One of the most important lessons we can teach our children as to how to deal with money. Unfortunately, some people do not know how to deal with money themselves so they need to learn that themselves first, but even if you’re not the greatest at dealing with your own budget there are some things you can start your child off with anyway. Lessons in handling money when you are young can help you throughout your whole life and can spell the difference between a happy life and a stressful one. Teaching them about money is one of the most important things you can do for your child.

Make money real

When you were a child, money is just not real. It’s some intangible never-ending source you can have and sometimes you can’t. You understand that some money in your hand can buy things, but you don’t understand the value and where it comes from. So, if you’re going to buy something for your child, sometimes it’s a better idea to take them with you,  give them the money and have them buy it. That way they start to understand the value of things.

Save

Encourage them to save money. Based on what they have learned of the value of things it’s a good way to get them to understand. If they know that toy that they want is a certain price, and you aren’t going to give it to them, then they know how much they have to save to get it. Make money real.

Don’t ever take their money

Never take their money. They have earned it, and they know it’s there’s. We know that in the real world sometimes you don’t get to keep the money that you have, as problems appear, but they can learn that a little bit later in life. If you take their money they will feel betrayed, and will not bother trying to save any as they know you will just take it again. This will sort of defeat the whole purpose of teaching on how to save money.

Monkey see monkey do

You need to start using good money habits yourself. Learn to budget and learn to save money. They will watch you and see what you do and act the same way. That is the nature of children. So if you’re constantly impulse buying and not saving, don’t expect your child to be a wonderful saver. Try to become what you think your child should be.

Freedom of choice

It’s their money, don’t tell them what they can and cannot spend it on. Obviously, if they buy something that is inappropriate for the household, you can confiscate it and they lose the money. This is another lesson learned. But don’t tell them what they can or cannot buy with that money. Or they won’t bother saving it.

Bank account

As soon as they have enough money, try and get them a bank account. And encourage them to keep adding money to the bank account for bigger purchases later. Find out something that they really want and make that a goal. A bank account will make them feel like an adult and help encourage saving.

Learn to earn

Encourage them to take a job, or pay them for work done. You can give them an allowance, but it is better to give the money based on what they do. Try and get them small jobs from other people, but if you can’t try and make small jobs yourself. Make it a miniaturized version of employment.

Show them the house bills

Have them help you with the basic bills of the house. You will actually save you money overall. When they can see that the electric bill is so much, you can make a game of how to keep it down and make it less every month. Instead of you telling them to turn the lights off, it will be them telling you

Never a borrower be

It’s never too early to learn that borrowing money is a bad thing. When they hit 18 they will be hit with credit card offers all over the place. This seems like free and easy money. You need to teach them that this is not free and easy money, and it can lead down a path where you have nothing but problems. Just ask yourself how your own credit card debt is. Do you really want them to ever experience that?

Teaching your children how to save money will also help you in learning how to save money yourself. We believe that learning how to handle money when you were a child is probably one of the greatest lessons you can teach your child. We believe it is one of the greatest lessons anyone can learn towards the path of happiness at any age. So be happy!