"Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: Teaching Kids the Value of a Buck"
by Ellie Kay

How about an excerpt from the book?...
Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy
Teaching Kids About Finances: A Foundation

“But why do we have to pay for half of our T-shirts?” wailed Bethany. “Why don’t you just write a check?” “Yeah, Mama!” echoed five-year-old Joshua passionately, who was dressed up in his cowboy outfit. “You gots lots of money in dat check thing!” He peeked at me from under the rim of his cowboy hat. Bethany was elected to present the case on behalf of her disgruntled constituents (her four brothers), who now stood behind her in an uncharacteristic show of support. Her courage grew as she continued, “We really want those Kovenant Kids shirts so we can wear them to club. Everyone else is going to get them.” She looked over at her brother Philip.

On cue, Philip changed tactics and tried the spiritual approach. “We could even wear them out in public and be a Christian witness. When people asked us about our shirts, we could tell them God loves them!”

I was obviously the target of a carefully planned conspiracy.

I put my hands on my hips and repeated myself for the second time, “I already said that we would pay for half of your T-shirts. You guys will take better care of those shirts and they’ll mean more to you if you earn a portion of their purchase price. You’ve got Kids Crusade shirts, choir shirts, Vacation Bible School shirts, and Copy Cat shirts. We’re not going to give you $40 for five T-shirts every time the opportunity arises; you know that’s not the way we do our family business.”

I concluded with my favorite “mom” saying: “Having the latest T-shirt is not an inalienable right!”

There arose a low moan, as if the Grinch had just announced there would be no Christmas this year. They knew that when their mom started quoting the Bill of Rights, there would be no more debate.

Wagging my pointy Grinch finger, I drove home the point: “If you’re not grateful for half, then you can have nothing.” I smoothed Joshua’s bangs as he looked at me with sad eyes, “We’ll give you jobs to earn the money.”

As they realized defeat, the murmuring crowd dispersed. I overheard Daniel grumble, “Next time, we’ll get Joshua to ask her—he’s the baby of the family.”

For days the older kids did odd jobs and earned quarters toward the $4 portion of their $8 shirts. Poor Joshua was always a day late or a dollar short—the other kids did the work before he had a chance to get the job.

One afternoon he came running through the house, muttering, “I’m gonna earn that money!”

I found him rummaging through the dress-up box. Then he ran into the garage and got the wagon. He ran back inside and enlisted his sister’s help in making a sign before darting outside again. In one of his turbo runs, I heard him repeat determinedly, “I’m going to earn that money!”

Then things got suspiciously quiet. When I went outside to see what my industrious baby was up to, my heart melted. Joshua was sitting by the side of the driveway in a lawn chair with his red wagon in front of him. He had on his cowboy hat and favorite blue, orange, and yellow-striped shorts. Over his red shirt was a bright, multicolored Mexican vest with a sheriff’s badge pinned neatly on it—upside down. Joshua had obviously pinned it on by himself, in haste to become the next Donald Trump. Around his waist he sported a Roy Rogers holster with shiny plastic silver guns and around his neck, a blue bandanna. It’s a miracle the guns didn’t melt in the New Mexico heat. The crowning touch of this Tex-Mex ensemble was a pair of cowboy boots. The boots and shorts combo made him look like a Texas hick vacationing in Puerto Vallarta. A pair of lime green sunglasses completed the outfit as he awaited business. The sign taped to the wagon read:

COWBOY AUTOGRAPHS

— 10¢ —

You know, when I saw my little guy sitting out in the 105-degree heat of a New Mexico summer, my mama’s heart went out to him. The only person out in that kind of heat was the mail carrier (who had already made her rounds), and I was pretty sure she was all stocked up on cowboy autographs. Watching my pint-sized John Wayne sit out there, full of hope, was just too much for me. So I got in line and bought forty autographs.

I wonder if the way I saw my little boy is the way God sometimes looks at us—with a heart full of compassion. He sees us plugging along in life, trying to get a better grip on our finances, and He’s eager to meet us where we are. I told Joshua that I still wanted him to do the job he had set out to do, so he dutifully scrawled out “Joshua” forty times. Even though I was his only customer, I thought it was important that he felt he still did his part.

When we do our part in parenting and in our finances, God will meet us where we are. He knows our past failures, He knows our current limitations—but He also knows our heart. If we want to be good stewards and teach our kids to be the same, then we can be confident that God will send us the resources we need to accomplish that worthy goal.

The first step in teaching kids about money is to model a lifestyle of financial stewardship before them. The three major areas where people fail in money matters are:

1. living a consumptive lifestyle

2. failure to live on a budget

3. debt accumulation

We as parents should begin teaching our kids by living a simpler lifestyle, living on a budget, and minimizing debt.

