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Saving: A Secret to Teaching Kids About Money

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kids-and-moneyPsst. Hey, you.

Are you looking to make your child a super saver?

Listen closely. . .

I’ll tell you the secret.

Ready?

There really isn’t a secret.

The truth is you have to actively teach them to save by putting the money away on a regular basis.

Not sure how to begin?

I’ll show you exactly what I do here.

An Eye-opening Way to  Teaching Kids About Money

We’ve all heard that visualizing your goal can help you achieve that goal. Many people post pictures on their refrigerators of what they want to look like in the future in an effort  to lose weight. It serves as a reminder to be mindful of what they are eating. Recent research reinforces the importance of visualization.

A recent U.S. News article highlights research done by professor Julia Belyavsky Bayuk  from the University of Delaware. She explains how “it’s very important to visualize your goal. You need to know what you are working towards. In fact, clearly keeping the goal in mind by posting it where you can see it every day could also keep your motivation at the forefront of your mind and help you think more abstractly about your goal.”

I kept this research in mind when creating a place where my kids could save their money. Not only do they get to visualize their goal, they also see the amount of money increase as they save. I share how I made their banks.

Here’s exactly what I did.

Here are the supplies needed:

A clear plastic container

A picture

Tape

1. Cut out a picture of an item they would like to buy in the near future from a flyer or online store.

2. Tape the picture of the item to a clear, plastic container.

teaching-kids-about-money
I put the image above on the jar, just to show an example. You get the idea. 😉 You don’t have to cut a hole in the top of the lid.

 

3. Start contributing to savings. If you think your child may be tempted to dip into the container, make a copy of the visual on the front of the jar and put it near their bed when they wake up or on the fridge. As long as they see it every day, they’ll still keep the goal in mind.

Then keep the container out of their reach until you deposit more money. You don’t want them to be tempted to raid it if their spending money doesn’t cover the cost of another item they want.

You know your child best. If you have to keep it in a safe place, you can play banker until their saving habit is established and they actively practice delaying gratification. As long as they can see what their goal is daily, you can still help them visualize their goal.

Having a see through container will allow them to see that their efforts are paying off and they will hopefully stay motivated to save.

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