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This is the first year my son has gone away to school. He gets financial aid and thinks his disbursement check is for just “going out and spending”. At this rate he will be on bread and water til the end of the semester(December) He gets mad when I don’t transfer more funds into his account. How do I get him to see that living expenses do not include weekly all you can eat places and trips to 7-11 or the ABC store for him and his friends?

Thinking back to my own first two years of college, I know this can be a tricky time of freedom and finances. I was not at all prepared for what I encountered out on my own. I was inundated with credit card offers and my parents generously sent me whatever I asked for, neither of which are very good things.

Kids need to learn to manage their money, preferably as soon as they start getting money. Even if you did teach your son money management, it sounds like he needs a refresher. There are many great resources for teaching children money management from ages 3 and up. Both Crown Financial Concepts and Money Savvy Generation have great tools for teaching kids money management. Since your son is older, I highly recommend Good $ense money management class which is offered in local churches by teachers trained through the Willow Creek Association.

Your son needs to get a handle on this now, before it gets worse. Between now and the time he comes home in December I would only send him what he needs. How much does he need per week to pay for incidentals? If you can, put that much on a reloadable debit card every Monday. That way you know his immediate needs are met-he can live 6 weeks on Ramen noodles if he has too…it may help him learn this important lesson.

When he comes home, focus on helping him set up a budget. Your job as parent now it to coach him to make the right choices, you can’t make the choices for him. Help him find books, online tools or a class near his college that will help him learn financial responsibility. Help him also see the difference between wants and needs. Make sure his needs are accounted for in his budget and that there is some allowance for incidentals and entertainment.

Categories in a student’s budget could include: housing, tuition, books, food, clothes, entertainment, incidentals, cell phone and transportation.

Next, draw a line in the sand, the buck literally stops here. You have helped him with his budget, you and his financial aid package are covering his school, books, food and an agreed upon amount for incidentals-his job is to live within his means. This is the hard part for parents but…stand firm.

Training or re-training your son now will help him now and in the future. Do this and then you can send him back to school feeling confident and equipped that he can manage his finances.

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Money management is one of the most important things we can teach our children. The sooner we help them set the principles of good budgeting into place in their lives the easier it will be for them to follow through. There are lots of ways to teach money management to kids. Today I want to tell you about an awesome website Money Savvy Generation. Money Savvy Generation was founded by Susan Beacham, a mom and former private banker. Susan’s dream is to teach money management basics to elementary school aged children.

Most children want to spend money as soon as they get it. By using the principles set forth on Money Savvy Generation and the tools they have available, children can learn the concepts of budgeting for long and short term financial needs. While those who want a taste of wealth in the future, can try options such as trade fx with VT markets in France.

The functional yet adorable Money Savvy Pig Bank has 4 compartments Save, Spend, Donate and Invest and each one is accessible through the pig’s feet! My boy’s has a similar bank when they were younger and it really did help them learn money management and delayed gratification. We also teach our kids about the benefits of having gold ira. Currently my sons are taking an economics class, taught by our pastor. I can’t wait to share Money Savvy Generations Cash Cache with their class. It goes along perfectly with everything they are learning!

Money Savvy Generation founder Susan Beacham is hosting a Twitter contest follow @susanbeacham on twitter and send a tweet with the hashtag #MoneySavvyPig to be entered to win a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and a custom Recommended Reading List for the children in the winner’s life and
an entire Classroom Solution for a child in your life!

That’s not all! Money Savvy Generation is giving one The Mom Maven reader a Money Savvy Pig Bank!

Mandatory 1st Entry visit Money Savvy Generation’s website and check out their products. Then come back and leave me a comment about which of their products you would like to own.

Bonus Entries

• Followers and Subscribers get 1 entry each so please follow and/or subscribe today. Leave me a comment with each entry.
• Tweet this “@MomMaven & @SusanBeacham want to help us raise money savvy kids! http://bit.ly/lxIKX #moneysavvypig” you can do this 2x a day. Leave the tweet URL in a comment. (This will also enter you into the Twitter contest!)
• Sign up to receive the “Helping Kids Get Smart About Money” eNewsletter. The registration is in the left sidebar of the Money Savvy Generation website. Leave a comment telling me you signed up.

This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada. A winner will be chosen at 10pm on 9/30/09 by random.org. I reserve the right to delete any entries that don’t meet the previously stated requirements. Good Luck!

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