Here’s a quick quiz that will help you determine where you are today so you can begin laying a firm financial foundation for your family:

(Answer Yes or No)

1.Do you currently live on a budget?

2.Do you consistently stick to your budget?

3.Do you buy something because you really need it? (Or only because you want it?)

4.Do you give 10 percent of your income to your church or other nonprofit organization?

5.Do you regularly give away material possessions?

6.Do you have a total consumer debt load of less than 10 percent of your annual income? (For example, if you earn $50,000
a year, you have a [nonmortgage] debt load of $5,000 or less.)

7.Do you save at least 10 percent of your income?

8.Do you have a savings account with at least two months worth of income in it?

9.Do you own a retirement account or mutual fund of any kind? (including 401k plans, Roth IRAs, etc.)

10.Do you want your kids to have the financial stability you have right now when they grow up?

If you answered no to one or two of these questions, then you are a perfect candidate to learn a few things from this book alongside your children. If you answered no to three to five items, then you’ll need to supplement your skills with one of my first two books (Shop, Save, and Share and How to Save Money Every Day), which go into detail on these topics. If you answered no to six or more items, then you better see to it that your kids learn good financial skills—because you might have to move in with them when they grow up, unless you learn how to manage your money pronto. And if you didn’t answer no to even one question—then you ought to be writing this book!

Throughout this book, some principles you may already be applying with your kids will be reinforced. You may also be challenged with some new ideas and practical ways to introduce these concepts to your kids. Here are highlights of the tips you’ll learn to help you get started with your own kids today.

Tips to Teach Kids About Finances

Practice What You Preach

Probably one of the silliest sayings is “Do as I say, not as I do.” Nonsense! Your values are more likely to be caught by your kids as they watch your behavior than taught by endless lectures.

Family Is a Team Sport

This means that every member of our family has a role and responsibilities. On the other hand, every member can share in the rewards and family income, too.

Being Alive Doesn’t Qualify You for an Allowance

By tying in allowance with responsibility, we teach our kids that their choices have consequences. In the real world, a boss won’t care how cute your child was as a baby. A boss will require performance and productivity for promotion and a paycheck. The key is to tie in an allowance to responsibility rather than connecting the allowance with doing basic, expected chores.

Consistency Is the Key to Parenting (and Insanity Is the Key to Consistency)

Sometimes I feel like the sergeant in the movie Forrest Gump as my children respond in monotone, “Y-e-s, Drill Sergeant!” Being consistent when all five of our kids were under seven years of age meant an endless round of physical activity (get up, pick up, clean up, and wait up). Now it means following through on standards we’ve set and defined. If we can launch our children into the world with our sanity intact, then I think there’s a special medal waiting for us—but we’ll have trouble remembering where we put it.

Show Kids What Matters Most

If you talk about the new car you’re going to buy first and then try to figure out how to pay for it, your listening child is going to conclude, “Okay, I figure out what I want and then finagle a way to pay for it!” On the other hand, if you discuss your need of a new car and pray as a family for God’s provision, then your child learns, “God is the provider of all our needs.” What matters most to you in life? If you don’t know, I’ll bet I could ask your kids and they’d tell me what matters most to Mom or Dad. In a day of materialism and a lack of delayed gratification, parents need to define the things that matter most and live as if they really believe it.

Work Is Not a Four-Letter Word

When our oldest son hit adolescence, we never knew if Daniel or his evil twin, Damien, would walk down the stairs to greet us in the morning. When the ugly twin arrived in the kitchen with an attitude to match, it was our cue to give him something to do other than terrorize his siblings. We literally worked the ’tude out of him, and believe it or not—it worked every time! In the process, he learned the value of work and now has a great work ethic. It’s up to us to help our kids develop a good work ethic—they won’t learn it in school or muddling through a job as well as they’ll learn it from their dear old Ma or Pa.

For games and activities to help kids learn about finance basics, see pages 160–162.

Prepare Them for the Real (Real Expensive) World

Teaching kids about budgeting, saving, tithing, and investing is what the real world is all about. They won’t graduate from high school and start making $50,000 a year as a vice president with an expense account—they’ll have to earn both over many years. Preparing our children means being transparent about our finances and showing them what we really do with our money. This will give them life skills that will give them a real advantage in real life.

Excerpted from:
Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: Teaching Kids the Value of a Buck by Ellie Kay
Copyright © 2002, Ellie Kay
ISBN: 0764224476
Published by Bethany House Publishers
Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.