Why shield them from the hardships of life? Put them to work early, like during summers or on the weekends. It's like most things in life, you can tell them "it's hard to [earn/do/learn] X," but the actual exposure to X develops a different level of appreciation.
Earning money is one thing. But teaching someone how to budget has drastically better chances of using their money more effectively.
Besides, once they get old enough to work (maybe throw in chores) they'll already have plans on what they want to do with the money that goes beyond drinking, games and consumer goods.
The key is to require the kids to make purchasing decisions.
Our kids (ages 12, 11, 9 & 8) are required to purchase all of their own school supplies, clothes, activities, etc. They earn the money from us and can earn a lot, but they have to complete their chores without us asking and turn in their peg slips (like a time sheet).
They then have to decide, do they want the $80 jeans or the $20 jeans? If they buy the $20 jeans then they can make more trips to the skatepark.
>> They then have to decide, do they want the $80 jeans or the $20 jeans? If they buy the $20 jeans then they can make more trips to the skatepark.
What seems important is the willingness to let your kids make mistakes. When I was a kid, my parents had a set budget for each of us for clothes. My sister was super interested in clothes from an early age so they just gave up and handed her the money. She'd shop sales and make extra money to get everything she wanted. On the other hand, my parents basically dictated the clothing I would buy. (Every fall I got three pairs of Levi's jeans, four new shirts, two pairs of dress pants, two dress shirts, one pair of shoes.)
I never got the chance to buy one pair of $100 jeans instead of three pairs of $35 jeans and then have to figure out how to get through the week with one pair of jeans that fit. I learned to handle money in other ways, but I think my parents missed an teachable moment.
Requiring them to purchase school supplies seems counterproductive, unless they really value them. If my brothers were given a choice, they'd buy the shoddiest possible equipment to save money for fun stuff, and if you were to force them to buy better things, you haven't really gave them the purchasing decision, just faked it.
That seems like a great way to learn that you get what you pay for. Letting kids make mistakes (especially relatively minor ones like that) is always good.
The problem is that kids often under-value their education. As such, they would allocate less of their money to school supplies then they should. They may not realize this mistake until they realize the value of education, by which point it may be to late.
Do you think an expensive pencil performs better than a cheap pencil? What about folders, glue, notebooks, graph paper, etc?
When we get into electronics, the school list specifies which graphing calculator to buy. Will my kids find a used one on ebay? Probably. Will a used one perform worse?
It is an interesting concern, but we haven't had a situation where their frugality has gotten in the way of their education. One of my kids likes fancy mechanical pencils, another one uses wooden pencils until they are nubs. It's their choice :)
Pencils, folders, and such, not that much (though the cheapest paper is usually to thin to withstand the treatment), but I've seen math compasses literally fall apart after a month or two of use, dented rulers, pens which would spill to clothes, etc.
It's not that you need to buy expensive stuff, but the cheapest of the cheapest is usually only good for occasional use, not daily school work.
Absolutely agreed. I've had a job since I was 15, yet I spent all my money (and then some) well into my 20s. It was disposable money and I didn't appreciate budgeting (though I understood the concept well).
I was speaking more to the 10/11 year old, but I don't think 6 is too young to get a little lemonade stand going. It reminds me of a kid (about 8 years old) that was selling lemonade on a really dead street shouting "get your lemonade." The first thing that came to mind is that this kid will appreciate how hard it is to make a sale before he's a teenager.
My guess is that most kids would rather play than sell lemonade, so he was probably pushed by his parents to do this.
> so he was probably pushed by his parents to do this.
Or maybe he was just entrepreneurially minded.
When I was 6-10 I sold lemonade probably once every week or two during the summer. I liked to make money, and it was fun especially with friends; my parents never pushed me to do it.
Age 9/10, in the winter before it snowed I used my saved money to buy a new snow shovel and for card stock which I used to make business cards. I walked around and gave them to neighbors, when it snowed I would usually get a couple calls and then would pick up a few more walking around.
> It's like most things in life, you can tell them "it's hard to [earn/do/learn] X," but the actual exposure to X develops a different level of appreciation.
How about just making/letting kids work, and not make such a big deal out of how hard it might be? (work in general; some people think that 'kids should be kids', but I'm not so sure that is optimum. Maybe it would be great if no adult had to work, either, but that is impractical.) No wonder how many people have such a hate-relationship to work when we try to shield children from work\* all the while complaining about work ourselves.
People say that you should do work that you like, work that gives you a purpose etc. But who can blame them for having a hard time with that when all they've heard growing up is how miserable work (in the general sense) is?
I don't know psychology, so this is just a theory I have.
I agree. You don't have to mention how hard it is, but through the exposure they will naturally realize that it isn't easy and will give rise to a sense of hard earned money.
I'd rather teach how to earn money in an enjoyable way. "This is work, it's unpleasant but it earns you money and keeps you alive and we all do it because we have to" is not really the message I want to convey.
And when they're 24 and still at home because "working at the local gas station just isn't what fulfills [their] passion", you might wish differently. An easy environment rarely creates something worthwhile. Steel, and all that.
Well sure sometimes work is necessary. But too many people never question it. That is what I worry about. Working at the gas station will only get you through the day, it will never set you free.
I think there will be enough opportunities for the kid to learn about having to work (like household chores, school homework).
And actually even setting up for enjoyable work will probably have some less enjoyable aspects.
Agreed. I got really caught up in the "be your own boss" mentality and career path until I realized that I hated the business side of things, didn't like collecting money from people, and would rather spend time increasing technical abilities rather than learning business stuff. In the end, the corporate route (despite its obvious issues) made me happier. But, I also put in a lot of hours at lesser jobs along the way to get me to this point. No gas stations, but plenty of other jobs that are just a paycheck. Didn't make me happy, but they did pay the bills while I was getting a degree.
