From my own perspective, I think it’s important to talk to children about money. My parents did not talk to me at all about money, and instead I saw what they did: paycheck to paycheck living, Mom trying to save while Dad spent, declaring bankruptcy…one week I could get gum for $.50 and the next week I was told no and that we had no money, but I didn’t really understand what was going on. There was just saving up for what you wanted, not for a rainy day. And I have a friend who is getting her child a Vera Bradley bag because “I can’t have her be the only kid without one. She’ll be outcast.” It makes me cringe because while they may not completely understand, children are watching EVERYTHING you do, and whether or not you speak to them about what’s going on, they’re learning something. If you talk to them about it, they may learn exactly what you want them to instead of picking up bad habits. Spot on, Daniel.

Keep in mind that to a young kid, the concept of money is still this abstract, idealistic thing: Everyone (seemingly) has it and if you can buy a new CD, to a child, that means you’re rich.

I don’t know how old I was when I learned about money. I remember growing up there were times when we ran out of milk and instead of going to the store to buy more we used canned milk. There were other times we would run out of Crest toothpaste and until payday we would brush our teeth with a baking soda-based paste and rinse with watered down peroxide afterward. My sister and I knew it was related to money but we didn’t think a lot of it and didn’t understand that that wasn’t how the other kids on the block lived.

Our kids occasionally receive cards with $5 in it from their Nana, and they’ve learned that if they want that special toy they have to save their money. Bailey saves recycling and every couple of weeks her and Keli go and cash them in.

Along with that, Bailey learns not only the value of money (she has to do something to earn it and save it), but also learns that SHE has to do the work. For a while she was getting lazy and until I explained to her that if Keli and I do all the “work” to put the recycling in the bag for her, we were going to keep the money. We did the work; we earned the money.

Last point in this “tl;dr” comment, I promise.

We’re not financially wealthy by any means and the kids pick up on that by having friends that come from more financially sound households than ours. We explain pretty straightforward to Bailey (since she’s older and understands better) that different jobs earn more money than others, explain how Keli and I have budgeted in certain things such as their summer clothes and sending her and her little brother to the best pre-school we could… things like that which she can see the value of so she has an idea that her mother and I made certain decisions on how to spend our money.