Money Matters

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My parents started teaching me about money management very early in life. In my hometown, there is a carnival that comes to town every fourth of July weekend. Of course, it costs money to ride these rides. My parents thought the rides were pieces of junk (rightfully so), and made me work to earn the money I would need to spend to ride the rides I wanted. I would spent the week or two before the carnival doing all kinds of extra chores around the house. Mom had a list of each chore I could do and how much it was worth, and we put a Dixie cup on top of the TV in the living room where I could deposit money. I'm pretty sure I was one of the only kids whose ride restrictions were based on how much I'd worked the weeks before.

When I was 11, my parents opened a checking account just for me. Of course, their names had to be on it because I was only 11, but I received my own checks -- to be signed by me -- and everything. My friends didn't get checkbooks until they were at least 16, so I had a bit of a head start on everyone I knew. My mom had direct deposit set up -- like a payday -- into my account, bi-weekly. I was responsible for buying my own clothes (minus one back-to-school shopping trip that occurred every August), gifts, and entertainment. I was required to sit down and balance my checkbook every couple of weeks with Mom. Together, we learned about writing checks, balancing a checkbook, and not overdrafting your account. Of course, I didn't like it too much, but it taught me a lot.

This blog is all about technology in the classroom, and I know I've been rambling about my childhood money experiences, but there's a point to this, I promise!

This morning, I stumbled across two kid-friendly money-saving websites that I think could be the checkbook-at-11-years-old solution for the 21st century. I promise you can tie this into your classroom, too! Let's take a look at the two websites first.


1. ThreeJars.com -- If you're familiar at all with Dave Ramsey, he recommends having three jars to teach your little ones how to manage money. One jar is for spending, one jar is for saving, and one jar is for giving (I particularly like that last jar!). Threejars.com is the virtual way to take the Dave Ramsey approach to money. Basically, Mom and Dad are the bank, and kids see virtual deposits for their money. The money is divided into the three categories (as pre-specified by The Bank). From there, kids have to request approval to spend anything from any of the jars. But ThreeJars doesn't operate with "real money." It uses an IOU system, so it basically just keeps track of everything and lets the parents truly work as The Bank. Parents can adjust how much is added (as one-time deposits or allowance bumps) or subtracted at any time. There's a 15-day free trial for this website, so I know it costs money to use annually, but I'm not sure how much. If kids want to make contributions from their "give" jar, they can either give to the charities listed on the ThreeJars website, or they can make "withdraw" from The Bank and contribute elsewhere (Dave Ramsey recommends at tithing at least 10% to your home church, for instance).



2. Zefty.com -- This website works in a similar way as ThreeJars, but it is completely free. Zefty is set up more realistically than ThreeJars -- there is one account, and there's no dividing your money between categories, except in your head. Zefty doesn't deal with "real money," either. In fact, their FAQ section specifically says, "Think of the parent as the bank, and Zefty is merely the software that helps both kids and parents track their accounts." I do like how this more closely resembles a real-life bank. One feature I also like is the Zefty Check. Kids can print out an imitation check for a pre-set amount (never more than what is available in their account) and get practice writing checks in order to withdraw from The Bank (i.e. Mom and Dad). I know that check-writing might be obsolete in a few years (it's already on the downhill slide), but it's still good practice. After high school, I ditched my check book in favor of my debit card....but then had to re-order checks when I got my first "big kid job" that required a voided check for direct deposits! So there's still some use for checks now.

Both websites seem like great money management tools for kids; it's just a matter of preference as to which you choose.

If you teach, you know that you are more than just a teacher; you wear many, many hats. One of the hats you may wear is that of "counselor." During parent-teacher conference time, you may get moms (or dads) that spend 90% of their time in your room talking about how hard their home life has been in the past x amount of time. You may get the parent(s) that complains to you about how their child has no money-management skills, and may ask for your advice. If that family has computer access, you can recommend ThreeJars.com or Zefty.com, and know that you gave good advice!

In the classroom, you may want to set up a management system. Lots of teachers use tokens, coupons, "dollar bills," and the like as incentives for good behavior. One 2nd grade teacher I know uses "Doggone Good" coupons for good behavior, and then has a raffle on Friday afternoons. (This teaches the students about probability, too! "If I put in 5 coupons, I'll have more of a chance of winning than if I just put in 2 coupons...") Because of all the great technology we have at our fingertips, I foresee a lot of schools going completely paperless in due time. Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to convert to an online money management system for your students, as well? Less paper, less printing, less cutting. Students always know where their money is (in the form of IOUs in The Bank), and they can look at their amounts at any time online. And because both of these programs have automatic deposit functions, that's one less thing you would have to worry about as a teacher. (I know some teachers who give their students a weekly payday, and then charge rental fees for desks and chairs.)

As teachers, sometimes we are very fortunate to encounter parents who teach their kids the basics: please and thank you, covering your mouth when you sneeze, sharing, and money management. But I've encountered several parents that simply couldn't find time to squeeze those lessons in (or whatever the reason was). This could be a really simple way for teachers to incorporate some "real life" skills into their classrooms.