You have it all figured out, the kids are earning their own money and saving it. You seem to have figured out how to guide your children towards determining what a need and a want is. The kids seem to comprehend basic financial tips, they have a bank account and are earning money on a regular basis. Then it happens, something arrives on the market and your kid is ready to spend all of that hard earned cash on something without thinking it through. There are ways you can help kids avoid hasty money decisions, but you may need to read these tips to assist in guiding you so that you and your kids survive this scenario.
Allow your Kids to Choose what do with their money
If you didn’t start from the beginning of parenthood to teach your kids to make decisions on their own, well that may create a difficult scenario right now. If you are among the parents who are starting young and need the advice to be proactive, then start now with allowing kids to make some decisions on their own. The reason you need to let go and start letting kids make decisions about other areas in their life is because good decision-making skills will come into play when helping kids avoid hasty money decisions. Teach the basic decision-making skills to your kids from day one and watch as the hasty money decisions start to diminish.
Educate on Household Expenses
Allowing your kids to understand the household expenditure such as how much bills cost and how much income comes into the home, is a great way to teach kids about money making decisions. From a young age, even as young as 5, kids can comprehend a visual chart that showcases income versus expenses. When the kids ask for something extra, explain to them how this won’t fit into the budget and why. Create a graph or a line chart to showcase the income and expenses. Being open in the family about money decisions on a basic level will help guide your kids forward in having less of a chance to make hasty money decisions.
Sleep on It
One method that even adults use before making hasty money decisions is to sleep on it. If your kids want to spend money on something and you see it as a hasty decision, consider teaching them to wait 24 hours before spending the money. Allowing the kids to sleep on it and teaching them this method will train them to be better about spending money. When you teach kids to take the time to evaluate if they really want to spend the money, you are teaching them an important financial skill that will carry into adulthood in a positive way. Kids need to learn that hasty money decisions are not always valuable ones and could wreak havoc on their long-term goals of saving money.
There you have it, a few tips on how you can help your kids avoid hasty money decisions. This won’t be easy, for even teenagers think they know it all, but you can survive this part of parenthood. Start being the example, being open to communication about household budget and expenses and teaching your kids to pause for 24 hours before spending the money they desire to spend.
About the Author – Brandy Ellen Tanner is a Positive Lifestyle blogger who works from home while raising her 3 children. Learn more about Brandy at BrandyEllen.com and read her other parenting articles at ParentInfluence.com.
Tags: allowance, kids, money