When I had to come home to my son who is a ten year old and explain to him that Mommy lost her job, which was very difficult. I wasn’t sure if he even knew what I was talking about. I’ve always discussed “the job”, “my job” to him and how it pays me to work. Then I turn around and pay for “things”, such as food, clothes, home, school, games, movies, eating out, and everything in between. I just didn’t know if that information went into his brain. And if it did, then was it processed into something that made since for him.
So now was my time to find out how much of that information I told him was actually there, in his brain. So I told him. I told him that for a while buying extra things are going to stop. I told him that I’d be shopping at Wal-Mart and Aldi’s instead of the other more expensive grocery stores. I told him that we are going to watch the electricity and water. I told him that I’d go back to cutting coupons. I told him that we would have to watch every dollar we spend and to save what we can, so I can make it on the unemployment checks that I was going to receive. I told him that it wasn’t forever just until I got another job. Tears came to my eyes as I told him these things because I have always been able to provide the extras for my son and I felt like I was going disappointing him by telling him these things. His words to me after I spoke to him were “I’m going to pack my lunch for school to help out”. He was buying hot lunches at school. I couldn’t have been prouder of my son at that very moment. I knew those talks were going to pay off. I think I’ve done something right.
So I read this article in USAWEEKEND a couple of weeks ago. It’s titled ParentSmart Raising Frugal Kids: A Timely Lesson. It has some really good advise for parents. I’ve used all of these suggestions for raising my son.
Here’s that article below:
ParentSmart by Claire Green
Raising frugal kids: A timely lesson
Raising a child to think frugally is a lot easier today than it was a year ago. To learn how, we turned to financial expert Susan Beacham, of Money Savvy Generation (msgen.com), which helps parents teach their children how to be smart about money. Her advice:
Teach the basics. By the fourth grade, kids should know how to identify coins and paper money; what they can do with money, including saving, buying and giving to charity; and what a budget is.
Discuss your own budget. Meals are a great time to discuss how your family spends its money — on food, housing, transportation, vacations, etc. Discuss different ways to save, such as with piggy banks and savings accounts.
Teach everyone to be thrifty. Set a month-by-month goal to rein in spending. Skipping a daily latte, packing lunch or cutting back on online music purchases can make a difference.
Make learning fun. Give your youngest lights-out duty at bedtime to teach about saving on electric bills. Early readers can help clip grocery coupons from the circulars. And teens can search for sales and coupons online.
Claire Green is the president of Parents’ Choice Foundation, a non-profit guide to quality children’s media and toys. For more information, go to parents-choice.org.
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