Finance 101

This past Friday, I picked the kiddos up from school and went home and had them grab their piggy banks. I had planned a field trip to the local bank so they could open up their own savings accounts and learn a little more about "finance".

They have been saving up for quite a while and have these really neat little "ABC" piggy banks that feature three banks in one: A is Giving (tithing); B is Saving (goes directly to the bank); and C is Spending (for themselves, gifts for others). Whenever they receive $, they usually donate a certain amount to each section. The banker was very impressed with the amount of money they had saved up which was collected from a combination of gifts, allowance, lemonade sales and a few garage sales. The best part is they got to help count the money, see it deposited into their accounts and see on the computer how much they each have and how it will continue to grow as they add to it monthly. Oh boy, how exciting for them!

Dave and I try our best to teach them about the value of money and why it's important to give to others in need, save for their futures and spend wisely. Now that they can go on the computer and see their account values increase each month, it has become even more interesting and motivating at the same time.