Use Back-To-School Shopping to Teach Children Money Lessons

It is almost time for children in the Virgin Islands to head back to school. Where are you with your back-to-school plans? Are you finished? Or are you just getting started? Have you made a list? Did you set a budget? Have you checked old uniforms to see what can be reused or handed down to family members or friends?

This year, in an effort to teach children valuable lessons about money, why not involve them in the back-to-school shopping process? Doing this will help you to teach or enforce money lessons such as creating and sticking to a budget, understanding the difference between wants and needs, saving money, and the value of giving to those who may be less fortunate. 

Lesson # 1 Budgeting – Understanding that money is limited and must be managed is a crucial lesson that children should learn from young. Create your back-to-school budget with your children. Let them know how much money is available for shopping. Teaching children how to budget now will help them manage their money and stay out of debt when they get older.

Lesson # 2 Understanding the difference between wants and needs – After making the budget, children will begin to realise that they may need to re-examine their shopping list in order to stick to the budget. They would have to differentiate between the things that they would like to have (wants) and the things that they must have (needs) in order to stay within budget. They would also recognise that although a pair of shoes may be a need, an expensive pair of designer shoes may be a want. Teaching children how to differentiate between wants and needs will help them stick to their budget and avoid impulse buying.

Lesson # 3 Saving money – In order to stay within budget, encourage children to shop around to find good deals on back to school items. By finding deals on items, children can help parents save money. Cultivating a habit of saving money now can help your children better prepare for future financial goals such as saving for college and establishing a rainy day fund.

Lesson # 4 Giving back – Let children donate reusable items (e.g. last year’s textbooks) to organisations that coordinate back-to-school drives. Encouraging children to donate items that are still of value will help them recognise the value of items and the importance of giving back to their community.