I thought this was pretty useful, especially with the Holidays coming. Found it in the news section. I hope it helps you (my kids are still a bit young -- they don't ask for more than a dollar or so yet).

 

First-rate opportunities to talk money sense with your teen come along frequently. We just need to recognize them when they are upon us. If we do, we can use them as life lessons, which speak much more clearly to our teenagers then the run-of-the-mill parental lecture. But, in order for these life lessons to work, you need to model good money sense and be open and honest about financial issues with your teenager. While you do not want to burden them with your money worries, showing your teenager what rent or a car loan really costs goes a long way.

Here is what to do when these five first-rate opportunities to talk some money sense with your teen turn up:


1.  When a favorite store catalog or flyer comes in the mail, let your teenager browse through it. Have him use the catalog to list things he is interested in.

2.  Then have him separate these things into two columns: the first column being ‘needs’ and the second being ‘wants’. Use these lists to explain how ‘needs’ should be met before ‘wants’ can be considered.

3.  Take your teenager when you go grocery shopping. Grocery shopping is a wonderful way to teach budgeting. It is something that needs to be done on a set schedule. It represents a large part of the family’s monthly expenses and most families have a set grocery budget amount. Teens that become savvy with money at the grocery store will transfer that to other areas of their financial lives.

4.  Open up the lines of communication with your teen when you see ads on television. Pull media advertising apart as it is happening. Ask your teenager why he feels some ads work on him and some ads don’t. Ask him what motivators the advertising company is using. Then, have him come up with ways to keep television marketing from working on him.

5.  When it is time to pay your monthly bills, have your teenager help. Don’t miss an opportunity to get your teenager on the same page with you when discussing how much things really cost today. He doesn’t have to write out the checks, he can just lick the envelop or push the send button on your billpay. Not only will he get a dose of what rent, car loans and insurance cost, but he will also learn how to meet this financial responsibility in an organized fashion. This is an excellent way to model good money sense.

Remember to praise when your teenager reaches a financial goal. Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator. When your teenager has set a money goal, like saving enough for his own television or video game, and then has earned the money, saved it, then bought his prize, you should be there to congratulate him on his good work. Then give yourself a pat on the back for taking the opportunities to show him good money sense.

Great advice.  Below is a link for an education program that Wells Fargo has on their website.

www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr/fin_ed/ ...

The Hands on Banking program is a great resource for educating kids on finances.  It is is broken into 4 age groups: 4th & 5th grade, 6th to 8th grade, young adults, and adults.

Hi, I am new to this site and I've been trying to find some posts related to money management as I just starting to teach my kids about money. I started with opening up savings accounts for them through a website my friend showed me:

www.earlyearners.com

I like this site because I can go through some of the calculators they have that shows how much my kids can accumulate by buying one less DVD or shirt each month. There is also a chart that tells me by age how I should be teaching my kids about finances.

I will also check out the Wells Fargo site but I like the fact that my kids will learn about saving and budgeting while actually doing it in real-life. My parents opened a savings account for me when I was 7 and I had to put half my gift money and then part-time job income in there. By the time I entered college, I have a pretty nice amount of money!

Check out: www.themint.org ...

 

It's a whole site devoted to teaching kids about money!

I think that is a great idea to talk to your children about managing money, My parents never did that and i am the worst person with money. It really bothers my hubby that i cannot manage my money.

I know that when my son is old enough i will teach him how to manage his money and help him with a budget.

Check with your local banks. Ours has a program for teens to set up their own checking account and help them to learn how to handle their affairs when they are older.

The local bank idea is a great one.  I know that Wells Fargo has special programs to start kids banking & interacting with parents about money management - even for very young children.

In an earlier post, I included a link on their Hands on Banking program geared to teach money management concepts in an age appropriate manner.  I plan to use this for my son when he is about 4 or 5 years old and the savings account programs - only 1 so we are just figuring out "no" & how to test mommy's ability to be consistent.

Sorry SJ! I didn't click on the link before my message. I thought it was similar to a link Visa has for money management where it actually has worksheets. I couldn't find my Visa link so I thought I would go w/ the local bank angle.

I guess it's true what they say, "great minds think alike!". LOL!