How to Teach Kids to Count Money
Set up age appropriate chores
Before kids are able to plan a way to save their money they need to first learn that in order to have money you need to EARN it. Earning money comes with time, effort and/or expertise. Kids need to first understand the concept of getting rewarded for their effort and that you don’t just get what you want, but you need to work for it.
Setting up a price list for the chores is also critical so that it is made clear that things of higher effort, or even less attractive chores, like cleaning the toilet, will come with a higher price tag.
Help them plan what they want to spend their money on
If you are still buying your kids all those exciting new items anyways why would they even do the chores? There needs to be something that they won’t get if they don’t put the effort in. Do they want a new bike? New video game? New pair of shoes? Help them plan out how much it would cost them to buy the things they want, then based on their responsibilities, how many weeks of chores before they can achieve it.
This can help tremendously in not only driving motivation behind the responsibilities but now you are teaching the concept of “planning and delaying gratification”. This is a fundamental concept for money management.
Help them track their savings
Now that they know WHAT they want and HOW MUCH money they need to get it, help them set up a weekly tracker to stay focused and keep them excited about how close they’re getting to their goal.
Once they have reached their goal, celebrate the win with them by taking them to purchase their thing. Make sure you acknowledge the hard work they put in both in their chores and tracking their savings. After purchasing their new thing, back to the planning sheet to figure out what the next savings will be for.
