How My 10 Year Old Made $55 Yesterday

I was trying to teach my 10-year-old the value of saving money and we came up with an idea.

If she would cut coupons out of the paper, and help Jennie at the grocery store, she could keep half of the money.

So I ordered her the Sunday paper and she’s spent a couple hours clipping and lightly organizing it all. Yesterday, I paid her $55, which was half of what she helped us save at Publix.  The week, before that, she earned $34.

I transferred it to an online savings account I opened for her, and she’s pretty excited. After two weeks, she’s saved over $100.  In conjunction with her savings, we’re sending our half to our own online savings account.

Here’s why I’m liking this experiment so far:

• She’s on track to save more than $1,000 this year.  Doing something she kind of enjoys.
• She’s learning about spending, savings and investing.  I’m teaching her a little of what I know and she’s reading this great kid’s book on money.
• She’s learning about organizing and tracking, and a little bit of responsibility thrown in there.
• She’s playing a more active role in grocery shopping for our family of five.
• She’s learning to use the web to find better deals.  Which seems like a slightly better use of her time on the web than taking care of a WebKinz.
• Jennie and I are saving money the other half as well, and instead of it being absorbed and lost, we’re intentionally setting it aside for something fun for the family.

I don’t know how long this experiment will last, but we’re having a good time with it.