7 Money Tips for Kids – How to Make Money to Move Out

7 Money Tips to Teach Your Kids on Making Money Before They Move Out

Timing is everything… right? I think so! Welcome to our article '7 Money Tips to Teach Your Kids on Making Money Before They Move Out.'

7 Money Tips for Kids

I distinctly remember the first week of my freshman year of college. One of my duties was to meet with a financial advisor to walk through how much I owed for the semester and work out a payment schedule. /ugh/ So there I am, in the library looking at a very LARGE number on the computer screen (I attended a private Christian university). I did not realize how much was not covered by scholarships and financial aid. I had no idea how I was going to make these payments. The only job I had was a minimum wage work-study position. I spent the next couple of hours crying and eating Frosted Flakes from the box on my dorm bunk bed. I WAS LOST.

It was my first venture into adulthood, and I already felt behind!

So I say, timing is everything.

I search for a lot of articles relating to money management, and so many that I’ve seen lately relate to why college student should be taking a mandatory Money 101 course.

This is not an altogether bad idea, but it seems a little late. It’s more of a maintenance measure than a preventative one.

As our children grow, we are presented with so many opportunities to teach our kids how to manage their money.

1. Encourage them to earn their own money at a young age.  Kids need to know how to manage their own money. You and I both know that managing your own money it completely different than managing someone else’s money.
2. Provide resources that teach budgeting – tithing included!  Learning comes in all forms. Most people, kids especially, learn quicker through doing! Hands-on learning is important. Provide resources and walk-through the learning process with your kids – and do it often! Check out The Kingdom Code: Make and Manage Money God's Way! Great program for teaching budget!
3. Demonstrate how to “make-do”-As adults, we all learn this one way or another, but we don’t always talk about it with our kids. We expect them to just pick up on it. Let’s demonstrate how we make-do by not just throwing away a broken item and buying a new one - fix it! Or talk about impulse buying and how you talk yourself out of buying things that aren’t necessary.
4. Talk about saving – then do it!  Talk about what you’re saving for and how you’re making it happen. Let it become part of your family’s culture. It will become a habit for your kids as they get older.
5. Allow your kids to make their own mistakes-Too many times, we want to keep our kids from making their own mistakes by doing projects for them or telling them what to do. Sometimes that is necessary, but there comes a time that we have to let our kids just find out the hard way and hope they paid attention!
6. Take them grocery shopping and explain the “why?” to your purchases.  I think this is so important. Knowing how to buy necessary items and stick to a budget is not a given. It takes practice and previous knowledge. For example, talk about why buying the larger bag of beans is actually cheaper in the long run or show them how to use coupons to save money on items they were already going to buy.
7. Help your kids plan for their future (i.e. – car, college, rent)-Helping your kids plan for their future should happen earlier rather than later. Saving takes time, so waiting until your kids are 15 or 16 is too late. Make plans early and help them stick to them and stay motivated. It’s worth it!