10 Money Management Tips for Kids
Money Management Tips for Kids
Financial experts teach us to plan a budget and live within our means. They show us how to manage finances and create a stable financial future. They also teach us how to use credit cards without incurring huge interest and overwhelming credit card debt. Let’s look at what these financial experts teach their children and what valuable lessons they put in practice within their own families.
1. Manage Your Money: Earn to spend:
Financial experts believe that kids should learn the value of a dollar. Most financial experts encourage their kids to work and earn at an early age. It may be simple jobs around the house like pulling weeds in the yard or vacuuming the carpet, or even selling to friends and family but kids need to learn to earn before they learn to spend. This will teach them to value work.
2. Money Management is all about Choices:
Financial experts take their children shopping so that they learn to spend money wisely. Often a child will ask for something impractical, just because they see it on the shelf. The key is to instill in them the idea that there are choices to live a healthy financial life. We need to help them understand that your income is limited and your wants are unlimited, so you need to have a proper plan regarding how to spend your hard earned money so that you get the best use out of it instead of buying it all.
3. Gratification can pay off:
When a kid earns money he needs to have the gratification of spending it as well. They should be able to spend a portion of whatever they earn any way he or she chooses. This teaches the benefits of money and hard work.
4. Money Management includes Savings:
Kids should be encouraged in the money management skill of saving a portion of what they earn. They should have a pot of money stored away that is all their own and should be motivated to save 10% of the earnings from their jobs. This saved be saved for a larger item that they really want like a bicycle or electronic gadget or game. See the article on the Jars method of Saving for more information.
5. Money Management and Giving Back:
Kids need to learn early the value of giving back and tithing. It is an important principle, most money managers believe that if we only hoard our money and don’t give any back to others, we become “financially consitpated” most truly rich people are also good givers. In addition, around Christmas time, children can be encouraged to give old toys to children who are less fortunate. Doing this, will help children feel blessed and help them to realize that not every kid out there is as well-off. Continue reading
Cutting the Cost of College
Cutting College Costs
The Big Day has arrived. Your bouncing bundle of joy has finally taken his first peek at the world. With the anxiety of pregnancy and labor over, you may be tempted to take a big sigh of relief. However, even after the cost of Lamaze classes, remodeling the man-cave into a nursery and outfitting the car with all the latest safety features, you may be surprised to find that your financial concerns just shot past the man in the moon.
While recent estimates published by the Department of Agriculture show that the cost of raising a child born in 2010 can range from $200,000 to more than half a million dollars over the next 17 years, you do have some control. A number of popular finance sites can help you minimize the overall cost of raising children, but it’s the four years after their 18th birthday that may be as high as Jack’s beanstalk. See: Inflation Adjusted Education Costs
In 2011, the cost of attending an in-state college ran between about $18,000 and $24,000 per year, with half of that going to tuition and fees and the other half going to room and board. Double that number if your child is talented enough to get into a private college. Over four years, your precious little Einstein can cost you between $75,000 and $200,000, almost as much as the previous two decades.
Don’t panic; The earlier you start the more you can bring those costs down. In fact, do it right and you might not have to pay a red cent for your son or daughter’s Ph.D. Continue reading
20 Tips for Saving Money When Raising Kids
Raising children can be expensive. Especially if you have more than one child. In tough financial times, here are 20 possible to save money and to help cut the cost of raising children.
- Buying second hand clothes. Clothes are without a doubt one of the greatest expenses in having children. Children grow up fast and usually need clothing for every season change. Buying second hand can save you money.
- Hand-me-downs. Once your child grows out of clothes, choose to save money by saving it for the next child along the way.
- Buying food in bulk. Food is also another large expense when taking care of kids. Get a membership to your local food club so that you can take advantage of the savings when buying in bulk.
- Saving for college. Kids are expensive! They get even more expensive when college rolls around. Save for college over time instead of waiting until they enter college to do so. State sponsored “529″ programs are a great way to save for college costs and protect against rising costs. Continue reading
10 Ways to Save Money on Your Next Family Vacation
By Aaron Schulman
Going on a family vacation should be relaxing and create lasting memories. Those memories shouldn’t be marred by worries about how you are going to finance the trip or how you are going to pay the bills once you are home again. A well-researched, planned out trip does not have to break the bank. You can create those wonderful memories even on a small budget. The bottom line is, whether you travel once every few years, or whether you vacation frequently as part of a discount vacation club, there are often more ways to save money if you do a little more research and preparation. Here are a few practical tips on how to do just that:
Teaching Children How to Save Money – But Also How To Spend And To Give
By Alex Summers
When it comes to children and money, the traditional perspective is that kids need to be taught how to save. Parents will give their son or daughter a piggy bank, hand them a quarter once a week, and then instruct their child to save those quarters until the bank becomes full and stuffed. At that point the money can be spent however the child chooses, but this is not the emphasis of the exercise. The main point is that the youngster learns to save.
Saving money is certainly a valuable and worthwhile life lesson. But Continue reading
How Expensive It Is To Bring Up A Child In The US?
With the current economic meltdown and post recession hangover, the cost of almost everything has been increasing by leaps and bounds.And the cost of child care is no exception. The latest updates of Department of Agriculture (USA) claims the cost of raising a child has been amplified ten times since 1960. In fact for a family with an average income, the cost of child rearing ranges between $11,650 and $13,530 each year. If you are a new parent and feeling worried how to deal with the overwhelming cost of child rising, the following points can help you. As a parent, you may feel like it is always necessary to provide your children with the best products but remember, to keep your finances in the right order, you have to take some strict steps sometimes. Read on to find some frugal tips which can make your task of parenting/ raising children less expensive. Continue reading
Money-Saving Ideas for Frugal Moms and Dads
Being a mom or dad is not always an easy task, nor a cheap one. There are many things that must be considered when providing for your children and raising a happy, healthy family. Necessary items such as food, medicine, and household goods are all required expenses. Then there are things like clothing and family trips, which are also pricey. If you are a parent who strives to be as frugal as possible, the following money-saving ideas should really help you out. Continue reading
Is Financing Your Child’s Mortgage Right for Your Family?
Having children requires a considerable financial investment. It calls for clothes to be bought, education costs to be paid, and years of doctor’s appointments to cover, and that doesn’t even include the cost of the latest iPad or htc android camera phones. But what if your child is 30 years old, and hasn’t lived under your roof for years? And what if they come to you, asking for help buying a house?
8 Ways to Save on the Cost of Child Care
Nannies, sitters, and other childcare providers can be expensive when you consider base pay, experience and other factors. Here are 8 ways to reduce the cost of child care.
- Hire a College Sitter. Hiring a college sitter is a great way to save extra money and gain a sitter with a more flexible schedule. Most college students have schedules that allow them to be available to babysit during the 9-5 hours when most of us are at work. There are some majors, such as Nursing and Early Childhood Education, where students have coursework on safety and receive certifications in CPR and First Aid. Since college students are on the younger side, they may not have the experience level that older babysitters have and will not ask for a higher pay rate. If flexible schedules and a lower pay rate aren’t enough—a college sitter can make a great role model for young children too. Continue reading
7 Factors that Determine the Cost of Child Care
Whether spending a night on the town with your spouse or hiring a full-time nanny, there are many factors that contribute to the cost of child care. Between base pay, experience, how many children you have… you could be paying upwards of $20.00 per hour. Here is some insight into the 7 factors that impact the cost of child care.
Child Care Provider: From babysitters to nannies or au pairs to day care, the type of child care provider you hire can greatly affect the cost. An Au Pair1 and a live-in, full-time nanny will usually get a salary, along with accommodations in your home. Continue reading
