SERIES Teaching My Daughter About Money: Give, Save, Spend

Ever since Jenn and I had our I Have Had Enough Moment with living paycheck-to-paycheck and B-R-O-K-E and living the three-time-loser-with-credit-cards life, we have made it a huge priority to teach our daughter about money management.  It became a HUGE priority when we realized that she has inherited my "spender" genes!

In this series, I will be sharing some practical ways that we are teaching her about sound money management.

Part Two – Give, Save, Spend

Jenn and I purchased Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Jr. kit back in 2004, and it has been a mainstay on our refrigerator ever since.  I really like the three main categories that he focuses on in the kit – GIVE, SAVE, SPEND.

Every time that Melea receives money, we have taught her to divide the money into the three categories.  She has to put twenty-percent into the GIVE envelope, at least twenty-percent into the SAVE envelope, and the rest goes into the SPEND envelope.

Since this has been the standard procedure since she was very young, it is part of her DNA to think this way now every time that she receives money.  She KNOWS that it must be divided between the three categories.  You want to feel proud?  Watch your child automatically take birthday money and separate it into the three categories and see that the GIVE and SAVE categories exceed the SPEND category.

Thanks, Dave Ramsey, for offering such a simple, yet fantastic product! 

Here are the lessons I think are being learned or reinforced:

  • GIVE and SAVE take priority over SPEND.  So basic.  So subtle.  But this is HUGE when it comes to ensuring that our plans/hopes/dreams are fulfilled.
  • Giving fills the heart.  Saving fills the bank account.  We talk through the giving decisions. She knows exactly what she is saving for.

Read the entire series 

Part One – Twenty Dollars

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