Teaching Your Child Money Habits for Life

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One thing i learned and copied very young was from a boyhood friend, he had a habit of emptying his pockets at the end of each day and throwing all pennies into a box and just leaving them to mount up, simple yet effective, those pennies soon become dollars. Also, i developed the habit of collecting the bright shiney coins, collecting dates and even to this day i still do that (and i am heading on 70 years old now). I found that collecting coins gave me a new perspective about money, no longer were they for spending, the shiney ones were for saving............ the cost was just the face value of the particular coin, but many of those coins are now worth substantially more.

dave of OH 3:25AM January 13, 2011

Why isn't their a graph or a percentage on this article??????????

kelly of OH 10:31AM December 08, 2010

Credit cards, if used wisely, can lead to a lot of savings and perks. We managed to get free air tickets overseas when we diligently charge our/our parents' expenditure to one single card. We also do get cash rebates & offers. But we must also be able to spend within our means - i.e. we have to clear our credit card accounts every month - interest rate is too high!

mok 1:09PM November 23, 2010

Using credit card wisely is more beneficial. You can get cashback and returns as reward points. But yes, a balance is necessary. A know-how, when to spend & when to stop is a must. All those items, which we have to pay compulsarily at the end of the month, like, utility bills, grocerries, et al, must be paid off by credit card. So rather than totally avoiding the credit card, it is better to teach the kids the prons & cons of using the card, and make them learn the art of money management, as suggested by Jennifer.

Pratik 6:47AM November 10, 2010

I was born in 1981 so I definitely fall into this category though I do remember one thing. My mom told me when I was 8 years old never to get a credit card. She said this to me as she was cutting up all her credit cards. But I don't remember her ever telling me why. When I turned 18 I got a credit card and I was really good about it until one day I realized that if I didn't pay for a month it didn't seem like a big deal. Then another month...and another and pretty soon it was maxed out and cancelled by the grantor. It wasn't until my APR jumped to 32% (it was a Sears card) that I understood what my mother had said. The sad part about this is that this happened when I was 20-25 and I am now 29 still trying to repair my credit. It has jumped from the low 500's to the high 600's in the last year so that's good.
The whole point I am getting at is you can't just tell your kids "Don't get credit cards"...because that's not practical, especially when you are trying to buy a car or a house and find out no credit is just as bad, if not worse, than bad credit. So give up on the scare tactic. Tell your kids exactly what happens when you get a credit card and don't pay the bill. Then explain what happens when you get a credit card and pay it off every month. Then explain how you do this. By doing these things, you are teaching your kid how to better manage their money and how to obtain the monetary things they need/want in life.

Jennifer of TX 7:33PM September 07, 2010

Don't EVER give your kids a credit card!

Jimmy T. of VA 11:51AM September 03, 2010

Thanks for the tips. I wish my parents told me not to get a credit card in college. I wouldn't be in as much debt as I am in now!

Jodan of MT of MT 11:49AM September 03, 2010

Thanks for this advice. I'm about to have a baby, so I'm looking forward to applying this knowledge in the future.

Nina of CA 11:46AM September 03, 2010

Probably now more than ever, with all the gadgets and things the commercials tell them they need.
Thank you for the information in this post...I think it, and the resources (disney game for one!) will help me teach my kids how to budget and use their money wisely.

Lisa of OH 8:39AM September 02, 2010

"The generation born during the Great Depression that went on to fight in World War II..."
I think you mean RAISED during the Great Depression. Americans BORN during the Great Depression were not old enough to fight in WWII.

huh of WA 3:55PM August 31, 2010