This is a collaborative post
What did you know about money when you first moved out of your parent’s home? I know that whilst I knew some things there were massive gaps in my understanding. Of course, there was no internet then, or certainly not the internet as we know it now! At school in maths lessons we had done some work about interest rates but not in real-world situations and it was just arbitrary numbers increased by 50% for example. I am pretty sure that I had no idea how much things like council tax cost and how to calculate mortgage interest, budget for bills and such like. This is why I want to share some great ways to teach your kids about money.
Teaching the youngest children about money
For young children, of course, it is too early to talk about mortgage rates and budgeting but you can encourage them with pocket money and help in shops. If children are brought up learning how to find something that is the best value and know they have got the correct change it will help them in the future.
That said, it isn’t always a practical thing to do, taking your kids shopping can be hard work and not fit around other family activities. For that reason, toys such as play shops, activity books and writing shopping lists and adding up the arbitrary values can be helpful. Have you also seen the number of money games online perfect for children?
The cash back game is perfect for helping children to work out the change they would need to give for different simple transactions and the coins they would need to use. As a parent, you can set the difficulty level as they get more confident.
Teaching teenagers about money
Teenagers are unlikely to find the above game’s fun and they would be likely to find them too easy by this point too. Instead, there are some great games perfect for teens you can encourage them to play online such as business simulation games where they can look at the finances needed to run a business and try out how profitable it would be. As they get good at these you can move on to real estate games where they can make a LEGO city and buy and sell properties.
Other things you can do with teens to help them to learn about money without using online games require a bit more support and setting up but can be just as educational for them. Is there a business they could start? I am not talking about something really big and money-making but something more basic such as making hair clips or friendship bands and selling them to others.
Encourage your teenagers to think about their skills and how they would use them to their advantage to help someone without those skills for a cost. Perhaps they could offer tutoring and support to younger siblings, wash cars for neighbours or even cut grass for family friends. This will help them to learn in the real world about making money, spending money and how hard they need to work to earn money.
As teens move towards leaving home you can get them to start paying their own phone bills, a portion towards bills and similar costs. This, of course, is likely to mean you need to predominantly give them the money to do this but them having to budget their pocket money to pay their expenses before they use the remainder for treats will help them in the long run.
Do you do these things to help your children learn more about money and budgeting? Is there anything you do that I have missed?