Many families are busy with buying new clothes, shoes, book bags and school supplies. And there will be many more expenses after school starts, such as school lunches, after-school snacks, fees for extracurricular activities — the list goes on and on. It’s obviously a very expensive time of year.
“Since these expenses are related to children, this is a great time to begin helping them learn to handle money,” said Janet LaFon, family financial education specialist with University of Missouri Extension. “From a very early age, children start using money, so why not help them learn to use it wisely?”
Start by taking a look at where children get their money. Usually this is from one of three general sources: cash gifts, earnings and allowances. According to LaFon, each of these can be used to teach children money management skills.
For guidelines on teaching children how to manage money, see the full version of this article at http://missourifamilies.
