Very Involved Parents (VIP)

Wondering when is the right time to let your kids know about money and savings? Have your kids been asking you a lot of questions and is curious about money lately? Well then, it’s time to start educating them about money and savings! Wondering where to start? Fret not, as they are many ways for you to educate them!

A good kick start is to set an example yourselves to your kids as they would usually imitate or emulate adults behaviors and being the closest person to them, there’s no doubt your kids have been watching and adapting some of your traits. Curious kids definitely would have plenty of questions to ask and if you have been keeping away part of your savings in a piggy bank or in the bank, explain to your kids the reasons and its benefits of doing so.

Later, you may start teaching them about money values. They would also be learning about this in their pre-schools. While taking them out for shopping, let them do small payments especially when they ask to buy them tidbits, give them the amount and ask them to pay the cashier and if there’s any change, let your kids ensure they get back the correct change. This is to let them learn by doing and from mistakes too. Then, you can correct their mistakes which they’ll eventually learn the right habits better. At the same time, educate your kids about the choices you make when buying groceries for instance so that they would understand better not only about savings but their consumer rights.

As they grow older, give them the control of money through budgeting. To start off budgeting, you need to allow them an amount of allowance per week/month and teach them to spend within their limits on necessary items only. If they want a certain item instead which is an incentive for them, teach them to save up for it. Bring them to a bank to open up a saving account which you can help them in depositing their savings for their future while explaining to them the benefits of investing in such a way.

It’s also a good idea to educate them to care about others especially those who are in need and get them to start saving for them. When they had saved enough, bring them to the special homes and hand in their savings in cash or even buying something for the people in those homes. Of course, with a little help from you parents to top up in their miniature savings amount to make this possible!

It takes a lot of ways to educate your kids about money and savings. As they grow to become teenagers, you may need to awaken them about the danger of being in debt and not being easily conned by advertisements and unqualified products. Don’t forget to compliment them when they had saved enough for their goals that they set as this would encourage and boost their confidence in aiming higher for their next goal instead!

Having a baby without health insurance can be an expensive procedure. Since many health insurance policies out there, especially individual polices generally don’t cover baby deliveries, you’re going to find that you’re going to have to pay a lot out of pocket when the procedure is all said and done.

Breaking down the costs

According to the site HowMuchIsIt, the baby delivery cost around the United States can cost upwards of $30,000+ for just a simple baby delivery. A cesarean section is going to cost more than a natural delivery. The hospital, your geographical location, as well as the hospital performing the procedure can greatly influence the price tag when the procedure is performed. On average, the typical procedure will be within the $8,000 to $15,000 price tag range.

What do I need to worry about before the birth?

There are a lot of other costs that are included outside of the baby delivery. Other procedures that will be included will include blood work, ultrasounds, OB/GYN visits, and other related items such as prenatal vitamins and more. This is if the pregnancy is going according to plan. You will soon find out is that if there are any complications with the pregnancy, there can be even more issues that one will have to worry about.

Is there a way to save?

Yes, there is a way to save on your pregnancy. If you don’t have health insurance, check with your state to see if there is a program that you can join. What you’re going to find is that many states have Medicaid programs that can assist patients with all of their care. If you can get on a plan such as this one, you’ll be able to save a lot of money.

Another thing to look into includes checking with midwives, or even checking with the hospital on pre-payment plans. Many hospitals will be more than happy to offer a cash discount for those that pay everything up front.

As you can see, a baby delivery process can be rather pricey. What you’re going to want to do is try to get insurance before anything even happens. The more coverage you have, the more you’re going to be able to save during the procedure.

Most married couples find their living expenses increases dramatically when they begin to start their own family. Children are very high maintenance from young till they grow up as parents need to pay for everything. Healthcare when they are young and education when they grow up, food, entertainment, clothing are essentials parents need to spend on. Additionally, young children of ages 5 to 7 years old are at the pinnacle of the learning process and parents will do good to ensure they maximize the learning of their children at this point of time.

