Frugal Family Summer Money Management Challenges

Setting up a frugal family summer money management challenge is a fun way to get kids involved with money. Earning it, spending it, and giving it. Learning to be good stewards of money is important. As they grow older the credit card companies are shiny objects that can lead to substantial debt.

We are avid followers of Dave Ramsey. His philosophy of having no debt has been the key to our success. It is so important to use cash as much as possible. I don’t spend nearly as much when I don’t use my debit card.

We wanted our children to have the same experience of being debt free, and we repeatedly remind them to not take on debt. This summer try a fun way to teach your kids to save money, earn money, spend money and give money. using all of these challenges in a fun way to teach them good money management skills now.

Teaching Kids To Save

Saving is something that is taught and caught. Our kids see us all of the time and if we are buying Starbucks, but telling them to save their money, it will be a reverse lesson. Teaching and modeling savings is important. Eating at home, and not going out to eat is one way to teach them to save.

Another way that we have taught our children to save is by placing their birthday and Christmas money in an envelope. Once a year we take their saving envelopes to the bank and they get to deposit them. We have done this since they were small.

Investing For Kids

Some investing challenges are good for kids to know and learn. When I was younger my dad had me sit down with someone and go over investing fifty dollars a month into a mutual fund. That money did grow and serve me well when it was time to purchase a home.

Teaching kids by having a summer reading challenge is another way to get a birds eye view into investing. Each year on Christmas and birthdays’ we purchase our children books on investing. Some are in the form of activity books and others are in the form of reading material. But we make it a point to teach them about investing. Creating a fun summer challenge the kids’ can participate in with weekly checkups on their progress can be beneficial. They will love challenges especially if they are competitive.

Giving Tips For Kid

One year we had a giving jar. Every week for about 12 weeks we had the kids’ participate in giving. At the end of the time it was close to Christmas. As a family we decided to donate our money to the Salvation Army bell ringers. This was a fun time for our boys’ because they were able put the money in with a “thank you” from the bell ringer.

Make this summer a one to remember by setting up a fun activity with a giving challenge. Agree as a family on a charity. Then, set the allotted time period for earning the money. At the end of the challenge have the children go with you to take the money to the charity. We found this to be a great way for them to see who is benefitting from the money they earned.

Chore Payment and Allowance

Chores are everyone’s favorite way to spend the summer. Not in our home. No one really loves doing chores, but they get them done. In addition to the chores our boys’ do get an allowance. One of our son’s was able to get a mini fridge for Christmas. He loves getting his allowance so he can buy more soda.

Another fun frugal family money challenge this summer is a chore earning allowance. This can be done either by setting a dollar amount for each chore, or setting a certain amount at the end of the week like a payday.

Frugal Family Savings Goal

Finally, I saved the best for last. Each summer we take a vacation. Every year on vacation I have always bought our children a souvenir. This year they get to buy their own souvenir. We are going to sit down with them and offer a summer frugal family savings goal that we can all save for, then spend on a fun activity on vacation.

As I have mentioned being debt free and good money managers is important. Life is hard enough without the added financial stress of debt. It is easy to get into and hard to get out of, not to mention the amount paid back to lenders is more due to interest. Therefore, make this summer one to remember with a fun summer money saving challenge for the whole family.

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