Since the first of the year Evey has had a job as a dog walker. This has given us the perfect opportunity to teach her money management. I asked several people I trust (a few of them homeschoolers, a few of them not) about how they are teaching their kids to handle money, I drew on my own knowledge of God's plan for money, and I also found a great article on Yahoo that I borrowed from heavily. I came up with our own version of a financial plan for kids, and then ran it by Tim to make sure it conveyed all the Biblical principles of stewardship. Here's what we came up with:
1. Evey earns X amount of dollars per week, so 10% of X is tithed to our church.
2. Half of X goes straight to a savings account and she is not allowed to draw out of it.
3. The other half of X (minus her tithe) goes into her money drawer at home.
4. For special offerings at church, she can take out of her money drawer whatever amount she feels led to give. We are teaching her to pray over this and give accordingly.
5. Once a month she can take only half of the money in her spending drawer out and buy anything she wants within reason. (She can't buy anything dangerous or the latest Twilight movie, etc.)
We do occasionally bend the rules. For instance, this past weekend I allowed Evey to take some money with her to buy ice cream while she was on a trip to the zoo. I gave her the choice of taking cookies in her sack lunch, or spending her own money.
Also, for the month of June she's decided she wants a toy that costs more than she will have available to spend on the 1st. She's decided to wait two weeks until half of the money in her drawer is enough to buy what she wants.
If any of you have any ideas or anecdotes about teaching the value of a dollar, I'd love to hear them!
