Teaching your children the value of a dollar

amother

Apricot

Mon, Jan 25 2016, 11:18 pm

What do you do do teach you child the value of a dollar. Not teaching them to be cheap but to truly understand positive money and work values. My kids shop with me and we talk about prices which item has the best bang for your buck at the grocery store . I take them to a store with birthday/chanukah money and we talk about what they have as we read prices what is realistic to have and what is not. We go to a store for a prize and they get a "budget" and we look and read numbers. My kids are almost at the age to start earning money I defiantly will encourage summer jobs and babysitting at the same time making sure they get to enjoy being a kid(is that possible???). Is earning money doing household jobs right or wrong I want to give them the most that I can I would give them the world if I could . But ....I also see so many posters both as children and as parents wanting more living beyond there means, asking demanding money from there parents children complaining on not getting more parents not knowing how to say no to there grown kids who are old enough to be doing this on there own.
So what the right balance to teach your kids while still making sure the get the most out of their childhood.

Teomima

Tue, Jan 26 2016, 12:31 am

I'm still figuring this out myself but meanwhile I'm very blunt with my children. If they ask for something we can't afford, I tell them point blank we can not afford it. I explain that all the time I spend away from them, the hours they're at school and home with abba while Ima is at work, and vice versa, is because we're at work, which we do to earn money so we can afford our home and food. That the more we spend, the more time Ima and Abba have to be away from them in order to work. They've started to get the idea. I think it's helped them not only understand the value of a dollar, but also the importance of an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. But my kids are still relatively young so I'm interested in following this thread to hear other people's ideas.

amother

Cerise

Tue, Jan 26 2016, 12:38 am

amother wrote:

I stared teaching my children when they were very young. My children have huge amounts of money set aside for them, and I worry they will be stupid with money. I was poor growing up in a rich area and consequently worked very hard to have several items similar to others. I stared working as a young child.

I don't give my children everything they ask for although it would be very easy to. They have to work for any luxuries beyond those I pick up for them. Also, I point out people doing stupid things with money, and I talk to them about credit ratings. I gave them credit cards at a young age and try to educate them as much as possible. They also receive an allowance as part of their money education and are expected to contribute to their savings by getting jobs.

Why are you defiant about them having summer jobs? I think this teaches them how many hours of work something costs.

seeker

Tue, Jan 26 2016, 12:42 am

Sounds like you're doing it about right, to me. IMVHO because I have no idea if I'm doing it right myself.

I try to phrase it instead of "we can't afford it" to say "we are going to use that money for something more important." I think I read that online somewhere, possibly Kosher on a Budget blog. Because saying "we can't afford it" could make kids feel insecure, and also is unempowering - poor you, can't afford it. When really it's a matter of choice - you choose not to spend on this so you'll have enough money for that. After all, you could probably afford every treat in the store if your whole family walked everywhere, but you're making a valid and smart choice to pay for transportation (or save for retirement, etc) rather than blowing all your money on treats. That's an empowering, non-anxiety-inducing value with the same bottom line.

amother

Ecru

Tue, Jan 26 2016, 12:43 am

I'm the stepmother to older children and mother to a toddler... I admire your intentions and the ways you are going about teaching your children the value of money. My stepchildren have been very overindulged with material items and housekeeper picking up after them - they are spoiled. It's a disservice to EVERYONE in their life and SO stressful as they are transitioning to being young adults.

Because I feel the pain of someone's choice to not teach their children the value of a dollar, I started early with my DS( 2 yrs old)... I have him a quarter the other day and told him we are going to the store and asked him what he wants to get... He said a ball... So we took a long walk to the store and we talked about how exciting it was that he has a quarter and when we get to the store we will trade it for a ball... At the store, at the checkout counter, he gave the cashier his quarter and got his ball... The we walked to the park and had a ball with it LOL

seeker

Tue, Jan 26 2016, 12:50 am

Regarding household jobs for money, my philosophy (my kids are still young, we'll have to see how it goes) is that kids should participate in the household upkeep because they are full members of the family team and that's just what you do. There are perks to being part of the family, but you don't get paid to live here. But kids do need to get money sometimes so they can begin to experiment with value, saving, spending, etc. So you could pay them for doing something extra that is not part of their ordinary household participation chores, and they can get money for birthdays and such. Also, you can give them money for needs/wants that you might have bought them directly anyway, so they can feel themselves spending it - like instead of just buying them the clothes they want/need (or afikomen present, or shabbos party nosh, or...), you can give them a certain budget and let them figure out how to shop for their things with that.