So how does one “raise frugal kids”?

Well, let me begin with my son since my daughter is still too young, so the verdict is still out on her (so far it does look promising though). First, let me mention that we do pay my son a weekly allowance that I mention in the article called: Allowance Pay Rate For Kids! In the post, I basically explain that I give my kids an allowance based on their age. So in the case of my son, since he is 10 years old, we give him $10 dollars! You might think that giving a child an allowance isn’t conducive to teaching frugality, but I beg to differ! Giving an allowance to a child while they are young takes some of the magic and power out of the money. This is good because you want kids to realize that money is just a tool and isn’t to be considered anything more than a tool!

Now I’m going to show an age base analysis of his progression below:

Ages 5 thru 6

The Pokemon and Lego stage: My son constantly wanted to go to Target Stores to buy Pokemon cards and Lego Star War kits. He also wanted to spend money on guy and give decent chunks of his money to charity.

Ages 7 thru 9

After talks about savings, banks, stocks and charity, my son starts to realize the value of money and starts to eliminate wasteful spending, especially on Pokemon cards !

My son also starts to show a entrepreneur flare, but mainly with lemonade stands and ebay selling.

Ages 9 thru 10

Through learning about the environment and various financial games and chess, my son starts to become away of the value of money.

He starts an aluminum saving program to make some money and save the planet! So far it’s been successful, with grand parents and aunts and uncles saving cans for him!

Now he’s starting to save his allowance and the extra money that he is works for! He already conquered his inital goal, and now he’s going to $1,000 (it’ll take him awhile to get there!)

Here is a more defined list on how to raise frugal kids getting the same or similar results:

Walk the talk ! Both of us are very frugal and we go to garage sales and shop for clearance items. We also use eBay and craigslist to buy cheap but quality products! We make sure our kids understand what we are doing when we take these initiatives! At a kid’s pace, teach them about banks, savings accounts, the stock market, bonds, real estate… but in a small way! They aren’t going to comprehend college level material, so break it down for them in digestible chunks! Encourage you kids to manage their money, and give them advice on what you would do! Tell them ways that they could have save more of their money buy shopping as frugal as possible. Take them to thrift shops, Goodwill (if it’s in a safe area), and garage sales (again, if it’s in a safe area). Explain to them how they can buy an almost new item at those locations and that it’s almost half the price if it were bought new. Teach them how to be money safe ! No flashing money around, and tell them to use a wallet! Teach them to consider cheaper but just as effective substitutes for wants and needs that may arise. Make sure they only take that money that they need! This is again for safety problems though! And finally teach them to DIY (do it yourself) on problems where it would make sense!

Well, there you have my tips on how to raise a frugal child! Wishing you the best of luck,

Renaye