DIY Save, Spend, Share Bank

Make my DIY save, spend share bank and get some great tips on teaching your kids about money. Thanks to Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) for sponsoring this post. #moneygenius

More sick days with Blake means more super simple DIY projects from me! Today I’m showing you this easy DIY save, spend, share bank. During Blake’s nap the other day I had a chance to read Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not), the latest from Beth Kobliner available at Amazon.com. Financial literacy is a topic that’s close to my heart. Yet I often question if I have the right tactics to teach my own kids to be financially aware and in control. Good old motherhood doubt!

Whether you’re financially savvy and a lifelong saver or you feel completely clueless when it comes to money, there are some sound tips within the book. Here are a few tips I picked up about establishing healthy spending and saving habits from Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) for grade school age kids like Kayla (the book is divided by topic and age) and how they led me to make my own DIY save, spend, share bank.

Give Them A Way To Earn

Craig and I are still undecided on whether to give Kayla and allowance or not. One thing that Beth confirmed for me is that I won’t tie it to everyday chores as that leads to a child feeling like they can opt out of basic household responsibilities. No one is ever going to pay me to make my bed or put my clothes in the hamper, right? Why teach my child that she should be paid for doing the bare minimum?

However, we wanted Kayla to have an opportunity to earn money for a task that is above and beyond basic helping around the house. So Craig thought of one. It has to do with this guy.

He’s cute, he’s cuddly and he even sleeps with her at night. He also poops. A LOT. Armed with a rake and one of those industrial dust pans, Kayla gets $.25 for every poop she scoops. It’s a job both Craig and I were happy to outsource and she was happy to take on. A few months in she will occasionally decline poop scooping duty and that’s totally okay. It’s her decision whether or not she wants to earn some extra money.

Empower Them To Make Decisions

Have you ever walked through a store with a child and had them ask for something only to snap back with something like “I’m not buying that! You can spend your own money on that.” Or in the case that they have their own money “Are you sure that’s what you want to spend your money on?” I’m guilty of both.

Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) was a bit of a wake up call to me to BACK OFF and stop trying to control Kayla’s spending habits or belittle her choices. In hindsight, I’d be furious if someone did the same to me. Instead I’m taking a note from Beth and working on showing Kayla examples of opportunity cost and how I choose to pass up one thing now in order to have something else I want more at a later date.

Offer Guidance

The idea of spending and saving can feel abstract to kids so I made this DIY save, spend, share bank for Kayla. I don’t tell her what to do with the money she earns or how she has to distribute it. This bank works as a guide for her. It reminder her of the importance of saving, while also allowing her to reward herself by allotting funds to spend as she sees fit.

As Beth mentions, don’t worry too much about how your child disperses their earnings. The point is to get them in the habit of divvying up their money and to start saving. I was curious to see how Kayla would do and was pleasantly surprised to see that left to her own devices she decided to save far more than she allowed herself to spend.

To make my DIY save, spend, share bank you can grab a few plastic containers and simply add stick on letters or use a cutting machine like I did to cut them out. Just stick them on and you’re ready to go.

Follow Through

Ahhh yes. Following through. Here is where following through is tough for me. I want Kayla to have pride in working for the things she wants. That’s exactly how I was financially independent at a young age. By working my butt off even when I didn’t want to. At the same time, knowing that Craig and I can easily provide her with the things she wants I am so tempted to just give in and throw a few more things in the cart.

Beth provided some good reminders about how always swooping in to save the day, provide the toy or offer to pay for something isn’t helpful in the long run. And of course she is right. Good habits start young. You can’t just change up the game on your kids when they’re 18 and expect that they’ll suddenly get it.

The most shocking takeaway from Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) was just how young kids become acutely aware of money. Get this – you child’s basic money habits are formed by the age of seven. WHAT?? Seven. If you have a child around Blake’s age, believe it or not this is when we should be starting. Two or three years old.

So I’ll be spending more of Blake’s naps brushing up on the techniques for his age group so that both of our kids have a great shot at a healthy awareness of money and just what to do (or what not to do) with it.

You can grab your own copy of Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You’re Not) from Amazon.com and have it on your doorstep in just a few days. Or sooner – yay Prime! You can also order from other book sites like BooksAMillion or IndieBound or find it in most large retailers or local bookstores.