Everyday Lesson: A Penny Saved

Benjamin Franklin had it right – “a penny saved is a penny earned.” Have you ever thought about where all your pennies go?

An interesting lesson for your kids and teens would be to go through your daily activities and record your expenses. You may be surprised at exactly how much you spend on a daily basis.

First, consider the expenses that you incur daily but don’t physically pay each day:

• Housing (own or rent)
• Utilities (gas, electric, water, phone, internet)
• Food (groceries)
• Transportation (car, train pass)
• Insurance (auto, home, life)

You can show your kids and teens how to figure out how much a fixed expense costs on a daily basis. You may be uncomfortable sharing your mortgage or rent, so use a utility bill to show how much you were billed for the month and then divide by the number of days in the month to get a daily expense. Another idea is to take the weekly grocery bill and divide by the number of days or have them figure out how much dinner costs by adding up the cost of the ingredients. And for the teens, you can have they calculate the daily cost of their cell phone! 

What about the cash you spend from your wallet? Have the kids use a small note pad to record the things you buy with cash. I know for me, I don’t use a lot of cash since plastic is so easy to swipe! So you could have the kids record what you spend using your debit or credit card for everyday items such as: groceries, gas, dry cleaning, supplies, dining out, etc.

I know when I did this with my kids they were surprised at how quickly the everyday spending added up…and honestly, so was I.

This is a great way to teach your kids and teens to pay attention to the everyday expenses that can easily get out of control. You can explain to them that it is important to have a budget for each item. By having a budget, they will learn to count their pennies…and hopefully save a few too!