I found myself buying him a little Matchbox car about every third time we went to the grocery store because, hey, they are only 97 cents… but then I started thinking that I was missing the point. Just because something is 97 cents doesn’t mean my child needs to have it (even if he does tell me that). We made a date to go to Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt and this adorable toy store two weekends ago with my parents and I got to thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity to show him how to buy his own cars.
We grabbed his piggy bank and after he shook out a bunch of the coins we started counting how many he’d need of each kind. I quizzed him on what each coin was and we made it into sort of a game to see if he could remember what each was.
I knew the cars were $1.49 so I wanted him to have $2 so he’d have to make some change. We had six quarters, four dimes and ten pennies. He definitely doesn’t understand what each coin means or it’s value yet but he does understand what each coin is.
Here’s the cutie heading to the toy store. I love that we are learning money with a very practical application to his life. The money in the piggy bank has come from birthday gifts or money that we’ve found around the house but AJ and I have been talking about implementing an allowance system so that he will have “income”. After we do that I want to start showing him how we use money for tithing and saving and then show him how we spend after that… but for now the spending is so he can learn what each coin is and what it stands for.
It was so sweet to watch Drew learn about money that day! He is so handsome and he looks so mature in the car picture! It made us realize, yet again, how fast time goes by. We just love that little guy so much!
~Mom and Dad~
he was so adorable learning! i loved it! 🙂
We don’t have kids yet, but we plan on following the Dave Ramsey system with his new book “Smart Money, Smart Kids” Based on his other guides to money management, I can only imagine this system will be perfect for teaching kids about giving, saving, and spending wisely.
just went on the website and checked it out… sounds fabulous! i’ve heard so many good things about his plans!
What a great lesson for him! Far too few parents teach their kids the value of money and that things aren’t just handed to us in life. I love this!
I totally agree, Sarah!!!!
You’re such a good mom! I love that you think about it doesn’t matter how little the cars cost – too much is still too much. Drew is so cute..it would be so easy to give him anything he wanted. 🙂
that’s the problem, kim! it is so easy to give him what he wants… but then i think of how NOT cute it’ll be if he’s a demanding entitled teenager. 🙂
You sound like a WONDERFUL mom.
you are too sweet. 🙂
Hey Jen! So great to catch up on your blog. Love love this post! What a great idea to do with Drew…..thinking about doing something similar with D. I also use the oversize magnet dollars/coins for teaching (from Educational Insights on Amazon), since S is in an everything-in-the-mouth phase, and I didn’t want her choking on stray coins!
OHHHH what a great idea! I’m going to check that out! 🙂
Love this post! We have a 4 year old that we are working on money with right now.