Serving in Family Resource Management is important to me as a reflection of the 20 years I spent working in retail banking.
When incomes are small, it doesn’t take much to push an already tight budget over the edge. If you don’t have a budget, it can make this even more difficult.
I love to work with youth and young adults to help them make better financial decisions than I often did as a 20- or 21-year-old.
4-H has several great financial curriculums for different ages to assist in the discussion about needs vs wants, as well as setting up budgets and learning about banking. Wants vs needs is a hard topic that even adults don’t like to have but starting in grade school can help kids build skills and knowledge that they will need to be successful later.
A good example is to discuss the grocery budget for the week or the month. For instance, does it include snacks, sodas, pre-packaged items that really should be “extras”? I certainly like a cookie but it needs to be at the end of my grocery list instead of the beginning of the available dollars.
Kids can help with all of these! It takes a little practice to help them understand that the same dollars spent on a box of cookies can stretch to provide many more items for basic needs such as rice or dry pasta.
When our kids were little, we started teaching them about spending and budgets with an envelope system.
The envelopes were labeled “save” - to go to their savings account at some point; “spend” - they could buy something as long as we were good with the purchase and it encouraged them to save toward something larger; and “give” which was for church or a charitable donation. More than once, they would stockpile the “give” envelope and use the money for an Angel tree gift, food bank donation, or something similar. When our oldest was little, he used his “give” funds to contribute to a sock and mitten drive at school.
Whatever method you use, it is never too early to begin talking to your kids about how you budget, what your goals are for saving, or putting an envelope system into practice!
Keep learning. Keep showing grace and kindness!
Michelle Beran is a Family and Community Wellness Agent in the Cottonwood Extension District. For more information on this article or other 4-H Youth Development resources, email Michelle at mberan@ksu.edu or call Cottonwood Extension District – Barton Office at 620-793-1910.
All Kansas Extension education programs and materials are available to all individuals without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.