I can\u2019t believe it, but school is already back in session for some and will be soon for the rest.\u00a0 This means it is time to stock up on those schools supplies: pencils, notebooks, backpacks, lunch boxes, and all of the other essentials.\u00a0\u00a0 Kids usually have an opinion on the color of their notebooks, the style of their backpacks and the types of pencils they get.\u00a0 This is the perfect opportunity to involve them not only in choosing color and style but being aware of the costs.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge propionate of using every opportunity to teach kids about money so why not use this opportunity to teach them to work within a budget.<\/p>\n

Create a List<\/b> Discuss the things your child needs for back to school.\u00a0 Have them write out the list.\u00a0 Help them categorize what\u2019s absolutely necessary and what would be nice to have. (Learn to clarify those wants and needs.)<\/p>\n

Set a Budget <\/b>Decide on the amount of money you\u2019re willing to spend on their school supplies.\u00a0 Tell your child it\u2019s their goal to get the items on their list with the amount of money you\u2019ve determined.<\/p>\n

Go Shopping <\/b>Look at ads together, talk about what stores you\u2019ll go to, and create a shopping plan together.\u00a0 When you\u2019re shopping let them make the decisions.\u00a0 Based on their age, you can provide some coaching to help them remember to leave enough money to get all of the necessary items.\u00a0 If they go for a more expensive choice in one area help them understand they may have to sacrifice something else.\u00a0 (Try not to get too involved, though, let them make the decisions.)<\/p>\n

Review<\/b> When you\u2019re all done, look at all the items together and tally up the costs.\u00a0 How\u2019d they do?\u00a0 Did they get everything they needed?\u00a0 Did they have to make sacrifices on other things to get something they really wanted?\u00a0 Talk about their decision process with them.\u00a0 Would they have done anything different?\u00a0 What did they learn?<\/p>\n

The more you can involve your child in making purchasing decisions (especially when it involves them) and discuss the process together, the more prepared they will be to handle money on their own.\u00a0 So go, have fun, and don\u2019t just shop for your child, shop with <\/i>them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can\u2019t believe it, but school is already back in session for some and will be soon for the rest.\u00a0 This means it is time to stock up on those schools supplies: pencils, notebooks, backpacks, lunch boxes, and all of the other essentials.\u00a0\u00a0 Kids usually have an opinion on the color of their notebooks, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[14,15],"tags":[16,17,10],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/school-supplies.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rIpx-5z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions\/348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}