Money, Money, Money: Part 3

We've been doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University in my small group and the assignment for the past week was to take steps in teaching our kids about money.  Since I have already started this concept with my kids (here are the links to my 1st Money Post and my 2nd Money Post), I thought this would be a good time to fine tune.

The big weekly/biweekly chore has been going really well.  That's where the kids earn the bulk of their money.  In January, they helped pull weeds one weekend and wash the cars on another weekend.  When we do this weekly/biweekly chore time, we have the kids divide their money into their "spending," "saving," and "giving" containers.  (We typically do 20% Savings, 20% Giving, 60% Spending.)

Isaac has learned a lot since the first trip to the store with his first dollar.  He now has a goal to save even his "spending" money in order to buy a $10 Lego set and is highly motivated to work hard and save for it, rather than wasting his money on a junkie toy that he will likely lose a few days after he buys it.  I have learned that Abby, being younger, needs more immediate gratification to motivate her work.  She will work with the prospect of an immediate trip to the store for a candy purchase.

 So, after the car washing, we went to the grocery store and the kids brought along their wallets.  They lucked out and found gingerbread house kits marked down from $11 to just $1.  They each bought one.  Isaac, who had $8 at that point toward his $10 Legos, said, "I still have $7 and I'll earn more."  And I know he will.

They had a great time decorating.

Abby was fast and indiscriminating about it, eating almost as much as she decorated.

Isaac was uber-precise, pre-planning every step of the way.  He took so long I finally had to tell him we were out of time for decorating!

One change I decided to make was to the chore chart I had created earlier.  I added new chores, took off some old ones, and increased the pay on some (no more penny wages).  This chore chart is for the kids to do as needed.  These are things I do daily or weekly and if the kids want to earn more money, they can opt to do it for me to get paid.  They are pretty motivated by it and I let them choose whether the coins they earn go into their "savings," "earnings," or "spending" containers.  (They usually choose "spending!").

We have decided that all of their "savings" will be saved from now until they are old enough to purchase their own car.  I know that sounds incredible since they are only 3 and 5, but as their abilities increase with age, the chores will become more complex and the commissions for their chores will increase with it.  And think of the payoff 10+ years from now when they are able to buy their own car with their own savings!

Finally, although we started a "giving" container for their commissions, we have yet to actually take it to the church to "give" it!  We really should be reinforcing this behavior by doing this on a monthly basis.  So, we finally remembered to bring in their coin purses this Sunday to church.  We talked about how we give to the church to let God know that we know our blessings come from Him and so that we do not become too selfish and want to keep it all for ourselves.

Obviously, with such a big concept as money, this lesson will be a continuous work in progress, but so far, they are learning good life lessons at a young age.