Teaching kids good money habits

If your kids regularly save their allowances and birthday money, they're well on their way to establishing great money habits. So let's build on that strong foundation with some early entrepreneurship lessons.

Here are three real-world lessons and/or activities to further prepare kids and teens to successfully create wealth:

Encourage entrepreneurship early

As kids get older, encourage them to ask neighbors if they can babysit, mow their lawns or feed pets for money. Help them make flyers, and go door-to-door with them to hand them out. When they earn extra cash, strategize with them about how much to save, spend, and give.

Teach comparison shopping

Teaching kids and teens to save money while shopping is invaluable! Shopping at discount stores, using coupons, and buying generic can save tens of thousands of dollars throughout a lifetime. Take them shopping at the local grocery store for the items used in their favorite recipes, and add up the cost of the ingredients buying the name-brand products. Then add up the cost of similar ingredients when buying the generic store-brand products with coupons. Compare the price differences!

Teach budgeting

Staying within a budget is the foundation for financial success. They can only spend what they can afford, otherwise, they'll incur debt. Determine what sporting equipment they need for the next season. Just like with groceries, show them price differences of new things at a retail store vs. gently-used things at a second-hand store. Explain how you can mix and match new and used to stay within budget. Since these are growth-spurt years, help them see why it's hard to get the full value out of brand new equipment if it only fits for one season.

Start teaching your kids the value of every dollar through hard work and real-life transactions, and you'll help them realize how each and every dollar saved can impact their future. Visit our website for more money management resources.