7 Ways To Teach Your Kids The Value Of Money

5. Show Them Value With New And Secondhand

Value is a funny thing, and it’s something that kids often struggle to understand particularly when money is an unfamiliar concept. One great way to encourage kids to think logically about value is to show them the difference between new and secondhand purchasing.

If your child has a sum of money, such as from working or a birthday, take them to both a supermarket store with new items, and a thrift store or even lawn sale. Help them to understand that secondhand items, although still functional and totally usable, are much more affordable and allow money to stretch further. This is a handy lesson, because it shows kids that there are more options than buying new all the time.

6. Encourage Them To Earn Money

Earning money is a key factor in learning how it works, but if you don’t want to pay out pocket money for nothing, there are more options. Set up a chore system and encourage your children to work for some money. If you really want to teach them about the real world, consider taking a portion of the money they earn for chores to pay for their rent and board.

It might sound harsh to some, but avoiding the reality only make it harder for kids later when they’re out on their own. Another option is to encourage kids to seek out their own forms of income, through working for others. Children can clean yards, mow lawns, look after pets, walk dogs, deliver pamphlets or papers and clean cars even when they’re young. As they get older, there are other options like babysitting, or part-time work in fast food.

7. Let Them Make Spending Mistakes

As much as we want to do what is best for kids all the time, the fact is that kids who never get a chance to make mistakes don’t get a chance to learn from them. You can, and should, direct your child as much as possible in how they spend and save their money while they’re young. However, when it comes down to it that money is theirs, and if they want to spend it on something, even if you don’t approve, it might be a valuable lesson.

For example, a trending gadget or toy could easily use up all your child’s savings, onto for them to realise it’s actually not what they really wanted. If you had simply forbidden them from buying it, there’s no lesson, only resentment. But if they bought it, only to realise that it was a spending mistake, that’s a lesson learned for next time.