This week Logan and I got together with some good friends of mine. He always has a good time with them, but this time was especially exciting for him. Over the past several months we have become particularly close and are always making plans about our future. Most of them are pretty outlandish since we are all going to be rich teachers, but this one is for real. We decided to go on a little road trip together next summer and made adorable little coin jars so we could start saving our pennies for this upcoming adventure.
Logan loved being able to have his own little personalized jar to keep his coins in and the best part is he has something to save for. He loves these girls so much, that alone is motivation for him to save. Going on a trip with them is just a little bonus. My son has always been a particularly good saver. He saves all of his birthday and Christmas money in a little jar and rarely wants to spend it.
Teaching your kids about money doesn’t have to be miserable. Have them help make a special jar to keep their money in and talk to them about having something in mind that they are saving for. Next time they are at the store and see something that they want have them count their pennies and see if they have saved enough. If not give them opportunities to earn a little money around the house. They will appreciate the things they get that much more because they had to work so hard to get them. It also teaches them that money doesn’t grow on trees, which is a particularly valuable lesson for your children to learn if you are a single parent and struggling to make ends meet as it is. Children need to know how to work for what they want. If they have something special in mind, it makes it that much easier to work for.