A young woman in her early twenties told me how she had been handicapped in learning to handle money. Her
father had died several years before. He had left a legacy sufficient to ensure his daughter’s education. Quite naturally, the legacy had been left in charge of the child’s mother. But this
mother unwisely kept all the facts about legacy a secret. All that the daughter knew was that some money was available to cover the expenses of her education.
Whenever the girl needed something, she told her mother, who then made the exact amount of money available. True, the girl’s wants had always been supplied. In the meantime, however she had not learned how to handle money on her own. At the time she talked to me she was engaged to be married. Her question was, “How can I learn to manage the affairs of a home? I hardly know how to make change, much less how to plan a budget for a week or the month.”
The value of money should not be underestimated, even when dealing with a child. It takes human efforts to earn money. Therefore, money is life to the extent that if money is lost or wasted the part of life which it represented is wasted.
Simply telling a
child about handling money will not develop his ability to use it correctly. The knack of handling money comes only on trail and error, and it is best for the element of “error” to occur while the child is young and while the amount of money are small.The best starting point in teaching a child to handle money is for the
parent to ask the child to do some small errand which involves making a purchase.
The child can be given a certain amount of money and told how much change he should receive in return. This produces personal confidence and also helps the child to learn the value of various coins.
The program of helping a child to understand the use of money must be carefully regulated according to the child’s age and his ability to carry responsibility. Many parents give the child a stated
allowance each week. This allowance should not be used to bride the child to be good, but should be handled as a business transaction. At this time arrangement for allowance are made, it should be stated whether it is for specific purposes. If so the child assumes
responsibility for using it accordingly. In making such an arrangement, it is most important that the parent fulfill carefully and promptly his part of the agreement. He should make the stated allowance available exactly at the time it is supposed to be available. He should not fall into the tragic habit of making excuses for nonpayment, nor should he cancel the allowance as a means of punishment.
As a child becomes older, the allowance should be increased as well as the list of items for which the child is to spend his allowance. Eventually, as a child approaches his teens, the allowance should be large for him to make purchases of his regular clothing as well as other routine items that a child needs. Thus, the parent is not spending more money in the care of the child than he would spend ordinarily. Naturally, the child should plan with the child how he is to spend the money for his more important purchases. As the judgment of the child improves, he should carry more and more responsibility, even to the extent of being allowed to purchase articles which are of different color or quality from those the parent would prefer. Only thus can the child be taught the importance of making wise selection.
It is not wise for a child to be allowed to borrow against his allowance of next week. He should be required to “live within his income,” avoiding indebtedness and overspending.
It is usually not long until a child discovers that his regular allowance does not cover all the purchases he would like to make. His problem gives the parent the opportunity to instruct the child, if he is now sufficiently mature, on how he may obtain part-time employment and thus increase his income over and above his weekly or monthly allowance.
Although the family may have sufficient money to support their children, still such pursuits teach growing children in an excellent way the value of money in terms of how much work is required in order to receive a dollar I return. Baby-sitting for teen-age girls, mowing lawns and running paper routes for boys—such enterprises should be encouraged, for they help in training a child in the handling of money...
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