Parents, Don't Be Sissies: Teach Your Kids to Manage Allowances

How many times do parents hear these words…“Mom, buy me a book.” or “Mom, I need money for the movies.” You give in and hand over extra money because they blew their allowance and it’s the easy way out. What are you teaching them to do? You are teaching them to spend YOUR money and that it is OK for them to spend more than they have. Take a look at these five ways to help jump start good money managing skills for you and your child.

1. Stop giving allowances. That’s harsh but what is your child or children doing to earn that allowance now? Watching TV and playing with friends? You might as well call it an endowment to your kid’s summer fund. Show your kids that allowances are actually earnings for work performed. Here’s how.

2. Determine what type of work your child is able to complete. Create a list of extra work that is unrelated to normal household responsibilities such as making the bed or feeding the dog.

3. Start Giving Allowances: But I just stopped them. Yes, I know but now you will be giving allowances to help teach your children how to manage money and learn from their own successes and failures. Instead of doling out money the “sissie” way make a list of what they will be expected to pay for. Also, pay your child on time. This teaches your children the value of honoring obligations.

4. Create a spending plan. In the past your kids’ plan was to ask you for more money. Now that they can see some savings add up, it is time to help them plan how not to spend it all at once. A small notebook will be adequate enough for the time being to write down income and expenses. Designing a spending plan can be as simple as writing a “to-do” list. If one of your child’s objectives is to go to the movies twice a week then this simple method will help them to check availability of money. When you hear the words “Mom I need money for the movies,” just ask “can you afford it?”

5. Set examples. This is by far the most important step. If your child watches you spend unwisely, he/she will tend to emulate you and believe it is OK to spend money well over your budget. Generally speaking your child will learn how to manage money through their own experience and your guidance.

Managing money is not easy and many people never learn how to turn it into a tool that will benefit the rest of their life. Schools don’t teach money management so it is left up to parents. Follow these five tips to help your child gain control over money instead of letting money control him or her. You will no longer have to take the "sissie" way out and give in to unwanted requests and you will also have a financially healthy child

To read more on how to teach kids to manage money go to Kids’ Money here and visit the Kids’ Money Store for more books.

Write it down,

Carma

Follow The Money

I was reading Anne Wayman’s newsletter today about Freelance writers regarding the fear of money and success. She points out some thought provoking solutions between the relationship of self esteem and fear of making money:

"I don't know how it happens, but for many of us, money - our ability to earn it, our right to have it, our very thinking about the whole subject - gets hooked with our self-esteem or self-worth. For the freelance writer, this lack of true self esteem often results in:

not recognizing and accepting our talents as writers
not charging enough for our work
not following through with invoicing and other money management necessities
not following through with potential clients

Any of these symptoms, and many more, result in under earning, also known in some circles as self-debting."

I don’t know about you but this topic has my name on it. My husband and I run a plumbing repair business and when money gets tight as it often will, my blood pressure rises, I have anxiety attacks, and I am not easy to live with. In addition, my creativity gets sucked into a black hole.

Another reason for not earning enough money is that we do not charge enough for our services. Do you wage price wars with your competitors and associates?

Do you call them pretending to be a prospective client and ask their rates?

I have known many people who do this. My husband and I provide excellent service and we do not need to apologize for our rates just because we are $10 more than Joe Blow. Don’t judge your talents and services by others.

When you begin to compare yourself to other people in your profession, you are doing a huge disservice to your career and business as a freelance writer.

I have two questions for you and me:

1. Do you fear making money or do you fear being successful?
Yes I fear making money because it would mean I am successful and I am not sure I can handle the scrutiny.

2. Can you manage money once you have it?
This is another major cause of fear. Maybe I don’t manage money well because I don’t want to be successful.

What do YOU say?

Write it down,
Carma