Money Management and Allowance
Email 1
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Subject Line: Money Management and Allowance, Part One
Glad you are here!
This month we are discussing money management and allowance. We’re talking about how prominent this topic is in the Bible, and because of this, how important it is to teach your children to have a godly perspective about money.
To be able to best teach your kids, it’s important that you have a solid, biblical understanding of money and finances yourself. First, above all, acknowledge that God owns everything. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:7 that everything we have comes from God: “What do you have that you did not receive?” Human beings are but stewards of what God has given.
When introducing money management to your kids, teach them this truth. Then, as you establish ways to help them manage their money, and perhaps initiate an allowance system, this will be what under-girds everything. When children want to buy something that may seem unwise to you, encourage your kids to talk to God about whether it would be a wise way to steward what is ultimately His (knowing that in their minds and heart they may truly believe God would want them to buy that tenth Lego set).
You can also assist your children in understanding the concept of tithing and giving. Acts 20:35 says, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” If you children receive an allowance, help them understand the importance of giving a certain percentage back to the church—but also how much joy giving can bring. Investigate some ministries that might be of interest to your child. Together, design a jar that can sit on the counter that your child can drop money into when they receive their allowance. After the money adds up, help them send that money to a ministry that interests them.
Instilling these habits in your child from a young age will not only carry with them throughout life, but will change their perspective. Instead of thinking about what they want to buy with their money, they will begin to think of how their money is helping someone less fortunate.
I am excited for what you have ahead with your child. Teaching children about managing money wisely is one of the best things you can do for your child.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/200411694/ce6054d09f
Partnering in parenting with you,
Children’s Pastor
Email 2
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Subject Line: Money Management and Allowance, Part 2
Thank you for joining me again!
We’ve talked about managing money, tithing and giving, and how important it is to have God’s perspective of money. Let’s now talk about some creative ways to teach your kids, in a practical way, how to do this.
Delayed gratification, giving up today’s desires for future benefits, is a biblical concept. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived said, “In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has” (Proverbs 21:20).
How can you help your child learn to save—in a fun way?
One fun way to help kids learn money management is to gather five or six plastic, see-through containers with lids and label them with a label-maker or a black Sharpie. Some ideas include: tithing, giving, spending, saving, and sharing. Find containers that stack well, so the footprint they take up is small.
Engage younger children by letting them decorate each container with stickers. You can use color-coded stickers for children who cannot yet read—then you can direct a child to “get some money out of the pink tithing jar!” Depending on the age of your child, you can have them help divide their allowance up into each jar.
Once their “saving” jar gets too full, you can bring your child into the bank with you and open up a children’s savings account. Every time the savings jar becomes too full, take a “field trip” to the bank. Let them see how much money they are saving! Give them ideas for what they can save for—a car, or college.
There are also Apps available for your smartphone. P2K Money and Kids Money are great, free options. Each teach the child about saving and planning for long-term purchases. They help children keep track of income like allowance or payments for doing chores.
Kids love money, and they love buying things with money. The trick is to help them understand the wise way to handle the money they have. I am praying for you and your family as you venture into this fun area of money management. And it can be fun! Use your creativity.
Trusting God with you,
Children’s Pastor
Video Script
Money Management and Allowance
Do you know the Bible speaks about money and related topics close to 2,000 times? The Bible talks about greed, tithing, contentment, hard work, stewardship and the list goes on. All throughout scripture we are taught to have a Godly perspective on money. It is why it is never too early to begin to teach our children about money.
Allowance is an amazing way to begin to engage your children in an understanding money, work and stewardship. While you love to freely give and provide for your child, it is important to begin to connect what you provide with the God the provider. It is also important to connect the things you have and give to being earned.
Here are a few tools and ideas to help you in the process of teaching your children about money management through allowance.
1. Chore Chart. While this is not a new concept, it continues to be a wise one when connecting each chore to a monetary amount. Chores, of course, need to be age and ability appropriate. The monetary amounts also should be assigned based on the age and ability with in your family. Your 5 year old pick up their toys 3 times this week might earn him 75 cents, while your 9 year old child doing the same chore might make a more.
Chore charts work great as a payroll time sheet of sorts, as your children can track their earnings throughout the week. It is a great visual to connect work to earnings.
2. Mini Home Bank Account. When your children get older, pre-paid debit cards or even opening a bank account are a great idea to teach savings and spending. When your children are young consider making your own “mini home bank account”. Instead of handing your child the money outright put it into their own home “bank account”, where they can have a saving account, checking account, and tithing account.
Start off by letting your child know that 10% of each week’s earnings will go into their “tithing account”, which they can withdraw before you leave for church each week. Second, have them think of something big they would like to save up for and decide how much of each week’s earnings they want to put in the saving account toward that item. The remaining money can go into their checking account to be spent immediately. Consider even having them create their own checks to write out to make withdrawals or pay you back for items you purchase when you are out at the store. Help them create a checkbook or way to keep track of their accounts. It is a simple and fun way to get them ready for paying bills and accounting later.
3. Reverse Allowance. Another creative way to put a new spin on allowance is “reverse allowance”. Reverse allowance is giving your child the full amount of their allowance at the beginning of each week. A suggestion, depending on the amount or the value attached to each chore, is to give it to them it in quarters.
Your child cannot spend or deposit the money until the end of the week. They must hold onto it for the week and be responsible not to lose it. The real teaching piece of reverse allowance is when your child does not do their chore. When your child does not do their chore or does it incorrectly, they have to give you back the amount of money. If they miss fixing your bed, they have to bring you the money attached to that chore for the day.
Whatever you choose to do to begin to teach your kids about money management, do not wait. Take the opportunities to talk in your home about something that God Himself talked about a lot on as well.
Texts/Tweets
TIP: Choose a hashtag for your tweets and use it consistently. That will tell Twitter to store a list of your tweets on one place for later reference.
Tweet One: It is more blessed to give than to receive. – Acts 20:35 #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Two: Are you teaching your kids godly money management? #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Three: God owns everything; we are simply stewards of what is His. #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Four: Do you have a godly perspective of money management? #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Five: Value others above yourselves. #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Six: Let your spending reflect your beliefs. #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Seven: Kids learn what they see. How are your money habits? #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Eight: Earning money is a learned behavior. #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Nine: Combat greed with giving. #moneymanagement #giving #joy
Tweet Ten: Are your kids on the payroll? #moneymanagement #giving #joy