Seven rules on teaching your children how to handle money (Part 3)

Rule #4: Be consistent in the teaching, training, and disciplining process.

Once we have established an allowance amount and frequency, we need to add it into our family budget and pay it as we would any other bill - consistently and on time. Also, if we establish a rule for our children, with rewards for compliance and penalties for not complying with that rule, it is essential that we always ... always ... follow through.

Rule #5: Everything we do should reflect real life as closely as possible — its systems, its rewards, and its penalties.

For example, we shouldn’t pay our children for a job that is half done or not done well. Rather, if they still need training, we can help them complete the job but not pay until it is finished. In the job market we don’t get half pay for half a job. We get no pay and/or we lose our jobs.

Rule #6: Take the cloaking devices off family finances.

It’s important to let our children know about, see the workings of, and get involved in family and household finances.

Rule #7: Customize to your child.

When assigning tasks, giving job opportunities, and deciding on training and discipline methods, take the individual child into consideration - strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and problems.

Sometimes, when we think we’ve run up against bad attitudes in our children, we may be dealing with misunderstood abilities.

Some very good books have been written on understanding our children’s personality types, learning methods, aptitudes, gifts, and even how their birth order affects who they are. One thing is for sure. Children are not born as blanks for us to program. God made each one unique.

For example, some personality types are very meticulous and detailed; they love to count and budget every penny.

This type may find the idea of budgeting easy but may need encouragement to actually spend some of their neatly counted money.

Another thing to consider is gender. God made males and females different.

It’s important to be careful not to compare our children’s strengths and weaknesses to their siblings. We must deal with each child as an individual and ask God for individual wisdom.

Courtesy Crown Financial Ministries
www.crown.org.au www.crown.org.nz