I have been looking for a good, cheap, easy way for my kids to sort their income. I did not find anything I was satisfied with. Even the expensive things did not offer the versatility or convenience I was looking for. This is what I came up with, making one set in each child’s color:
I did not take pictures to make a tutorial, but it is very easy and I think you will be able to figure it out. If you need pictures let me know and I will make another set and put up the pics.
All you do is take four standard-size cans (like the kind fruit cocktail, olives and beans come in) and four strips of scrapbook paper that measure 4 1/8” x 9 1/2”. I printed up the labels on the computer, trimmed them up a bit and glued them to the paper. Then I hot glued a vertical stripe on the can, attached one end of the paper (make sure it is facing up) and wrapped it around the can. I hot glued one more vertical stripe onto the can where the papers meet, and finished it off with a glue stick on the leftover paper flap. That’s it.
Seriously I would be happy to do a tutorial if anyone is interested at all. (It would just make me happy if someone liked my idea enough to copy it.) ;> How do your kids process their money?
4 comments:
Those are WAY cuter than our banking system! We just have a binder that is titled the Evans Family Bank (but really is only for Emma at this point). It has a balance sheet (that hasn't been used in a couple years) as well as pencil pouches. One pencil pouch for tithing (along with a supply of tithing slips) and one pouch for short-term savings/spending. The long-term savings goes in a highly technical piggy bank in her room and then is emptied at the bank about once a year. It works, but I like your cute cans and I like the idea of splitting up the short-term savings and spending money. Hmmm... On a similar note, I just finished reading The Entitlement Trap by Linda & Richard Eyre. It was excellent! Good ideas for a family economy.
Does Alyx earn any money yet? My can opener leaves a sharp edge on our cans, what kind do you use to make it safe for little hands to reach in?
We used a balance sheet for a long time, but it made the concept of money distribution very difficult to grasp. This method makes money being split up and divided very concrete.
We splurged and bought one of those really nice hand can openers that leaves no sharp edges a few years ago. I love it. It was worth every dollar. And cans are so handy for things especially when you are not worried about slicing your finger on the edge.
This is such a cute idea. We use Zefty online. It is like a virtual bank, and you can set up as many accounts as you like. Each of my kids has 3 accounts: tithing, saving, spending. But I love the idea of long and short term savings, and I will be implementing it today. Whenever the kids get money, they give it to me, and we enter it on the computer together. Whenever they need money, they get it from me. We do 50% spending, 10% tithing and 40% savings just like you. One thing I love about zefty is that their (meager) allowance is automatically "deposited" each month, with the appropriate portion going into each account, without me having to remember. We usually have them pay their tithing every few months. I have one of those can openers... I should start saving my cans, never thought of doing anything like this with them.
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