What's the best way to teach children the value of money? When I had the twins I thought that by giving them an allowance it would help them understand the value of money. Sadly to say, it did not really work.
Then when my youngest was a teenager and she wanted more and more new clothes, I just had to come up with a solution. So I looked over my computer based accounting records and figured out how much we spent per year on her for clothes. I divided that figure by 12 and then adjusted it until I found what was the amount I could afford and was fair for her. Every 1st of the month I allocated her the clothing allowance. She could spend it any way she wanted, but it had to last the month, there was no way to get an advance from the next month. She could, however, not spend all the money and save it so that she would have more the next month. I never physically gave her the money, but kept track of it on a sheet of paper, and paid for all the purchases. We always went clothing shopping together.
I have to say that after a few months she got the hang of it and often tried on a ton of clothes, but in the end didn't buy them, she just wanted to see how they fit. Then she waited for the sales and maybe bought the occasional full priced item. I had found the perfect mean to teach her the value of money and she now uses this skill as an university student.
Then when my youngest was a teenager and she wanted more and more new clothes, I just had to come up with a solution. So I looked over my computer based accounting records and figured out how much we spent per year on her for clothes. I divided that figure by 12 and then adjusted it until I found what was the amount I could afford and was fair for her. Every 1st of the month I allocated her the clothing allowance. She could spend it any way she wanted, but it had to last the month, there was no way to get an advance from the next month. She could, however, not spend all the money and save it so that she would have more the next month. I never physically gave her the money, but kept track of it on a sheet of paper, and paid for all the purchases. We always went clothing shopping together.
I have to say that after a few months she got the hang of it and often tried on a ton of clothes, but in the end didn't buy them, she just wanted to see how they fit. Then she waited for the sales and maybe bought the occasional full priced item. I had found the perfect mean to teach her the value of money and she now uses this skill as an university student.
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