A Lesson in Money

We have been working with Matthew, via the Dave Ramsey program for kids, to learn how to Give, Save, and Spend. He has three different piggy banks that he sorts his money into from doing chores, being helpful, or various rewards.

The Give pig we use for our offering each week at church. He has really enjoyed that by putting the money in there, licking the envelope and then "decorating" the outside. The best part is slam dunking it into the offering plate...most of the ushers are not ready for that one. Ha!!

The Save pig is for him to really just not touch and have for savings. Maybe he'll pay for his own college with it. I guess at some point we'll transfer those funds over into a savings account just for him.

And then there is the Spend pig. A few weeks ago I became aware that we had done good with the giving pig but had not taught him the value of spending what you earn/get. So, we decided to teach that lesson.

David helped him add up all his money in the Spend pig which added up to $11. He was pretty excited when he realized he got to go get whatever he wanted with that. He took his piggy with him to Walmart. 

It was definately a process for him to discover that not all toys were within the $11 limit. (NOTE: If you have not discovered yet, HEB and Walmart are very good at putting $20 and above priced toys at eye level of a toddler but the smaller toys out of sight. Once this was figured out David was carrying him giving him a better and appropriate selection.)

He chose a John Deere truck that pulls tractors. He spotted that one and said "That one's it Daddy." Sold.

 

We then went to check out and let him do most of the work to understand the buying process.

Putting our money into the slots...one quarter at a time.

Hanging out in the back with his steal of a deal. It ended up being just under $11 so he had some change that he got to put back into his piggy.

David and I certainly value teaching our boys the value of a dollar and have enjoyed seeing this process come about in Matthew. It has also been humbling and educational for us as we seek to model good money habits to our kids. They are always watching...