Thanks, Dave!

It is no secret that Danny and I are Dave Ramsey fans… we have really learned a lot from his program and continue to live with one income and 3 (almost 4) children with money to give and save.  We want to teach these things to our children as well, so we began a new plan for their chores this new year.  The girls have jobs around the house to do – according to their age and ability – and they get to check off when they do those things on the job chart.  If they do those things and the other jobs that we ask of them throughout the week, they are given money.  We have divided their earnings from before the first of the year into three jars: Give, Save, and Spend.   Now when they are earning money, they must put at least ten percent of their earnings in the Give Jar, some in the Save Jar and the rest in Spend Jar.  We have found that it is easier to give the girls their money in small coins so they can divide it easily.

Give Jar – this jar is meant to encourage them to be “cheerful givers” as the Bible commends.  We want them to know that all of what we have and what we earn comes from the Lord, it is a privilege to give back to Him, and all we have is His anyway.  We have seen that kids are great givers;  both of our daughters had NO PROBLEM putting the required amount into this jar – they even put MORE than that!  How rewarding to us as parents! 

Save Jar – this jar is meant to encourage them be patient and delay gratification for a season.  We want them to work for their wants and know that items cost money.  It will be hard to save and save until they can get enough money for some of their wants as time goes on, but this is an important quality that we desire to build within our children. 

Spend Jar – this jar is meant to encourage them to work hard and get rewarded for it; buying is fun!  It is rewarding to go to a store and get something that you want.  We want our children to make wise choices in what they spend, but to work hard without everything being handed to them.    

Thank you, Dave, for all of the great ideas and encouragement to start our children early teaching them the basics of money and money management!