Responsible spending habits are an essential skill that everyone must have. As we have observed in Milchel, children have different spending habits. Some as responsible, but others are excessive in their spending. One this is for sure – they learned their spending habits from their parents. Directly or indirectly, it’s the parents who have taught them whatever they know about money and spending.
If you have young children who are just beginning to understand the concept of money and spending, now’s the good time to teach them responsibly spending. As they say, it’s best to start them early. At an early age, children must learn to distinguish between needs and wants. Do they really need that new toy? Or do they just want it? Do they really need that insanely expensive bag? Or do they just want it?
While we teach our children to think about their needs and wants before making a purchase, we also encourage them to think critically. Do they really need that top of the line gadget? Or will a mid-level one do the job? Is it really wise to spend their pocket money for the month in just one weekend? The more they practice critical thinking, they easier they will develop a good judgement when it comes so spending their money.
Finally, let me circle back to the start of this article. We said that whatever spending habits your children have, they definitely learned it from you. So the best tip to remember in instilling responsible spending habits is to lead by example. Whatever our children see from us are incredibly influential in our children’s attitudes towards money and spending. That being said, reflect on your own spending habits and what your children are learning from you. If there’s still a room for improvement, enter that room with your child and change your spending habits together.
Over-all, it all boils down to your family’s values that you pass on to your children. Once they know the difference between needs and wants and the importance of being reasonable in spending, they can then think critically about their spending habits. Later, they can make good decisions about the hard-earned money that their parents regularly top-up in their pockets.
