I’m currently working overtime trying to teach my oldest the value of a dollar. Or at the very least how to respect property: hers and that belonging to others. She’s having some major issues taking care of her possessions: putting toys away at the end of the day, turning the pages of her books without aggressively shredding up the corners, not destroying any and every item of her little sister’s. It is so far beyond annoying at this point and I am running out of ideas as to how to handle this. She’s not quite five, I’m unsure of what she’s capable of grasping in terms of dollars and cents, but at this point, I’m willing to try anything to make my lessons heard.
So: money. It has value. We save, we spend and we give. I think the concept of Moonjar is pretty awesome. I’ve been waiting, literally, years to put this thing into effect with Pea, and I cannot believe that the day is finally here!
And going beyond the whole save / spend / give system, I still dig piggy banks. And always have. The girls have several each. These are some cuties out there now that I just adore, like this sweet little pink owl from Target. And I love elephants. And when Pea was born, my husband’s grandmother’s best friend (follow that one?) gave her a piggy bank that she’d painted herself (she’s a designer and talented artist in her own right), but the real treat of it all was how it was presented to Pea: it was in a gift bag with layers and layers of tissue paper, and taped to the tissue paper were tons and tons of coins. It was so delightful! And the Buddha Bank for Wisdom, because we all want to be smart with our money, right? Never to early to begin that journey! And my personal favorite, one of which I had as a kid, and love to give to children when they are having their first communion (or otherwise important rite of passage) with assorted rolls of coins, is the Uncle Sam Register Bank. I hate to call it ‘retro,’ because that just makes me feel old. But, it is retro, so let’s just call it what it is, and say that I am so happy to see this good old (ouch!) stand-by back in circulation. Does it bring back memories for you, too?
So, when did you start teaching your kids the value of a dollar? And how? And more importantly, are they getting it?
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We do the chore chart and spend/save/give piggy banks based on this post from Simplemom.net (you turned me on to this blog, btw, so thanks!): http://simplemom.net/chore-chart-for-preschoolers/
We got our banks from the Container Store: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/collections/banks?productId=10005788 (one in each color for each kiddo, though Milla isn’t using hers yet). Similiar idea, I think. We haven’t really put the save and give concepts in action, but the money is in there!
We started giving the girls an allowance a year ago. They are five and ten years old. They get fifty cents per year of age/week. So the five year old gets two-fifty and the ten year old gets five dollars a week.
We made a “bank account” on an excel spreadsheet and we keep track of the totals. We only give them money when they are going to buy something. By the way, they buy all their own toys, etc. They have bought their own American Girl dolls, Nintendo DS, games, accessories, etc. We buy stuff at Christmas and Birthdays, and that’s it. When they ask if they can have something we say “Sure, do you have enough money in the Bank of Dad?”
If there is something that they want that is pricey– they are willing to do extra chores to earn money. And if relatives ask what they would like for christmas or birthdays, my girls have said I’m saving for an American Girl doll, and they’ve received money and gift cards/certificates to help them towards their goal. This system has brought a lot of peace to our family and has made our girls more responsible about money.
Now when I see an expensive toy on the floor I don’t care half as much because I have a much smaller investment!