In fact, children need not be pampered or entertained with expensive toys or games as there are plenty of ways to entertain them without breaking your budget. Chores around the house are plentiful and getting the little ones to join in on simple chores like cooking or gardening can occupy their time and get them to have a sense of house-pride. Most importantly, parents must keep a watchful eye on their children to prevent them from hurting themselves. Pets are a good way for children to learn how to be responsible too.

Get your young ones to collect items they like. Beautiful, shiny objects are well loved by kids all around. Shells, rocks, leaves, or stamps and coins are all ideal objects to collect. Activities like reading books or assembling jigsaw puzzles can help in instilling good habits in children. Assembling a jigsaw puzzle requires patience and good observance and reading can help to strengthen their language skills. Drawing, coloring and art-craft are common hobbies that help children express their imagination.

Children of this age are mostly attending preschool where they are exposed to a different environment from home. The lessons taught in school are more geared towards preparing the child for primary school and to develop much needed skills that are harder to be taught at home. Sing and dance lessons are an interesting aspect. These lessons promote a cultured and creative personality. Performing in a group on stage also builds up their confidence in meeting people. Besides that, its fun and they feel important with everyone’s attention on them!

Entertaining children of this age is simple as you can easily get their attention and they do not demand much. All that is needed is spending some quality family time and everyone will have fun together. It also builds up the family bond and they will get good family education! However, beware to not force your children into doing things they do not like or it might backfire. Parents might also discover their children’s hidden talent and wonderful personalities at the end of the day. Not to mention without burning a hole in the pocket!

Teaching good money management to your young children has never being easy for any parents. It required one to ‘lead by example’ for these children to realize the critical needs of money management since young age. They learn a lot by just observing how their parents manage their money and getting to understand their financial values and attitudes through daily interactions. If you are the kind of parents who have the habit to list down your grocery list before any shopping, your kids will tend to adopt the same practices as well. On the other hand, if you are those parents who often make impulse purchases, then it is very normal for your kids to follow the same.

Therefore, setting up a good model role with good financial habits is one critical responsibility for any parents. It is useless to share the importance of money management with your children if you do not do as per what have been shared. It is very crucial for parents to provide necessary guidance and coaching to their children on how to handle their money carefully and wisely. They will surely be beneficial if they are taught on how to strengthen their monetary management starting from young age.

Good money management requires good spending discipline, the key is to shop only for necessity and not because sales activities are on. Cut down on unnecessary purchases to avoid over-spending. Think thoroughly and share the key objectives of instilling great spending habit with your children is one great step ahead of time.

If you have a teenager who already enter school, with peers pressure and lots of commercial advertisements which make purchasing extremely attractive, they will probably be demanding more allowance from you than before. If you wish to start by $2 per week, then you need to make sure this is consistently done every week, with automatically increase their allowance by $1 for every subsequent years. Encourage them to save their allowances and only to spend them whenever necessary. Observe how they manage their money and correct them if you found that their financial concept is incorrect.

Teach them to be independent on money management, let them understand that if they wish to get any anything for their own selves, they need to pay for them themselves. Enforce this spending habit consistently through day-to-day life-style. Bring them along with you for grocery shopping and get them to pick the items that you wanted to buy. By watching the brands or types of the items that they pick from the shelves, you get to understand more on what their key priorities are when it comes to shopping, should it be the price, quality or the brand itself which they care the most.

Last but not least, you can also teach them to be adhering with good discipline in the house by appreciate their good deeds or to fine them accordingly. Things like saving the electricity by switching off the fan or light when not in used, keep their rooms tidy and clean, improvement shown in their academic results and examination, help out with the laundry etc are some of the good stuffs which you can show appreciation by giving them extra allowances; while on the other hand, reprimand is required by fining them accordingly for what they ought to do but have not get done. People get to remember these rules easier in the future by using the distinction between rewards and punishment.

If you are someone who is interested giving your kids the best start in life, you may also want to check out this great new series of stories and resources which will help your kids to learn better about money and important values for life.