Five Easy Budgeting Tips for Families to Foster Financial Wellness

Your kids see you clipping coupons, stuffing the car with bulk packs of groceries, and choosing family nights in over family nights out, but they’re too young to understand what family budgeting is all about, right? Actually, teaching children about budgeting at a young age can further develop their financial wellness for the future. As a parent, you may turn to the PayActiv app on your phone to track your budget, but here are five budgeting tips the entire family can try.

Set Savings Goals for Everyone

Whether Mom wants to buy a new dress or nine-year-old Charlie has his heart set on a popular video game, every family member can reach their savings goals with the help of a tracking tool. Children can participate the traditional way by drawing a savings thermometer. As they tuck a few dollars away in a piggy bank or shoebox for safekeeping, they can color in their progress toward their purchase goal. New game here we come! Adults might enjoy coloring their own thermometers, too, or they can hop on PayActiv’s app and use the savings feature to set savings goals and track their progress over time.

Have Financial Literacy Conversations

On the other hand, today’s children are growing up in a technology-saturated world, so why not share your PayActiv account with them and foster a discussion about financial wellness and literacy? You can discuss your earnings with your children and talk about what money is allocated for (bills, food, rent/mortgage, etc.). Money conversations may get harder as children grow up, especially discussions around major financial decisions such as buying a car and saving for college. Starting young normalizes financial literacy conversations at a young age.

Practice Earned Wage Access with the Family

Starting young is great, but it can be hard for little ones to wait for their rewards, so why not pay their allowance upon completion of their chores instead of on a weekly schedule? This allows children to participate in the same Earned Wage Access PayActiv offers, but on a much smaller scale. By gaining access to their earnings as the work is completed, children can be encouraged to save and budget for purchases accordingly.

Take Advantage of Online and Application-Based Savings Tools

Think there’s no wiggle room in the family budget? You’ve clipped all the coupons you possibly can, but you might be surprised to find there are other ways your family can save money. Consider downloading internet browser extensions that can locate the best possible price for products when shopping online. Entertainment coupons are also a way to save money on family outings. PayActiv has a built-in prescription savings tool that helps you save money on your family’s prescription medications.

Make Saving Money Fun

Saving money doesn’t have to be drudgery, and you don’t have to do the work alone. Turn coupon-clipping into a circular scavenger hunt for the family. Appoint a child to be an energy-saving ambassador who double-checks to make sure the family turns lights off in vacant rooms. For older children, invite them to product hunt for the best deal online. By turning budgeting into a fun family adventure, you can turn the experience into a positive bonding activity.

PayActiv has many tools to help you and your family meet your budgeting goals. By sharing these tools with the entire family, you can foster a strong sense of financial literacy and financial wellness in your youngest family members. Together, you can save money for the things that matter most—each other.