My children and I already talk about money very regularly. I look for teachable moments in our everyday lives to discuss the importance of saving money, spending money wisely and using money to fuel our dreams and goals. Just last week we had a long discussion about mortgages (!!!) because my kids wanted to know how much our house cost and, after hearing the number, wondered how in the world we could afford to spend that much! We talked about what a down payment was, the difference between a 15-year and a 30-year loan and more.
Sometimes as parents, we think our children are too young to understand money, but truthfully, the sooner we start engaging them in these lessons, the better off they’ll be in adulthood when it’s time to manage their own households.
I’ve partnered with T.Rowe Price on their campaign to help families grow more financially savvy children! I’m participating in their Family Fitness Calendar, which gives you a month-long list of activities to do with your children. I took part in three of the activities with my children, who were all too excited to jump right in:
ACTIVITY #1 Organize a blind taste test.
HOW-TO: Prepare a blind taste test for kids to compare brand name and generic products, and explain the cost comparison between items. Is the difference in taste worth the difference in price?
RESULTS: My children are well versed in the wonders of generic products! We buy generic whenever possible and shop at stores like Aldi to stretch our grocery budget all the time. There are only a few products we have to buy brand-name and that’s for items like ice cream, salad dressing (this is my all-time favorite brand!) and deli meat. The rest of the time, generic is the move. We bought generic cereal for this taste test and the results were clear! They could not tell which was the brand name Cinnamon Toast Crunch and which was the generic kind.
Ayanna said: “I don’t care what kind it is. As long as it tastes good!”
Thomas said: “I like Frosted Flakes.”
ACTIVITY #2: Plan a weekend road trip.
HOW-TO: Work with your kids to plan for a weekend road trip. Help kids identify all of the expenses associated with traveling, such as transportation, dining, lodging, and entertainment.
RESULTS: We’re planning a trip to nearby Columbus, Ohio, because we love the science center there. (My kids are big science nerds!) We sat down and looked up hotel prices and tried to calculate how many miles we would have to drive (132!). We estimated that an overnight trip to Columbus would cost us:
$125 for a hotel room
$30 in gas
$70 for food (dinner the first night, then lunch the second because the hotel has a free breakfast!)
+ $62 for tickets to the science center
$287 TOTAL
The kids didn’t realize a quick trip could cost so much.
Ayanna said: “But…what if I don’t like the breakfast at the hotel? Can we go somewhere else?”
Thomas said: “I want to stay in a hotel with a pool. And a balcony. And a refrigerator in the room!”
ACTIVITY #3: Compare the cost of dining out versus cooking at home.
HOW-TO: Cook your child’s favorite dinner at home and keep track of the approximate cost with them. Then use an online menu to calculate how much it would have cost to dine out.
RESULTS: We made pizza because it’s cheap! When we order pizza, it’s usually $30 because someone wants wings and then another person wants cinnabread and my daughter can’t eat wheat pizza so I have to order something gluten-free for her! It’s a nightmare. So we bought a “bake it yourself” pizza from our local grocery store (and it’s completely plain so you add the toppings.) Total price: $6.99. You.can’t.beat.it!
Ayanna said: “I like going out to eat. It’s like a special treat and I wish we could go out more often!”
Thomas said: “I want to go get pizza!”
T.Rowe Price partnered with the family calendar site, Cozi.com, to give parents even more ways to make cents (ha!) with their kids. Use this link to add 16 fun family activities to your Cozi family calendar. Visit T.Rowe Price’s MoneyConfidentKids.com for more tips on raising financially savvy kids!
GIVEAWAY: Enter to win a $50 gift card and a cute piggy bank courtesy of T. Rowe Price!
Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign with T.Rowe Price. All opinions (of course!) are my own.
Cooking at home is definitely cheaper for us. It’s hard enough finding restaurants that cater to food allergies but when we do, they are usually more expensive.
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