Mark and I have always believed that teaching our kids money management strategies needs to be a priority.
When they were small, we gave them one dollar a week for allowance…in dimes. Then we had them manage their money with the 10-10-80 principle. 10% to God, 10% to savings, and 80% to spend. It was an oversimplified way to lay the foundation of good money management principles.
Over the years, we developed a system to assist them manage their money in their teen years. In an effort to encourage them to budget money for known expenses and needs, we created a “paycheck worksheet” that they use to manage each paycheck. You can download our “Financial Notebook for Parents and Teens” for free on my download page. This is a companion resource for my book, Got Teens?
As they grow older, we encourage them to learn the difference between “tithes” and “offerings.” A tithe is 10% of our income that we give back to God every time we are paid. Mark and I automatically tithe on every paycheck with online bill pay directly to our church. Technology has helped make that possible.
An offering is a gift given back to God over and above a tithe. We support a Compassion child. That’s an offering. We support several missionaries. Those are offerings. We support Hearts at Home with a monthly gift…that is also an offering.
As our teens grow older, we encourage them to find “offering” opportunities, too. There are “special offerings” at church to participate in and opportunities to give at church camp each summer.
What about you? What strategies do you use to teach your kids important money management skills?
Oh, and one more thing…will you consider becoming a monthly partner for the Hearts at Home ministry? I’ll be sharing more about that next week, but in the meantime would you pray about investing in a ministry that invests in you?
Thank you Jill. I love the idea of teaching money management by giving a dollar in dimes as a weekly allowance. This is a very visual way for young kids to see how much 10% is. At what age would you recommend starting to give the $1 allowance?
Thank you too for pointing out the difference between tithes and offerings. This is another important aspect of managing money that I hope our children learn through our example.
Stacy,
We started giving allowances when the kids were in kindergarten/first grade. It seemed to be the best time because they were starting to understand both math and faith.
Your timing couldn’t be better! For months I have needed to come up with a written way to track the boys’ allowances. This is great! I’ve already printed it out and will review with my dh this weekend so we can regroup and get serious. I think part of my procrastination was in knowing we needed to move to the next level but not being certain about what to do or how to get there (my boys are 9 and 12). Now we have to tools to do it! Thank you and God bless!!
Cyndee,
I’m so glad it is helpful!