How to Teach Your Kids About Budgets Using Food
Let me first say that this idea came from our 15-year-old son, who has never been given an allowance and started his own business, Pencil Bugs, at age nine.
He appreciates the value of making money but is more interested in saving it.
He is probably the most frugal kid I know.
We were talking about ways parents could teach their kids about budgets and develop smart spending habits.
Because of an experience he had on a school field trip, he came up with this idea.
Most parents pay for the family's meal if they go out to eat so kids probably don't pay much attention to the price of food.
The next time you take your kids to a fast food restaurant, give them each $2.
00 and let them go to the counter to buy their own food.
Of course, if they are really young, you will want to stay close for safety reasons.
Tell them they can buy anything they want but can't ask you for more money.
You know they won't be able to get much but it's an interesting test to see what they do.
Two dollars is an easy amount to do simple math with so most kids will probably look at the dollar menu first.
Some will see the 99-cent items and figure they have enough to buy two things, not realizing or maybe forgetting that there is sales tax added.
Once they realize that they only have enough for one item, that's where the fun starts and parents can also use this as a mini-nutrition lesson.
Even though most fast food is not nutritious, there are still choices.
Let them finish buying the item and then ask why they chose what they did.
The answers might surprise you.
Most people usually want some kind of drink with food so that will probably be the hardest choice.
Because food is a disposable item, it is also much easier to see how quickly money goes.
Using food as a lesson in how to budget has an immediate impact which is good for kids since it's hard for them to see long-term on anything.
He appreciates the value of making money but is more interested in saving it.
He is probably the most frugal kid I know.
We were talking about ways parents could teach their kids about budgets and develop smart spending habits.
Because of an experience he had on a school field trip, he came up with this idea.
Most parents pay for the family's meal if they go out to eat so kids probably don't pay much attention to the price of food.
The next time you take your kids to a fast food restaurant, give them each $2.
00 and let them go to the counter to buy their own food.
Of course, if they are really young, you will want to stay close for safety reasons.
Tell them they can buy anything they want but can't ask you for more money.
You know they won't be able to get much but it's an interesting test to see what they do.
Two dollars is an easy amount to do simple math with so most kids will probably look at the dollar menu first.
Some will see the 99-cent items and figure they have enough to buy two things, not realizing or maybe forgetting that there is sales tax added.
Once they realize that they only have enough for one item, that's where the fun starts and parents can also use this as a mini-nutrition lesson.
Even though most fast food is not nutritious, there are still choices.
Let them finish buying the item and then ask why they chose what they did.
The answers might surprise you.
Most people usually want some kind of drink with food so that will probably be the hardest choice.
- If they thought it through and bought a 99-cent food item and asked for a water glass, give them a gold star because that was the best use of their money.
- If they bought just a drink without any food, of course you are not going to let them starve so go ahead and buy them food, but remind them that a drink, especially soda, won't fill them up for long.
Plus it's not that good for them anyway. - If you have more than one child and they teamed up to pool their money, give them two stars because you have some very entrepreneurial kids.
Of course, there are endless possibilities that could result from this experiment so be ready for any teaching moment that might pop up.
Because food is a disposable item, it is also much easier to see how quickly money goes.
Using food as a lesson in how to budget has an immediate impact which is good for kids since it's hard for them to see long-term on anything.
