Talking Money with Kids {Infographic & $150 Giveaway} #MomTalksMoney

Talking money can be taboo, but it’s up to us to teach our children about spending and saving money. So… let’s talk about talking money with kids.

Back to School Spending Infographic

As we mentioned in our recent post about saving money on your child’s back to school wardrobe, Citi’s Women & Co joined forced with Parenting.com to survey moms across the country about back to school spending. In addition to gathering information about dollars and cents, they asked moms about whether moms use back to school shopping to spark a discussion about money with kids. The infographic below offers a great summary of the  results. Is there anything that surprises you?

Talking Money with Kids

Over half of moms (about 55%) said they use back to school shopping as an opportunity to talk to and teach children about money. Some moms (12%) have their kids  pay for a portion of their supplies.

The process of sending my son to kindergarten started over the summer when we got his school supply shopping list. Getting all his supplies was a great starting point for talking about school and the changes it would bring, but it was also a good opportunity to talk about money. For example, he saw my laptop open to a very cool but very expensive backpack. His backpack is perfectly fine and I had no intention of buying him a new one. But, he just had to have this new one. We used it as an opportunity to demonstrate how much the backpack costs relative to other things. For example, it costs twice as much as his current backpack, or he could get three new games for the same price of the backpack.

The (many) discussions about the backpack and money talks with my son have us thinking seriously about setting up an allowance. I think he’s old enough and he could use some lessons in saving money and, therefore, delayed gratification. To do it correctly, though, takes some planning as we establish his chores and responsibilities.

Win! $150 Visa Gift Card!

How to Enter: We want to know how YOU talk to kids about money. Join the conversation!

There are two ways to enter this giveaway.

• Leave a comment telling us how you teach children about money. For example, answer one (or all) of these questions: At what age should you start teaching kids about money? How do you teach them? Does your child have an allowance?
• Share this post on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest using on of the buttons below. Leave a link in the comments.

Giveaway ends September 21. Open to US mailing addresses only. Must be 18 or over.

Redemption of the gift card is governed by the gift card terms. This giveaway is facilitated by TheShoppingMama.com. I was compensated by Women & Co. to participate in the Moms Talking Money Campaign. As always, opinions are my own.