Guest post by Military Travel Mama.

As parents, we want our kids to grow up to be money conscious and to become financially stable. And, because we are our kids’ role models, we have to show them good examples of how to be smart when it comes to finances. That always comes with our own actions, and let’s talk about some steps to take in order to achieve that:

1. Pay your child for doing chores.

There are some mixed opinions when it comes to giving kids allowance money. Kids do need to be responsible for their homes without expecting to be paid for it. Allowances can be given to kids that take care of cleaning up other areas of the house, but not when it comes to their rooms. Because cleaning their rooms is their responsibility. However, the more money your child accumulates, the more they need to be made it known how important it is for them to save their money.

If they want to buy a toy with their money, then allow them to spend a portion of what they earned and tell them that the rest has to be saved for something else in the future that they will need. This way they will understand the concept of saving and not spending everything at once. You can even open up a savings account for them so they can see how much money they have spent and how much they have saved.

2. Clip coupons and look for sales and discounts.

When you are shopping with your kids, you show them how you are saving your own money by only looking for sales, clipping coupons, and looking for other discounts. Then explain to them that finding ways to save money while shopping is important because of the fact it is always a bad idea to blow all of their money at once.

If they ask why it is so bad to blow money at once and why it is so important to save, then you can introduce the concept of debt to them. If they are in debt, they will have to borrow money from the bank and will have to pay the bank a lot more money than just the money they paid back- such as interest. But don’t make them afraid of having to take out a mortgage or a loan for something they need down the road. And that is why again it is important for kids to take care of their money. If banks know that they don’t take care of their money and have been in debt, then they won’t give them the loan that they will need.

3. Never waste food.

If you waste food in front of your kids, then they will think it is okay to throw any leftovers that they won’t want out as well. In fact, there are so many ways to be creative when it comes to making other dinners with the leftovers you have. Either way, never waste food just because there is too much of it! Save it for the next day, or freeze it so it can be used even later than that.

4. Only buy what you need and only buy things you want as a reward.

 Kids need to realize that they must never spend money on something that they will never use or something that they don’t want. Otherwise, that is wasteful. However, if there is something they really want to buy, then they can but save those luxuries as rewards for something they accomplished. Rewards can be used for getting very good grades for instance. And, you can show your kids that you also will reward yourself for something that you accomplished like losing a set amount of weight.

Therefore, it is not difficult to teach your kids how to be frugal and smart with money! But, you need to do the same by setting them good examples. After all, you are their role model.