Teaching Fiscal Responsibility

[Hank]

I was thinking about how hard of a time I had when I first lived away from my parents and in my own apartment. I had no earthly idea how to budget or what to do. I would pay all of my bills from one paycheck and then not have money to eat on for two weeks until I got paid again. It's not that I had so many bills, it just that I had no idea that I could space things out and pay some from each paycheck. So, I am teaching our children how to budget, what to do, and most importantly, how to start saving. I don't want them to repeat my mistakes. Have you been teaching your kids about money management?

 

[FrankSinatra]

i started off with a penny saved is a penny earned and just try to find any other opportunities to show 'em the ropes and learn how to keep an eye on things.

 

[Bear]

My kids are still too young for this I think, but we certainly plan to teach them budgeting and responsibility. Today at Walmart we bought our daughter a treat and she wanted to pay for it. We told her we didn't have any money (meaning cash), and she told us that we needed to go to the money store and buy her some money. Too funny!

 

[youngone]

My son is too young to worry about fiscal management but I will teach him how to manage his money and the bills when the time is right. I don't think you need to teach a 6 year-old the importance of saving . I was always taught to save and not spend what I haven't got, that has served me well.

 

[Miller]

We have just started giving our children a specific amount they can spend on souvenirs and toys when we go on vacation. They can opt to save their money or spend it. Believe it or not, one child almost always saves his.

 

[BigPapa]

I don't think that it is ever too young to teach your children fiscal responsibility. We always sit down as a family to write out our budget. When it comes time to do the grocery shopping and make the list, we clip coupons and check the sale ads together. My daughter knows that you can't just "write a check" if you want something.

 

[polamalu43]

Yes I try to. My kids all have jobs (mowing lawns, babysitting, chores at home). I make them save part of their earnings. I also make them save up for anything big they want to buy.

 

[JRDeep]

I try to give my son opportunities to do odd jobs around the house for extra allowance. I try to teach him how to be responsible with his earnings by bartering any toys or video games he may be interested in getting. He's saving up with something...Forgot what it was, but he doesn't want to waste all of his earnings on something he can get now, when the real big reward comes much later. I think he's getting it. I'm proud of the kid

 

[tommymac]

Teaching fiscal responsibility is a very good thing and it's never too late to start. I began by teaching the value of a dollar. Things cost money, we get money by working, we get only so much to work with so we have to spread it out, etc. Move on to allowance.