Every Thursday in 2025, I will answer questions about money and/or budget. If you have a question you would like me to answer in an upcoming post, please submit it here.
Does your child give his or her child a stipend before he or she is old enough to find a job as a teenager? How do you teach your child to give/spend/save? – Charlotte from England
Hi Charlotte! I love that you intentionally consider how to guide your money management job to find a job before your child is older. This is also important to our families.
One of our greatest hopes as parents is to provide our children with skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. One of the most important life skills we can give them? How to manage money wisely.
That’s why, yes, we do give the kids money forward They are big enough to do traditional jobs. However, we use a tedious system rather than regular allowances that can help them teach the value of work and how to manage currency well.
Let me break it down for you…
Our Trivia and Money System: Paid vs. Unpaid Groceries
When our three older we created a two-tier grocery system at home: Non-paid chores and Paid housework.
- Non-paid chores It is a daily responsibility brought about as part of our family team – such as keeping the room clean, helping with laundry or vacuuming. These are expected and no payments are made.
- Paid housework Once their unpaid chores are available, there is an extra chance to choose from. These may include scrubbing the car, organizing the closet or cleaning our bathroom.
We chose this system because we want Rewards Programs and Struggleno rights. Our kids know that money is not free – just like in the real world, it is obtained through hard work.
Why do we pay for housework
Here are four important reasons why we decided to pay for our children to do housework:
1. Encourage strong work ethics
I am so grateful to my parents for instilling work ethics in me – I want to pass on the same gift to my children. When our children take the initiative to do paid chores and make money, they are learning to work hard to bring rewards. They will also learn to stick to their work until they do it well – a priceless lesson that goes far beyond housework.
2. Teach real money skills
From about three or four times our kids have started to provide them with a small amount of opportunities to make and manage money. Whether it’s bringing their own money to the store or making choices for the savings, they are learning real-life financial skills that will serve them in the next few years.
When we go out shopping, they can bring their own spending money and spend money (in reason!). This helps them learn valuable fund management skills and can also prevent Jim Attitudes that will appear quickly when shopping. If a child sees what they want and they ask me if I can buy it, my response is always “Did you bring the money?”
We have had many wonderful moments of learning from simple situations – for example, when they forget money and can’t buy things, or when they hand over the dollar bill to the cashier and exchange it for change. Over time, these small experiences have intensified financial confidence.
3. Let them make a $3 mistake
Let our children make the mistake of making small money – just like spending all their money on cheap toys that break in two days – helps them develop critical thinking and discernment. I would rather have learned something from their $3 mistake today than making $3,000 mistake in their twenties.
We don’t have micromanage their spending. If they ask for input, we will give. But usually, we take a step back and let them figure it out. It provides such a good conversation for the satisfaction of decisions, value and delays.
4. Encourage generosity
We talked a lot about donations at home. Our kids put aside the portion of what they earned to pay – whether it’s a Christmas sub-box for families overseas, goats and chickens or clean water projects. Watching their hearts generous has been one of the most beautiful parts of the journey.
Some guidance and practical encouragement are needed to teach your child better management skills for money management. Every teen should know about my brand new resources, including 15 key funding courses – so you now know you can start with important conversations and start setting them up for future financial success!
In this free guide you will learn:
- Where to start talking about money!
- The basics of finance learned by most teenagers in school.
- #1 Habits to Separate Financially Successful Young People from Striving People.
- Why teaching your teens about money now will help them avoid regular economic mistakes later.
- 5 Money thinking ways that can *can* change your teen’s future!
Download your free guide now and start preparing for financial success for teenagers!
How we teach our children to donate, spend money and save
Once we start making money, we encourage our children to divide their money into three main categories:
- Give: We encourage our children to put a portion of their money on hold to the local church and cause them to be keen on.
- save: We encourage them to set savings goals – sometimes a bigger item, sometimes just to build a habit.
- spend: This is their entertainment funding – they can decide how to use it (within reason!).
Over time, they began to see the value of each category. They feel joy give strength Save and free Spend wisely. Watching this is a meaningful thing!
For more encouragement, read this article about 4 ways to teach your children about fund management.
Don’t just tell them – show them
One of the biggest keys to all of this is modeling. Our kids hear us talking about budgeting, saving, paying and choosing to meet. They see us waiting to make a purchase, compare prices, and sometimes even reject when something isn’t good enough.
I often say: More than teaching is to be caught.
We can talk about money all day, but if our lives don’t reflect what we are talking about, we won’t stick to it. So we invite them into the process – we explain the “why” behind our financial decisions and provide them with front seats to manage their money with a purpose.
Talk to them about how you set up your budget. Show them what works for you. When you go to the bank, please bring it with you. Explain why you choose not to use a credit card, or why you pay in cash or why you buy a used car.
For more encouragement, read my post about 6 things my grandpa taught me about financial success.
Some final encouragement
If you’re just starting out, I encourage you to try the following:
- Set a good example. Let your child see your intentional financial choices.
- Talk about money openly. Bring them into age-appropriate conversations.
- Help them make a simple budget. You can use cash envelopes, spreadsheets, or applications, such as budget required.
- Give them space to learn. Let them make mistakes – this is part of the process!
Before your child is old enough, giving children money management experience is not just dollars and cents, but also with management, discipline, generosity and preparing for a wise decision-making life.
I would love to hear what your home looks like – or any ideas you’ve tried (or don’t use it!). Parenting is a journey and we are all learning.
Want to raise a smart teenager?
Catch ours Free financial skills for teenagers Set up a guide for future financial success!
Related articles:
- Why don’t we pay for our children
- 25 summer jobs for teenagers
- Stop waiting until your kids are teenagers talking about money
