This week I did a little overhaul on helping the kids learn to manage their money.
Several years ago we got each of the kids a bank like this one (similar banks sold on Amazon). Bryan and I liked these banks because they had a section for spending, saving, and giving – three important money values we teach the kids.
A couple years ago they quit using them (they’re not really in to pirates and ballerinas anymore), and now Thomas stashes all his money in a desk drawer and Ruthie carries hers around in a wallet. Add to that a little dash of lazy parenting, and there hasn’t been much saving or giving happening lately.
But in anticipation of Christmas and an upcoming trip, I decided to whip everybody’s budget back into place.
I found this free printable online for envelope budgeting, and printed out three for each kid to cover spending, saving, and giving. They each cut and folded their own, and tallied up the money they put in each envelope.
Time will tell if this works out, but I really like how simple it is.
They can carry their Spending envelope around with them and use the lines to keep track of how much they spend, and right now they’re both using the Saving envelope to set aside money for buying Christmas presents. I also love that at the end of the month, they can just drop the Giving envelope into the offering bucket at church if that’s how they choose to give.
If you have kids, what do you do to help them manage their money?