Teaching the Adorables about Saving…

September 23, 2009

Have you seen this adorable piggy bank with 4 separate compartments?

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It’s the Money Savvy Pig from Money Savvy Generation.

The 4 compartments are SAVE, SPEND, DONATE, and INVEST. You can also attach stickers in the ovals above each label that show where money will be directed.

We have our piggy bank in a prominent place in our kitchen, strategically placed so the Running Man will leave his loose change, and gather however much the adorables pilfer from guests (be warned).

So when the tank gets full we get out our bank books and head to the bank.

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One bank in town has a digital money scale where you pour in all the change. The machine then weighs it and spits out a reciept to give to the teller. And that machine is the sole reason I switched our accounts to that particular bank. Shake your head if you must, but I loathed rolling.

We have a savings account for each adorable so I ask the teller to split the proceeds directly down the middle and into the adorable’s accounts.

Except the quarters I “borrow” for the parking meters.

The elder adorable understands that each time we deposit money into his savings, his money “grows” a little because the bank pays him to use his money. He’s probably as confused as you with that explanation, but he likes to see the numbers get bigger.

The younger adorable just likes to throw the money into the machine.

But someday, he’ll love to see all that interest added up!

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Category: Activities
Tags: banking for kids, Money Savvy Piggy Bank, piggy bank |

9 Comments »

marla
on September 23, 2009 10:10 am
Really great start for the “adorables”!
Katie Fisher
on September 23, 2009 10:50 am
I was just thinking about when I should start saving money with my kiddos. I love the bank, maybe we will start there. Thanks Heidi!
Whitney Trujillo
on September 23, 2009 1:23 pm
Well, you may guess how I feel about this: awesome!
Julie
on September 24, 2009 6:38 am
We do this same type of thing without the fancy bank. We started when he was 4 and our son received $3 a week for allowance. One dollar goes to spending (I have to bite my tongue and whatever he wants to buy with it is fine – including things that I think are a piece of junk and waste of money), one dollar goes in his college bank (plant that seed at an early age that college isn’t cheap and that he needs to work towards it and save…..however now that he is a bit older the deal is that if he gets a college scholarship he gets to have whatever $ is saved in that account) and $1 is for charity (he gets to pick. sometimes it is in the church collection plate, sometimes it is something that he sees on tv, sometimes it is the local animal shelter)
Heidi Farmer
on September 24, 2009 7:57 am
That is wonderful! Love this idea. Thanks for sharing!
Jinny VanDeusen
on September 24, 2009 9:43 am
Love it. Always a great idea, and the bank might make an easier “visual” for kids. We’ve done the same thing — minus the bank– when saving up for a vacation (even if it just totals enough for souvenir spending money!).
Heidi Farmer
on September 25, 2009 8:05 am
Still that’s a lot and gives the adorables something fun to look forward to!
Janis Elspas
on September 27, 2009 6:09 pm
What an innovative way to teach how kids handle money!
Laurie
on October 1, 2009 5:30 pm
This little bank is awesome!! My son has a small piggy bank right now and of course we lost the cover so the bottom is plugged up with tape. we really need a new one. My son constantly wants to know if he can take some out to spend and my husband and I keep telling him that he can’t open it until it is full. This one is great and I love the fact that they can see inside. 🙂