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By Mimi Rothschild

Teaching children about budgeting can be done painlessly. Instead of just sitting them down for an abstract lesson (or worse, a long sermon that has them rolling their eyes), get them involved in your household budgeting. Show them how much the family is spending on various items and what your goals are. Explain the cost of familiar things such as cable TV and lawn-care services.

You and your kids can work together to decrease spending -- or at least to keep expenses within your budget. They may even be more understanding when you have to say no to a plea for a new toy. It can be a great lesson for them to learn that the family's monthly electric bill costs as much as 50 comic books, and perhaps it will motivate them to turn the lights off when they leave a room.

To get your kids interested in saving and investing their money, invite them to drop by our online area for teens. Also, consider giving them a copy of our book The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens: 8 Steps to Having More Money Than Your Parents Ever Dreamed Of.

To learn more about budgeting, read Dayana Yochim's amusing article, Lazy Girl's Guide to Budgeting.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, children's rights activist, author, and Founder and C.E.O. of online education company Learning by Grace, Inc. Rothschild and her husband of twenty-eight years reside in suburban Philadelphia with their eight children.

Feeling that “our current system of education has broken its promise,” Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. to provide families with Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children all over the world.

In addition to her twenty years of experience as a homeschool mother, Rothschild has written a number of books dealing with education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Home Education Websites Blog consists of helpful online content and activities for Christian homeschooling families.

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