I was recently watching Oprah by accident as you do when your channel surfing, and there was a couple on with their 2 children, aged 16 & 18.

They wanted them to learn how to manage money! The problem was – they were very successful and affluent themselves and basically gave into their children's demands, buying expensive cars etc, credit cards the whole nine yards.

They had an expert on the show saying that parents should really be the ones teaching their kids about money, and that there are important lessons to be learnt. Especially around character and children's ability to handle money when they get older and leave the house.

So instead of "dad can I borrow $100 dollars" and the automatic response "here you go, here is some money..." what can we do as parents to help making our children conscious about money?

Some ideas ...

• Get them to keep a journal of what they spend their money on – clothes, food, going out ... they will get a chance to really see where their money is going.


• Let them experience a short fall and make sure you keep your ground about not giving them money.


• Get them to cup their hands and pour water into it, seeing that it will slip threw their fingers – with money it's a bit like that!


• Explain to them where the money comes from – not just you as a parent but where you get it from? How hard you had to work to get it.


• Discuss some scenarios - e.g. if they were left an inheritance from someone, how would they use it?


• Have a chat to them about "capital" and "consumer" items. Do they know the difference?

I believe it's never too early for our children to get wise about their spending and how to keep a hold of money!

-Scott

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