People often ask us when the best time is to teach kids about money. Our quick answer is always the same: when they want some! This is why long holiday weekends are a terrific time to talk to your kids about spending. Holidays like Canada Day and July 4th come with open invitations for families to spend on everything from ice cream to flip flops, theme park visits, and bike or boat rentals. Letting kids build strong spending habits long before they become adult income earners is one of the easiest ways to help them avoid future financial pitfalls.
Spending allowance often brings about one of the best teachers ever: buyer’s remorse. Many kids blow “their own” spending money on frivolous purchases. Only after they find themselves unable to make a larger, more meaningful purchase (because they spent their allowance as soon as receiving it) do they start to see the benefit of longer-term planning.
Plans help a child stay focused on the inherent trade-offs that spending creates. You can spend your summertime babysitting wages on weekly visits to the local burger place or water park, but then you probably cannot buy those pricey Air Jordans you’ve been eyeing online. Truth bomb: Money spent today is money we don’t have to spend tomorrow!
Kids are typically more interested in getting what they want than saving their family money. But here’s the good news: teaching yours how to graciously ask for what they really want, will use, and/ or appreciate can accomplish both. Thinking before buying improves family harmony and financial well-being. It even helps protect the planet: when no one spends time or money buying items or experiences that their family doesn’t even really want or appreciate, there is less waste and fewer arguments, but also fewer donations to landfills in the form of gently used articles of clothing, uneaten food, or the like.
Our workshops are actually entitled “Money Smarts 101: Thinking Before Buying Is A Powerful and Rewarding Life Skill”. The subtitle “And a Lot More Fun than You Think” is there for a reason. One of the biggest misconceptions about slower spending is that mindful spenders never get to do or buy anything fun. Kids intuitively understand that thinking before buying will likely save their family money – but it comes as quite a pleasant surprise to discover that planned spending is also a seriously effective disappointment avoidance tool.
Children sometimes need invitations to ask questions. So, in the coming long weekend, when the inevitable surge in “Dad, can I…?” or “Mom, could we…?” arrives at the supper table, consider responding in a way that lets your kids understand that although you love making them happy, it just isn’t always financially achievable; but that you’re happy to talk about why. Perhaps Miranda Featherstone said it best in her recent guest post for “Parent Data by Emily Oster”: “…while some questions don’t need to be answered until they are asked, children do need invitations to ask questions…so that they know a topic is one that you are willing to discuss.” Planning for summer fun, or any long weekend fun, is just such an invitation. In this case, one that lets your kids know you are absolutely willing to talk to them about money.
If you want to learn more about and/ or test-drive our free and safe tool, the DIMS – Does It Make Sense?® Score calculator, click on the pink or blue buttons below. Happy Canada Day to our fellow Canadians. Happy July 4th to our American neighbors to the south. Here’s to early financial education and all that it can accomplish – which is a lot!
Allowance Child Development For Parents Holiday Hacks
