April 4, 2012 — April has been designated by Congress as Financial Literacy for Youth Month. This is a great time to instill in Utah’s youth good money management skills. Knowing the importance of teaching these skills is one thing, knowing how to teach them is quite another. That is why Kim Daley, mother of seven, decided to create a system designed to teach her children valuable money concepts, Kidbudget.
Knowing that her children needed more than a childhood piggy bank, Daley spent over a year developing Kidbudget, a system for elementary age children teaching eight fundamental money principles. The system is a hands-on, interactive approach based on the time tested envelope method. According to Daley, “Kidbudget goes well beyond the piggy bank. The system not only teaches kids critical money skills, but also includes all of the necessary tools to put those skills into practice.”
The tools included in the system are designed with kids in mind. The major component is a 76 page full-color workbook filled with games, activities, riddles, and much more. The workbook teaches life-long principles and money skills that set kids on the right foot for financial success. Some of the principles taught are the difference between needs and wants, how to set financial goals, the importance of giving, saving, and spending wisely. To take a peek inside the workbook, go to http://www.kidbudget.com. Just teaching the principles, however, is not enough. Daley believes that kids learn by doing and has included necessary components to facilitate the doing.
Four kid-friendly brightly colored pouches or “envelopes” encourage the doing. Kids learn to set aside money for saving, giving, and spending. One of the rules of the system is “You can’t buy anything unless you have enough money in a pouch!” Kids are also taught to not borrow from one pouch to another. Other components are a reminder wristband and a durable zippered “vault” to store all of the components. The workbook, pouches, and money vault are part of the integrated money management system and can be used for many years to come.
The complete Kidbudget system retails for $29.99 and can be purchased by visiting the website at http://www.kidbudget.com/store To promote financial literacy for April, Kidbudget is offering the system at a 30% discount. Just enter the code “finlit” when checking out. The system can also be purchased on amazon.com