7 Ways of Teaching Kids about Money - Money Management

During our stints of parenting, we all face several difficulties in teaching and discussing different aspects of growth phases with our children. Conversations related to adolescence, career choice, money management, and imparting the values that we want our children to learn are undoubtedly difficult, yet these are the factors that play significant roles in shaping the lives and careers of the kids.

Teaching kids to save money should start from an early age, as you can't accomplish it in a day. However, the biggest question that arises is when would be the right time to teach kids about money? It is apparent that you can't talk about money with your kids before they are six years old as they won't understand; however, don't overthink! Start it as soon as they enter that age bracket. During this age, the grasping power of kids remain high, and they start understanding basic mathematics. But remember that financial literacy can be a boring subject for kids to learn, so you need to adopt a few smart and playful techniques to make them understand the nuances of money management.So here we are with seven easy ways of financial literacy for kids:

Make Financial Literacy Enjoyable

• Since the time your kids start learning maths, teach them practically using coins. Coinciding finance with Math would be an interesting mode of teaching and children will adopt it quickly. It’s a great first step to initiate the learning process. You can also play field games with your kids to give them practical experiences of basic maths that we do in our daily life -- you can act as a shopkeeper, and they can be the buyers.  Explain the simple calculations of addition and subtraction that are required in shopping. After a few sessions of shopping simulation at home, send your child out to face the real world either at a store in your society or at any nearby shopping mart. Ask them to make a list of items that you want, then allocate a certain amount and explicitly instruct them about sticking to the list. To motivate them further, tell them that the amount they will bring back will go into their piggy bank.
  
  
• Take your kids for shopping and tell them what entails in your budget. Talk about the budget crunch and the exclusions; explain to them the reason behind it so that they may understand the significance of setting a budget. This way, they will also understand that their parents have certain limitations on their demands.
  
  
• Start playing board games such as Monopoly, Business Owner, Payday and Career with your kids while they grow up and make them co-relate these games to real-life situations -- being business owners, how can they utilize their money for opening more companies; when does the payday come for an employee and what are the necessary components of the salary; how to make clever financial deals, etc.

Ask Your Kids to Negotiate

The retail sector is getting more and more organized, leaving very little scope for negotiation during purchase. However, if you want your kids to learn to bargain, then send them to bring vegetables or fruits from the street hawkers. Ask them to check the price per kg before buying the items and then teach them to ask for discounts from the vendor on the asking price. It will be the first step towards learning negotiation. As the kids get into the habit of shopping often, they will get a rough idea about the market price of several items, based on which, negotiating with the hawkers for a better deal will become easier for them.

Teach Simple Budgeting to Kids Through Money Apps

You can also use apps like Savings Spree to make financial literacy for kids enjoyable. It also tests the financial knowledge of kids at each level. There is another app called Save! The Game that takes kids through the fantasy world in which they can collect money and avoid impulsive buys in the urge to save more.

Discuss Family Expenditures with Kids

Let your kids know about the significant expenses that you are planning to make. For instance, if you are buying a home, tell them how you are arranging the money through a home loan, the eligibility criteria, the percentage of the amount that you have put in a downpayment and the tenure of the repayment. Here, the purpose is not to put kids under any burden and financial insecurity but to make them realize that their parents are not inherently rich; in fact, they have worked hard to accomplish these life goals. Even if the kids do not understand the technicalities of the loan process, they will surely get a sense of responsibility that is required.

Let the Kids Plan for Family

If you are planning for a vacation, let your kids also know about it in advance. Ask them to make a list of their dream destinations, and the activities they want to include in the package. Then you can keep a piggy bank at home, label it as ‘Family Trip’ and ask your kids to put a certain amount from their monthly pocket money in the piggy bank for the family vacation. Also, inform them that you’ll take care of the remaining expenses. It will give them an exposure to saving money, teach them how to chip in for adventures and entertainment, and they will also rejoice in the feeling of being able to contribute to the family outing.

Teach Savings to Kids Through Money Goals

When you give pocket money to your kids, ask them to save 2% of it initially. After a point, when they accomplish the previous goal, ask them to save 5% and give it to you. You can also associate the savings goal with their unreasonable demands as well. For instance - if your kids are nagging you for something expensive, ask them to save money for it. This step will help them in two ways:

• They will not waste their entire pocket money.
• They will develop a habit to save.
  

It is one of the smart ways to save money by kids.

Allow Your Kids to Make Mistakes

Be prepared for the mistakes that your kids will make while performing the tasks that you have assigned to them. However, don't forget to correct them by explaining. Let’s consider an instance when the kids bargain with the vegetable vendor to such an extent that the vendor refuses to reduce the prices as he/she is not getting any margin. The kids might come back to you, disappointed as they’ve failed to negotiate. In such a scenario, ask them about the problems that they faced while bargaining and explain the reason why the vendor didn't agree to the price. It will help your kids understand the nuances of financial negotiation along with some basic mathematics.

Financial Management for Women - Set your Financial Goals

Breaking the persistent shackles of patriarchy, the women of India have established their strong presence in almost all walks of life, thus emerging as an empowered lot. But how empowered are women in handling their money? Patriarchy is still extant when it comes to managing finances, and the average Indian woman has been somewhat diffident in taking independent financial decisions.

Financial management strategies must be customized to suit one’s requirements; there isn’t any handbook! Whether you are a young girl or an elderly lady, a risk-taker or risk-averse, single or married – all of these and several other factors will influence your style and technique of money management.

Let’s get you started on the basics of ‘intelligent financing.’

Set Your Financial Goals

You toil hard to earn money. You earn money to realize your dreams. But you can only realize those dreams when you appropriately channelize your earnings towards certain goals. Thus, the first step to dexterous money management is setting your short-term and some long-term financial goals. Analyze your current financial status, understand your financial obligations, parley with your spouse and figure out your priorities; then find a pragmatic way of venturing towards them.

Plan Your Budget

Once you have defined your financial goals, understood your financial standing and identified what you wish to accomplish, it’s time to set a budget plan that is in sync with your goals. Whether you customize a budget for yourself or adopt an existing budgeting model, school yourself to stick to it with the strongest determination.

Attend to the Emergencies

Crisis always lurks around the corner; you never know when you might meet one – an accident, an unplanned job switch, a medical emergency, and the list goes on. Protect yourself with an emergency fund. Save enough to be able to sustain for at least six months without a steady income. Get a health insurance; a life insurance policy as well, in case you have dependents. Make steady contributions to your retirement fund every month. Safeguard your future.
Be Financially Educated

Well, this is the pinnacle of all challenges. Financial education is the stepping stone to financial independence. Understand your salary structure, know all about income tax, acquaint yourself with the money market and learn about investment opportunities. You could talk to a professional advisor or a financially-knowledgeable acquaintance. Or you could just let Mr. Google enlighten you.
Park Your Money Safely

Learn the techniques of saving money. Stocks, bonds, shares, equities, mutual funds, term deposits, property, savings – myriad investment options are available. Understand their nuances and invest wisely. Spread your portfolio across multiple modes of investment.

Diving into the cryptic world of money management can be quite overwhelming. However, Indian women have proved their mettle – proficiently juggling their household and professional responsibilities. Money management will be a breeze once these ambidextrous ladies overcome their spurious apprehensions and assume an assertive role in their financial lives.

4 Clever Ways to Save Money - Best Ways to save money 2021

Most of us tend to pay all our bills at the end of the month. During this time, expenses may seem to mount up rather quickly. Your bank account takes a hit. Perhaps you, like so many others, think what you can do to cut your expenses? Is there any smart way to minimize wastage?

In this article, we are going to show you what to do.

Slash away your wireless service: If you don’t have a contract locked in with a nation-wide carrier company like Vi and Reliance Jio, you can always consider going for a cheaper plan. You may want to look at your data usage as well. Do you ever use that much net data and talk time? If not, you are probably wasting the pack. Just downgrade a bit till you find exactly what you need. When the time comes to upgrade your mobile phone, think hard if you really need an expensive set. If you don’t, go cheaper. You don’t have to buy luxury items to get adequate features.

Throw your landline out of the window: Almost everyone has a cell phone nowadays. Households are increasingly cutting off their landline connections for good because they just do not use them anymore. People’s lives now practically revolve around their cell phones. Some have more than one handset. Let’s face the reality: times change. If you don’t use your landline either, ditch the connection for good. You’ll save money by doing this.

Cut the cable connection: Your cable connection costs a lot. Do you really need it? Do you have time to watch TV anymore? When was the last time you did so, and for how long? If you don’t watch TV a lot anymore, why not remove the connection for good? Instead, you can take NetFlix, Amazon Prime and the like. You can thus watch all the movies and TV shows you like at a fraction of the cost!

Cut down your electricity bill: Did you know that some machines and instruments in your home are “energy vampires”? This means that even when they remain dormant, they keep sucking up electricity. These include coffee makers, TV satellite boxes, DVD players and more. Just by unplugging these you can save 20% of your electricity bills.

It is always prudent to see where and how you can save money. Stop wasting your hard-earned money, cut out unnecessary expenses and save money!

How to Manage Money in Your 20s - money management

The 20s in your life is possibly the first time you have to make very big decisions, capable of having a long-term effect on your life. Should you change jobs or career at this time? Should you get married and start a family? Should you buy a home or get a home loan? What about a car? Or should you travel the world instead?

All of these questions you may have already thought, or are thinking now. No matter which path you choose at this part of your life, it all comes down to health money management, which shall help you in meeting all your goals and dreams.

In this article, we are going to go through a few healthy financial habits you can start following today.

Control spending: You set the real foundation of your financial health when you start spending responsibly. If you are struggling to decide how much you should be spending and on what, follow the 50/30/20 budget. According to this budget, spend 50% of your income on necessities, 30% on meeting your wants, and the last 20% on your various savings. When you do this, you’ll find that you get many benefits.

For instance, if earlier you could not decide whether buying a theater ticket is a need or a want, following a budget shall put things into perspective. You may discover that you are spending way too much on things you can easily cut down on, like dining out and entertainment.

If you want to control your spending, there are two strategies you can adopt. First of all, see your spending from a different light. For instance, if you spend ₹200 per day on takeout junk food, think how much it adds up in a year! A lot, right? Well, that is a good reason to curb expenses.

Secondly, if there is a strong desire to buy something, wait for 72 hours. Once that period is over and you have hopefully cooled down, do you still want to buy it? What value will it bring in your life? How much will it affect your finances?

Save regularly: This is a given. You need to save more than you spend. We get it, the 20s is a time when everything is still exciting and you want to splurge left and right. But you need to save regularly. The very first thing you should do is to build an emergency fund large enough to take care of three month’s worth of living expenses. There’s no need to build such a fund overnight, and in fact, it is not easy to do that. Build it slowly over time. Start small, and grow it from there. If your current expenses force you to take money off this emergency fund, don’t worry about it. When that situation is over, just start refilling your coffers again.

Build your credit score: Grade school may be over, but there’s one grade you can’t ignore. This is your credit score. High credit score helps you to get loans or credit on low interest rates. Credit score will be an important factor when getting a home loan, car loan, and the like. Your 20s is a time to increase or build your credit score.

Save for your retirement: When you are in your 20s, you may think that your retirement is a long way off. That may be true, but remember that time waits for no one. The fact that you are in your 20s makes it the perfect time to start planning for your retirement, and thus building your retirement fund.