Budgeting finances is something that will make life easier on you and them. While we don’t want to worry our children with adult concerns like paying the bills, teaching them how to manage money will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many adults do not learn how to manage their money until they have made serious financial mistakes. By teaching your children this valuable skill when they are growing up, they are far more apt to manage their own finances wisely when they are grown.
In order to learn about budgeting finances, though, they’ll need some money to manage. Many parents give their children an allowance and those that are engaged in teaching their children how to manage money approach it in different ways. Some parents will let their children spend part of their allowance immediately and have them save the rest. Some parents will even incorporate charitable contributions into their children’s budgets and let them decide in which manner they want to contribute to others. For some, it may be giving at church and for others, it may be contributing part of their allowance to their favorite charity.
While it is important to teach your children to save, it is equally important to teach them how to set and reach goals. For example, instead of just having your children save part of their allowance, you might consider discussing short and long term goals with them. This way, saving money will become more interesting and attractive to them and they will be more engaged in the process. While it can be boring for a ten year old to save money toward a college education that seems eons in the future, dedicating part of the savings to a short term goal, such as a new gadget or bicycle will propel your children to become far more interested in saving.
Not only is it important for your children to learn, but it is also important for them to reap the rewards of sound money management. Saving part of their allowance for several months in order to buy something special will teach them that the process does indeed work. While you may have to be the one saying no to small expenditures at first, eventually they will be able to discipline themselves because they will remember how it feels to finally get the larger, more important item. Budgeting finances is one of the most important things you can teach your children and it is something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.