How We're Teaching Our Kids About Money and Kidsfest Presented by @VeridianCU

This post is brought to you by Veridian Credit Union.  

I confess that as a parent I have many doubts about the way we are raising our kids.  Any time there are undesirable behaviors or bad attitudes I think about what we've been doing wrong.  It's harder to remind myself about what we're doing right with our children.  I hope that one area we are teaching more right than wrongs in is money.

Both my husband and I are firm believers in talking about money with our kids.  We were each raised differently in this regard, but we both think it's best for our kids that they understand how we make money, what we feel it is important to spend it on and ways we are saving it.  Our kids don't need to know the details.  They know that Dad makes the majority of the money our household needs, but they don't need to know how much that is.  They know that Mom works to earn some extra money for the family, but again we don't go into specifics.  The point is they know that money is a necessity to pay for our house, our car, food and clothing along with many of the other things that often get taken for granted.

We've honestly been blessed with kids that aren't demanding or always asking for things when out shopping.  Part of this I tribute to the fact that our kids have always made the weekly grocery shopping trips with us.  Ever since they were babies we've been making family trips to the store so they are used to the way we shop.  They know we make lists based on what's on sale that week.  They know we use coupons to get better deals.  They know that they can say they would like something, but the likely response will be "let's wait until it goes on sale" and they know they don't get something just because they want it.

My kids have also always gone to garage sales with me.  They often look forward to it and can make it to many sales before getting worn out or bored. As they have gotten older though they were less OK with just looking and not buying anything they consider "fun".  This past year was the first where they started bringing their own money to garage sales.  When my daughter spotted that Hello Kitty necklace she just had to have or a new purse to put her treasures in it was now okay for her to buy it as long as she was spending her own money.  It definitely made her stop and think about her purchases when she had to ask me if she had enough money for something.  She also felt disappointment when she spent the money she had on something and then saw another item at the next sale she would have liked more.

Since my daughter is in preschool shopping at garage sales have also given her a great opportunity to learn about dollars and coins and what they are worth.  She leaned that if an item was marked $0.25 she was able to pay for it with the largest silver coin she carried.  For my older son sales are a great way to practice math with him when he's looking at two items he can compare which item costs more or less or how much he'll need to spend for both.

We also believe it is important to share our hopes and goals with each other. One of the things our family splurges on is travel.  I would much rather create memories as a family than accumulate all the latest tech gadgets and other stuff.  I'm grateful for a family that also enjoys traveling and doing new things together.  When we went on a Disney cruise last year it all started with my son sharing that it was something he really wanted to do and opening a specific savings account to help pay for the trip.  He literally took money out of his piggy bank to start an account and that impressed me so much that we made it our goal to save for that trip.  It was a magical vacation we will never forget made even more special by the fact that we saved to make it happen. 

During the years we can't take long family vacations we try to take short trips and take advantage of all the local activities the Des Moines area offers.  It seems there are always family friendly events going on here even in the cold winter months.  One of these events is taking place this month at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  Kidsfest presented by Veridian Credit Union will be held from February 28th to March 2nd.  

Kidsfest is a kid-centered festival full of fun activities, games and entertainment for kids and their families.   The best part is that all proceeds benefit Iowa's at-risk children and families through Children and Families of Iowa.  Tickets are available at the door and you can pick up discount coupons at local Fareway Stores and Veridian Credit Unions.

Disclosure:  Compensation was received for this post.  All opinions are 100% mine.