5 Tips To Teach Your Kids About Money

There is so much to teach your children. For starters, say "please" and "thank you," wash your hands, respect your elders, chew with your mouth closed.

Meanwhile, advertisers spend millions trying to teach our kids to "spend more!"

It's true. Our children see more than 25,000 ads a year on television screens alone. Fortunately, even with all of those advertising dollars being spent trying to teach your kids that they need more, these five tips can combat those messages:

1. Separate wants from needs. 

Don't assume your child can readily see the difference between what they want and what they need. Sit down with your son or daughter and create two lists.

Make one list for necessary items such as clothes, shoes, lunch, school supplies and medicine, and another list for items they want, like jewelry, trendy fashions, games and electronics.

Readily see the difference between what they want and what they need. Compare the lists and talk through the differences. Point out the fact that you can't go to school without shoes, but you can go without an iPad.

2. Say "no" and mean it.

Kids figure out at a very young age whether mom or dad changes their mind if they whine enough. Often, they learn if they keep begging, you will give in.

Next time you find yourself exhausted and ready to hand over cash for the remote-control hamster, stop. Say "no" and stick with it. Your children don't need to be at the controls of that hamster or your family's money matters.

3. Practice patience.

Teach your child the value of delayed gratification. In a time where everyone wants things faster and easier, patience can be a difficult lesson but it's one that will serve our children well for their entire lifetimes.

Create a "save-for" list at home where they can write down a few things they're saving for or waiting to get, and stick it on their bedroom wall. Patience takes planning.

4. Earn it.

If they are certain they "must have" that certain something, help them earn the money to buy it. Putting in some effort to acquire something makes the purchasemore satisfying.

They could create a progress chart for their room so they can watch their incremental labors move them closer to their goal.

You may even find that if they pay for something themselves, they take better care of it and appreciate it far more than if it was handed to them.

There are even times if their effort over time is required, their desire for the "latest and greatest" mysteriously evaporates.

5. Save now, spend later.

Sometimes your mom's mom was right: You need to save it for a rainy day. If they are constantly spending all they have, or trying to spend all you have, nothing will be left when the unexpected — good or bad — arrives.

Each time your child receives money, encourage him to divide it into three "S" piles: spend, save, share. Talk through the reality of rainy days and happy opportunities that you don't anticipate.

Spend some time considering others with less and how your child might help. You can encourage saving and give it a little boost by matching the money they set aside with a set percentage of your funds. 

Teaching your kids the value of money is an investment both of you can take to the bank!

Saving will come easier for some kids than others. We all have unique perspectives on money, and some money personalities enjoy saving more than others.

But everyone can learn, so invest the time to instill the value of money in your children, and someday they may thank you. And those in line with you at the store may even thank you now.

The Money Couple helps others achieve financial freedom while putting family first. They offer services and resources to bring couples closer together, not only in their marriages, but in their finances as well.