Thank you for joining us for another installment in our Teach Me Tuesday series. If you’re just now checking out our blog we encourage you to take a look at all of our Teach Me Tuesday posts where parents and students alike can learn something new!
Today’s Teach Me Tuesday post is written by HOPE Academy mom Kristie Dandeneau. Kristie currently has two elementary students, one of which is a rising middle school student. We are excited for the many ways HOPE parents pour into our community and today is no different. Thank you Kristie for sharing your Family Economy and tips on how parents around the globe can get started in their own homes.
One of the important life skills children need to master is understanding money and the role it plays in our lives. We want our children to enter the world financially independent, knowledgeable about credit, bills, loans and the basics of economy. An easy and fun way to help children comprehend money is to implement a family economy at home. The family economy is a work and pay system where children have daily responsibilities and earn money for the completion of each responsibility. Responsibilities can include making their beds, completing reading or math time, brushing their teeth or taking out the trash. The family economy is perfect for any aged child as responsibilities can be adjusted.
If a child completes all of his or her weekly responsibilities, he or she will get paid. Payday is recommended weekly as it helps each child see the reward for his or her work in the form of growing bank accounts. On payday, the money can be split into three accounts, checking, savings and donations. Percentages for each are recommended at 60% to savings, 40% to checking and 10% to donations. Payday amounts are equal to each child’s age. All of these can be adjusted as needed but provide a great starting point.
The money in the checking account is for each child to spend on whatever they see fit (this is how they will learn how much things actually cost!) and the savings account is only touched when the child turns 18. The donations account can go to a favorite charity or local church. As children get older, parents can also choose to have the child pay for things like their clothing, gas and insurance out of his or her checking account. Even though the money is the parents’, just re-routed thru each child’s account, it will provide an easy and risk-free way to help children learn the basics of finances before they enter the workforce.
Using charts and spreadsheets will help manage the family economy. Creating a simple chart, like the one below, is perfect for helping each child keep track of their daily responsibilities and a box to check off for completion.
A spreadsheet, with separate tabs for each child, will show the growth of each account as well as provide a helpful tool in teaching account balancing, debts, credits and budgeting. Placing the spreadsheet in digital format allows for easy accessibility when not at home as well as providing a way to show the child how much money they have and how their purchase will affect his or her account.
Implementing a family economy at home should be fun and provide important lessons in financial independence. One outcome of The University-Model® is that students increasingly become more independent and this is one great way to help your children gain confidence. For additional resources on the family economy you can visit simplyonpurpose.org/resources.
We would love to hear how you implement a family economy in your home, leave a comment below sharing your family economy experience!
If you are interested in learning more about HOPE Academy’s unique hybrid school model we encourage you to visit our Academics Page. We are currently enrolling students and would love for you to see how HOPE is meeting needs of students and families just like yours.