This is our very first in a new series of feature posts by UpSpring Baby co-founder Julie Jumonville.  Julie is a lot of things: a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and inventor, the member of rock band, and a community activist–but she’s also a mom.  Her two children Grace and Reece have provided her with plenty of life lessons and in her bi-monthly column, she’ll share those real-life parenting moments with you:

“I Want This” Disease!

“Mom, can I get this candy?”

“Can I get this Lego?”

“Can I get this plastic horse?”

“Can I at least have some gum?”

This is what happens to most parents at Target or the grocery store when shopping with their young children. Not in the Jumonville household!  My husband and I are mean, awful parents (or perhaps we are smart and one step ahead of our kids.)  To combat the “I Want This” disease, Jeff and I have implemented a Kids Savings System at our house.

It started with three Tupperware jars that the kids decorated and they labeled them “Spending” “Savings” and “Charity.”   We started when they were around three-years-old  and gave them three dollars every two weeks to put in each bucket.

Around the same time we started this great system Grace started in with the classic “mom can I have this? or that?” routine.   On one trip to Target, I turned around and said to both Grace and Reece, “you are allowed to get anything you want at Target but you have to remember to put your spending money in your wallet and bring it with you because mommy will not buy non-essential items for you when we are shopping.  From that day forward, the kids have never asked me if they can buy something at Target. They bring their “Spending Jar” or pack their dollars in their wallet and actually are more careful what they purchase because it is their own cash.

The “Savings” bucket is self-explanatory. They can’t touch this money and must save it. We put it in the bank and they track their account and interest earned online. Even a penny of interest excites them.

The “Charity” bucket is fun too. My daughter Grace sponsors a rescue tiger at Big Cat Rescue in Florida and receives their Big Cat Times (newspaper), frequently emails and writes the Executive Director and has formed a bond and relationship with her charity of choice. Our seven year old Reece has not done a thing yet with his Charity bucket and I have a feeling he has formed the Reece Jumonville Charity and donates to himself. He is seven and doesn’t quite grasp the concept yet so this is a work in progress.

So if you are tired of the “I WANT THIS DISEASE”, when you are shopping with the kids try this system and see what you think!

Have you had success implementing a system to teach your children how to manage money?  Comments welcome!