‘Too Young for This': Mum’s Way of Teaching Kids Finance Gets the Internet Talking

With the financial landscape evolving constantly, it's hardly a shocker that the complexities in the financial world are also increasing. This is why kids need to start learning finance from a young age to make them well-equipped to handle money in the long run. However, not all strategies to teach kids finance have been approved by people. One mother took to TikTok, to share how she is teaching her kids to handle finance.

"I charge my kids rent and utilities," she writes. She starts the video by talking about how she pays two of her boys, six dollars a week. "One dollar a week is expected to go to their expenses, we charge each a dollar for rent, a dollar for groceries, and a dollar for utilities", she adds. She then says that she encourages them to track it on their budget tracker and asks them to set a dollar aside. 

She then adds, "We want them to learn about expenses and bills, in a safe environment, now." Not everybody seemed to agree with her way of teaching her kids finance. One of the top comments read, "They’re too young for this. Chances are they’ll become hyper-fixated on money and be over-anxious about it. I speak from experience" while another writes, "Kids this age do not need to learn about expenses and bills. This is a perfect setup for creating financial anxiety."

However, many also seemed to agree with her technique, "This is a great idea. Girl, you need to create a program for these kids," read another comment. Looking at the generally negative response to her method, the OP decided to make a follow-up video, "I said I charge my kids rent and utilities, and the internet kind of freaked out. Some of you were mad, and some of you got it. But let me explain."

OP said: "We charge our kids rent and utilities. My kids get $6 a week for their allowance for chores that they do day to day. $1 per week is expected to go toward their expenses. We charge them each $1 for rent, $1 for groceries, and $1 for utilities on the first of each month. They track it on their budget trackers and other spending or categories happen after those payments. They set that dollar in a separate envelope for utilities and then at the beginning of the next month, we charge them for their bills. We want them to learn about expenses and bills and a safe environment now."

She then talks about how she just simulates paying bills and simply charges them once a month for rent utilities and groceries at $1 each. She also adds, how she encourages her kids to practice all "different categories such as investing, saving, giving and spending."

Adults understand the need to teach the future generation, the importance of money management. In another incident, a third-grade teacher took to social media to share the unique way she runs her classroom. In her classroom, she uses fake currency to teach her kids, how money works. "It’s organic. You know, they see the relationship that I and my kids have built together and I think that’s why the following is amazing," she writes.

Many took to the video to appreciate her efforts, "Man, I wish I had a teacher like this bc no one ever taught me anything I learned most of this myself not even family," a user wrote, while another said, "That's cute and important and needs to be taught in school, I just think 3rd grade it's a little too early for kids to start worrying about money."

For more personal finance content for kids and parents, follow @samanthabirdshiloh on TikTok.