Parenting Tips – Teaching your child the importance of money

My mom totally spoils my 3 year old son! Every time they go to a store, she buys him a toy. So now he thinks that happens every time he goes to the store, regardless who he is with.

So to teach him how to be responsible with money and that money does not grow on trees, we took a piggy bank that he had in his room and explained to him that every time he receive money or finds money, to put it in the bank (even if it is just a penny)

Then what happens is that when he wants a toy or ice cream or something, we ask if he has money. He runs to get his bank and we count all his money. Then we see how much the item is that he wants and we do the math together to see if he has enough. If not, he puts the money back and saves up for next time!

This also has been working great to start him early on his math skills.

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Sent in by Dani Campbell for ‘The Dot Com Mommies Contest’ 2003.