Get your family involved with your saving plan by brainstorming ways to cut expenses in order to free up money to put toward your saving goals. Explore low- and no-cost activities you can do together as a family. Consider selling rarely used books, toys, clothes and other items in a garage sale or other marketplace.
Involve children by:
- Encouraging them to be aware of their energy and water use by turning off lights and electronics when not needed and by turning off the water when brushing teeth and taking showers.
- Thinking about things that the family regularly spends money on and talking about if the family stills wants or needs the items or if they can select cheaper alternative or perhaps do without them.
- Teaching them to comparison shop and choose generics or use coupons when it makes sense.
- Challenging them to suggest ways to enjoy time together as a family for less. Not sure where to start? Check out these suggestions.
Including children in trips to your financial institution (or an ATM) to deposit or transfer money into a saving account helps them to visualize the process. Consider posting a running total of the dollar amount of deposits and the progress made toward a family saving goal on the refrigerator or a bulletin board.
Saving money is a habit that is developed over time. In addition to letting children know that you save, help them begin to develop their own saving habit. Money as You Grow, a framework that links money-related activities to children’s developmental stages, is a great resource for conversation starters and activities for children of all ages at consumerfinance.gov.
