Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Cleveland, OH

In our house, we are personally attempting to get better at budgeting.  I know, aren't we all?

One thing that I think is very important, is to enlist your littles in the process of learning about money, piggy banks and all things budgeting.

When you get your children involved EARLY ON in how to save money and spend wisely, you are instilling in them an understanding that will carry through with them long after you are in control of their daily decisions.

We are huge fans of a Tessy and Tab product, the Preschool Money Manager.  We utilize the Preschool Money Manager for both of our littles and it is fantastic.  Included with the Preschool Money Manager is a 'moonjar' and plelnty of informative reading material and helpful hints.

The basic concept behind the Preschool Money Manager is that it teaches the parents to stop buying discretionary 'stuff' for their kids (BIG lesson to learn for me!). It shows kiddos how to split their earnings between SAVE, SHARE & SPEND.

They provide charts for the children to paste their "wish list" on, a gauge to keep track of where their savings are going, etc.

Another key thing that I have fallen in love with is that the Preschool Money Manager impresses on the itty bitties that simply by being a part of a family, you are required to do certain jobs. Jobs that you aren't paid for, and aren't necessarily recognized for. You just HAVE to do them (i.e. brushing your teeth, making your bed and taking baths).

They supply you with fantastic charts to outline the daily chores and those "family responsibilities". They've thought ahead to provide charts for each age bracket. You can even print blank charts to fill in your own chores.

For each "paid" chore, you note their participation and then figure out when it works best to 'pay allowance'.

Our children have completely embraced this project. Do you believe me when I say that our middle child often wakes up in the morning (most mornings) and asks if I have clothes for him to put away?  Our youngest, just two thoroughly enjoys helping with the dishwasher and putting away the groceries.

Recently, we walked into a store (a mega store with LOADS of fun toy aisles) and I was shocked when middle kid asked to go 'just look at the toys' to maybe add a new toy to his list of things he was saving for. We walked out of the store with NO toys, and NO tears!

Our kids have both learned the concept of saving their money to buy toys (outside of birthday and Christmas presents) and work hard to save up enough money for their purchases.  We gather around the table, count out the change and painstakingly labor over what things cost, what has the longest lasting value and whether they'll have any money left over after they've chosen what to buy!

It's never too early to start the process of teaching your children about how to handle money. I'm secretly hoping that the Tessy & Tab gals come up with a Money Manager for adults!