money money money money

We've decided that now's as good a time as any to begin teaching our children about the value of money. Several years ago (before we even had kids), I had seen piggy banks that had three separate slots for money to spend, to save, and to share. I loved this idea, and kept it tucked away in my mind until we were ready to introduce these concepts to the twins.

Several weeks ago, we bought the twins their first piggy banks, and told them that they would have several opportunities to do jobs and earn money to put into their banks. These jobs range from helping to put away their laundry to dusting and sweeping and other assorted odd jobs. Each job they complete will earn them a dime. Things like cleaning up their toys will not earn them money because that's just something they're expected to do.

I keep a tally of how many jobs each child has completed throughout the week, and then on Sunday nights, I pay them what they've earned. Then we talk about which category each dime will go into.

I've explained the "Spend" category as money that the kids can take with us when we go to the store and spend on little treats (stickers, balloons, small cheap toys, etc.).

For the time being, the "Save" Category has been explained to them as money they're putting aside for larger purchases (maybe a bigger toy such as a bike or a scooter). When they get older, we'll take them to the bank and open savings accounts, and ultimately I'm hoping that the "Save" category will go towards things like their first car or their college education.

Finally, we've explained the "Share" category as money that we give to other people who don't have as much as we do. My intention with this is to choose several charitable organizations that we can introduce to the children, and then let them decide where they'd each like their money to go.

I'm hoping that this approach will not only teach the twins about the value and uses of money, but also about how important it is to maintain a balance in how that money is used, and how nice it feels to be able to do things for others.