There’s no single “perfect age” to start teaching kids about money, but the earlier, the better — especially since money habits and beliefs are developed much earlier than we appreciate, and once established, tend to be very stable. 

There is brain science suggesting that early adolescence is the perfect time to practice pausing, gathering information, and reflecting before spending your own money or anyone else’s.

We do, however, believe there might be a perfect time to teach kids about money: when they want some! Which is why close to birthdays or holidays can work well, because most young people feel they’ll receive even a minor gift on a holiday or birthday. 

The bottom line: You can start as early as Grade 3 or 4, because waiting until high school misses the foundational habit-building stage. But if you are starting late, don’t despair, developmental windows aren’t hard or sharp segments of time, like the argument for planting a tree, the best time was 20 years ago - the next best time is tonight or tomorrow.

The easiest way to help children understand the value of money is to let them practice making real-life trade-offs by allowing them to spend the little bit that comes their way when they are young, and the consequences of not spending wisely are relatively low.

Answering the questions…

1. Do I need or want this?
2. Is there something better?
3. What do I have to give up to get it?

…allows young people to experience first-hand that money is finite. It also often normalizes the fact that, for many families, money is scarce. Very few people can sustainably buy whatever they want!

Our approach emphasizes a simple, memorable habit: “Think Before You Buy” (TBB).  Here’s how we would suggest you bring this household policy into your family or classroom:

• Use real, possible/ contemplated purchases. Young people appreciate the opportunity to work on a problem that matters to them in real time, answering the question: "Should I buy this item or experience?"
• Ask whether it is a need or a want—and whether the want is worth the other things they or the family might have to forgo to purchase it? 
• Make it visual and concrete. Once a child has, for instance, calculated the DIMS SCORE^® for a possible purchase and sat down with you to discuss moving it from wish-list to reality, remind them that “If you spend your allowance/ birthday money… on item A, you won’t have it for experience B.” 
• Encourage them to list what they value most, regardless of the DIMS SCORE^®, which reflects the amount of information they have collected about a potential purchase.
  

We believe that when young people learn to pause, gather information, and reflect before spending … they discover the power we all have to shape our futures — one thoughtful choice at a time.

We fully support giving children an allowance, as this provides them with natural opportunities to handle money and make decisions. Young people will be much more engaged in financial decision-making when spending “their own” money! But some structure is required to get the most benefit/ ensure they learn how to be good with money. An allowance alone is not enough; imprinting the habit of decision-making is what matters. 

We have blog posts that discuss allowance best practices: Allowance Blogs

Overall, you want to:

• Make the allowance consistent, and tie it to a purpose (e.g., “this is your spending money, outside of what we cover”).
  
• Make the child responsible for some portion of their wants — so they get real experience in trade-offs.
  

Encourage saving and decision-making by linking the allowance to choices: “You can spend it, or save part of it for something you really want, or decide to skip something to upgrade later.”

Adopting the household policy of “in this family we think before we buy” can go a long way towards teaching kids to save and avoid spending on things they don’t use or appreciate because quickly calculating the DIMS SCORE^® for a possible purchase encourages children to pause, gather information and reflect, before spending their money, or anyone else’s - habits which naturally prevent waste and reduce regret. 

 Here’s how we suggest you do it:

• Before a purchase, ask the child to calculate the DIMS - DOES IT MAKE SENSE?^® SCORE, which involves estimating how much they will use the item (or appreciate the experience) over its lifetime. If it’s lower than anticipated, maybe reconsider.
  
• After a purchase: Reflect with your kids,  “Did you use XX as much as you thought?” “Would you repurchase it?” “What did you learn about sales?” Reflective conversations reinforce the benefits of taking a beat and asking simple questions about typical purchases before making a purchase.  
• Set goals: Encourage kids to save toward something meaningful rather than buying small impulse items, so they feel the payoff of saving. We have a visual goal-tracker that can help.
• Create a delay or “cool-off” period: The DIMS framework is a built-in “speed bump” to stop impulsive buys. But maybe you also want to require that kids sleep on purchases above a dollar threshold.
• Reference your own early experiences of spending heavily on one item and then being constrained afterwards. 

The goal: Kids begin to recognise that not all purchases are equal — some are worthy, some less so — and that savings build optionality. Mission accomplished!

This is central to our mission to teach kids about money in a way that is immediately helpful! We’d suggest these steps:

• Equip your kids with a simple decision-making framework, such as the DIMS SCORE^® Calculator, which makes asking and answering simple questions about typical purchases (before anyone spends a dime) easy and consistent.
• Use the “pause and reflect” approach: Before spending, take 3–5 minutes to ask: What else could this money do? Will the value last?
• Encourage your children to ask their own questions: Is there a question they believe the DIMS SCORE^® Calculator missed? Reflection is key to becoming “good with money”.
• Celebrate thoughtful decisions: When your child makes a decision and it turns out well (or even if they reconsider), reinforce the behaviour: “I liked how you thought about that purchase carefully.”
• Turn ‘mistakes’ into learning: If they buy something impulsively and regret it, talk about what you’ll both do differently next time.

At Gifting Sense, we teach financial defence: the ability to ask questions first, and plan our spending, rather than simply being driven by earning power or impulse.

In short: Thoughtful spending is a habit that needs practice, not just one-time instruction. The goal is for mindful spending to become a default habit, just the way you spend, versus a way to spend!

The prevalence of digital payment systems definitely makes it more challenging to teach kids foundational financial literacy — some stores no longer even accept cash. Here are ways you can make digital payments feel real:

Translate digital spending into meaningful terms: Even if you or your kids are paying with a card or a phone, you can say: “This is $X that you earned/pledged; if you spend it now, it’s gone from your pool.” Make it tangible. This helps kids spend responsibly, even if a purchase is “easy to make” thanks to online retail and digital payment systems.

• Use digital statements/tools to review spending: Show how small digital purchases add up, and compare to the target or savings goal.
• Consistently use the “Think Before You Buy” habit: Whether buying online or in-store, the same four steps apply: cost + extras, usage/value, alternative uses, timing. 
• The DIMS SCORE^® Calculator doesn’t care if you use cash or a digital payment method - it cares that you understand how much money you’re actually spending, and that the future ability to buy something you lose by spending tomorrow is worth the trade-off. 
• Encourage your kids to track their allowance “balance” like a real bank: Even if the money is virtual, they can think: “If I spend this now, I will only have $X left for other things.”
• Use visuals that show money going out: Some parents set up “spending jars” or use virtual jars for “spend”, “save”, “share” — anything that visualizes your future ability to spend is going up or down helps kids measure the value of a “spend”.