or see when their budget will allow them to get the item. This will also tell them if they need to work extra chores or wait for other special events to be able to get what they want to buy.
When you’re doing family budget planning it is always a good idea to place money aside for your child or children. It is also very important that if they want to get their hands on this money they will have to work for it. Giving a child everything they want might sound good to them but as adults we know this is just a recipe for disaster as they get older and they need to understand money. Becoming financially successful will never happen if we give them everything they want and they don’t have to give anything back. Including them in the family budget planning will give them a great head start when it comes to their future.