Teaching About Money to a SATB2 Child

I love doing my New Year Resolutions every January 1st. I go through and categorize my goals, create sub-goals and milestones to track progress, and then print it all out in a haze of glee as my husband watches my euphoric display of OCDness in amusement. 

The last couple of years, I have started my kids making goals too. Chelsea has decided that this year, she wants to:

1. Become a blue in gymnastics (second level)

2. Learn to swim

3. Be in a beauty pageant

4. Earn money by doing chores

As we are avid Dave Ramsey fans, I was very excited that she is interested in learning about money! I have given her chores to earn money in the past, but she loses focus easily. My son is doing the financial peace jr kit, and has a chart on the fridge where he can do jobs, and is paid at the end of the week.  

That wouldn't work for Chelsea. SO- I made her jars where she can visibly see her progress, and separated them out into "Give" and "Save" and "Spend".

I used this picture and printed off the labels and hot glued them to mason jars. 

The "Save" jar is really just a bigger, slower, "Spend" jar. To help keep Chelsea motivated, I got a picture of what she wanted to save up for (a new gymnastics leotard), and put in a bar to the side to show how close she was to her goal. 

Chelsea responds very well to visuals, so that works well for her! Also, I pay her immediately after she does her chores. We tried the weekly plus chart for about a year, which worked well for her brother, but it didn't have any concrete meaning for Chelsea, so she wasn't motivated by it. 

For the give/ save/ spend, I have her put a little bit into each jar. The amount into which jar doesn't matter to me; I just want her to learn to give to others, how to save for something big, and enjoy spending some of her hard-earned money on some things that she wants. 

She earns money from doing things like: completing her morning routine before 8 am, doing her speech/ OT practice without whining, dusting (by putting a sock on her hand and wiping up dust), helping to vacuum, etc. 

I really want her to understand the basics of personal finance; it is a concept that is SO important to know about! I figure by starting early and getting in lots of repetition, she will eventually know how to do a basic budget as an adult (fingers crossed!)