Last weekend, I went on a cleaning spree around my house, putting my kids to work every time they dared enter my sight. I even offered a little bit of earning incentive. My youngest took me up on my vague promise and helped me mop the kitchen floor and straighten the downstairs.

When we were done, she says to me, “Now wasn't all that worth $10?”

I replied, “No, it is worth $5.” I then proceeded to tell her that when I had recently worked a day on a minimum wage job it took me an hour to earn that much after taxes were taken out. If she wanted $10, she needed to do more work. She dissappeared and I saved the second $5 by doing the job myself.

Teaching my girls about money is tough for me because I would love to give my kids the world. I would love for them to be unburdened by the struggles of finances at such a tender age but spoiling them doesn't do them or me any good and I have had to learn that the hard way.

There are several positive steps to teaching children finances so that they can understand and carry on the lessons into adulthood. In her recent book, “Learning to Live Financially Free,” Marybeth Whalen has teamed up with her husband to share their financial struggles and how they found financial freedom through creating a plan and sticking to it. Raising six children, the Whalens had to learn how to budget, shop wisely and pass on their lessons quickly if the whole family was going to be free of unhealthy debt.

Some of the suggestions they give for teaching money values to children are as follows:

  1. Teach children the difference between needs and wants.

  2. Teach them how to bargain shop.

  3. Have them earn money to pay for the extras, like texting on a cell phone or expenses for a big trip.

  4. Encourage them to work as soon as they are able.

  5. Work with them to help others, giving back to society.

  6. