Clever Dough Kids

Okay, in my last post I went over the pros and cons of whether or not to give your child an allowance.

No matter if you chose to give your child an allowance or not, the important factor is that your child is earning money in some shape or form so they can start practicing how to manage that money successfully. We want to make sure that our kids grow up being in complete control of their money, not always having to work hard for their money, but learning how to make their money work hard for them.

In my next post I’ll go over my special “The 6 Magical Piggy Banks“ money management method that I use with my own kiddos. But for this post, let’s come up with some fun ways to get your child earning their own money without the need of an allowance or to supplement their allowance.

The main thing is to help your child find a way to earn money doing the things they love to do most. And one thing to keep in mind when it comes to teaching your child about how to earn money, let them know that the absolute BEST way for them to EVER earn money is by helping others!

Okay, here are some examples for you:

1. Teach Others How To Do What Your Child Is Already Good At:

Encourage your child to be creative, to take their natural talents or passions to create an income by teaching others how to do what they are already naturally good at. My son loves to bowl. His little niece doesn’t know how to keep the bowling ball on the lane. So an example here would be for my son to offer bowling tutoring for his niece. For a few dollars, he can spend up to an hour bowling with his niece, showing her the simple techniques that he knows how to use to keep the ball not only on the lane, but actually push all those pins down at the end too.

2. Sell Information On How To Do Something Unique On The Internet:

My daughter loves to dance. She does over 4 hours of dance lessons each week: acro, ballet, tap and jazz. She could create her own unique dance style or technique and video a ‘How To Dance’ video that she could sell online on her own blog or website. ‘How To…’ video lessons are really in right now, and a great way for your child to earn money doing what they love. There will always be others who are not as good as your child is at some technique, style or talent, who wants to learn how to be better.

3. Help Others Get Through What You Have Already Gone Through:

A project that my own two children, Xanthe and Quinn, have recently done is a special book to honour our doggie who passed away this summer. When we heard that she had passed away (still back home while we were away on vacation) it was devastating for our family. It was impossible to realize that we would never get to see her ever again. To help cope with my children’s grief, I started to remind them about all the wonderful and silly things that our doggie, Candy, used to do. Our tears of grief turned slowly into tears of love, remembrance and gratitude for her life with us.

A few days later, my children were trying to come up with a way to earn some extra money for a goal we were working on. I suggested that they write and illustrate their own book and think of a topic that would help others. My daughter is particularly gifted at drawing, so she loved this idea.

She came up with the idea to write a book about ‘Remembering Candy‘ so our doggie’s memories would be with us forever and also to help other families cope with the loss of their own dear pets. I was deeply touched by this idea and encouraged it whole-heartedly.

Together as a family we outlined our story about Candy and her passing and how we had started to cope with our grief over her loss. We each illustrated 8 pictures of our favourite memories of Candy and then put it all together in storybook format and published it on Amazon.

My children not only found a nice way to earn their own money but have helped dozens of other families in the process. Their book has become a huge success and they’ve even been interviewed on video about their book. It’s been such a wonderful process of learning, grieving and helping others for my children.

Encourage your own child to create their own story about their own experiences or expertise and self-publish them on Amazon. There is something so special about seeing their own stories in a printed book!

These are just some fun ways to help your child learn that they can make their own money doing the things they love the most. I put together a special ebook, “50 Money Making Ideas for Kids and Teens“ that I give away for free on my site if you’re looking for some other ideas to help your child make their own money.

Here’s to encouraging your child to get creative and start making their own money! (and to stop using you like their very own ATM bank machine!) ;o)

Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. In my next post I’ll go over my special “The 6 Magical Piggy Banks“ money management system that I use for my own children to help them learn how to make their money work hard for them so they won’t have to always work hard for their money.

P.P.S. And as a proud mother, I have to show off my kiddo’s book, “Remembering Candy“ ;o)

Report This Post

It’s a very personal choice. Each family needs to come to a decision about whether or not to give their child an allowance. There is no absolute answer to the question but I do have some guidelines you can follow to help you through this crazy money jungle.

The Pros of Giving An Allowance:

By giving your child a regular allowance AND making sure you teach them how to manage that money, you teach them money skills that will last them a lifetime.

The Cons of Giving An Allowance:

By chosing not to give your child an allowance you are encouraging them to be creative to come up with their own unique ways to earn money to buy those things they desire. If you choose this route, make sure you take the time to help your child find a way to make money that will work best for your child to keep them encouraged and motivated.

Some Things To Avoid If You Choose To Give An Allowance To Your Child:

If you do decide to go with the easier route of simply giving your child an allowance rather than taking the time to help them find their own way to make money. Feel confident. There is no right or wrong, you simply need to go with what will work for you. But please do keep these things in mind when you give your child an allowance. Please make sure your reasons for the allowance are positive ones.

• Set up a series of responsibilities that your child must accomplish to earn their allowance
• Make sure not to give money for good grades. If you do, your child will begin to associate that getting good grades is more important than the actual learning. Leave learning and money separate. You don’t want to discourage your child when they fail by not getting a monetary reward. Failure is also a part of learning, a very important one. So please keep good grades and money separate for your child’s sake.
• Do not give an allowance for good behavior. Good behavior should be expected not rewarded with money. Rewarding good behavior with your personal time will be much more effective.
• Please attach some form of responsibility with the allowance. Don’t let your child grow up with the entitlement feeling, that could damage them financially later.

Whether you decide to give your child an allowance or not, make sure you put more importance on how they manage their money than on where they get it from. Teaching your child how to make their money work hard for them so they won’t have to work hard for their money for the rest of their lives is the most important part!

Go with what works for you and find the ‘experts’ you need to feel confident with your choice. I have compiled a free ebook to help you with this. It’s called, “Allowance Secrets: To Give Or Not To Give?”. Over 25 of the top entrepreneurs, family coaches and ‘kids and money’ expert have kindly donated their own professional opinions and given us their tips and advice on how to teach children about money. I compiled all of their advice and put it together for you in the free ebook.

Please enjoy my ebook for you:

(click here or on the image of my book and you’ll be taken to my website where you can request your free ebook)

Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. In the next post I’ll go over some fun ways kids and teens can earn their own money.

Report This Post

In my last post I told you that I would share with you the best way to get kids and teens about learning about money.

Well, the best way I’ve ever found is to get them to set their own goals, so they have something to go after, something to achieve. When you child is involved in the learning practice using a method that is personal to them, like setting their own financial or personal goals then they are emotionally driven to achieve their goals and are more open to learning the ways needed to achieve them.

5 Simple Steps to Choosing Your Child’s Best Goal:

1. Get your child to set out a list of about 3-5 goals that they would like to achieve this year. (let them write out more if they desire, but don’t worry if they have less either)

2. Then get them to put a letter ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, etc. beside each goal, the order doesn’t matter.

3. Next have them draw a line horizontally across a piece of paper and number the line 1-10, 1= “sort of want this”, 10= “must have this” (I call this the ‘Goal-O-Meter’ in my ebook, “Goal Setting for Families“.)

4. Then have them place the letter for each goal on the line according to that goals individual importance.

5. Have them circle all the goals that value an 8 or higher. These will be their most important goals. Choose the highest goal as their first main goal to go after.

The main thing here is that your child or teen find something that really means something to them so that they will stick to achieving their goal even through the tough times.

Once they have a goal that they are really focussed on achieving then they will open their mind to learning about how to make money, how to manage it so that they can achieve their goal. Most goals take money to make them happen, so take advantage of this and use it to help your child learn about how to manage money well so they can achieve all of their life goals!

In my next post I’ll share with you some thoughts on whether or not to give your child or teen an allowance, the benefits and the pitfalls.

Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. Please leave your questions or comments below and I will personally get back to you shortly. Have an awesome week! Happy New Year! ;o)

Report This Post

Hello Canadian Parents,

I wanted to introduce myself to you.

I love being a Canadian mom to my two Kiwi kids! Yes, you read that right, although I’m a Canadian mom, my two kiddos were born in New Zealand are Kiwis even though I am not a Kiwi myself. And my husband is Dutch! Can you just imagine how many times we get stopped when going through American customs! hee hee ;o)

My kids have since also become Canadian citizens and my husband is doing his time to become Canadian also.

We LOVE Canada. Canada is one of the BEST places in the world to raise a family.

This morning we were blessed with a beautiful, soft blanket of snow. The holiday season is on its way! Yeah!  So happy!

I’m new to CanadianParents.com and am thrilled to have found this incredible parenting resource for Canadians.

A little about me:

My name is Amanda van der Gulik. I homeschool my two beautiful children, Xanthe and Quinn and am married to my lovely husband, Rob.

I am well know on the internet in the field of helping parents teach their children and teens about money. I’ve been interviewed by Disney Radio, etc.

My plan here on CanadianParents.com is to create blog posts for you that will help you with preparing your child or teen with money smarts that will make sure that once they leave  your loving nest they will be financially savvy enough to take care of themselves.

Unfortunately, most education for our children lacks the teaching of money matters: how to set financial goals, how to earn their own money, how to manage their money so they won’t always have to work hard for their money to pay their bills but rather so that they can have their money working hard for them so they can have more quality family time with your future grandkids!

Feel free to ask me for any advice, tips, ideas, suggestions. I’m open and willing to share all I know with you. It is my honour to be here among my Canadian Parenting Peers. ;o)

Thank-you for taking the time to get to know me a little. I look forward to inspiring you as we move forward with our children’s financial education.

Talk again soon,

Cheers…Amanda van der Gulik…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)

P.S. In my next post I’ll go over some fun ways on how to get your child or teen actually interested and excited to learn about money and how to manage it well. If you’d like a sneak peek, you are welcome to download my free workbook, “Goal Setting For Families”. Enjoy! ;o)

Report This Post

I’m a new blogger at Canadianparents.com Blogs. Please come back and see what I am blogging about!

Report This Post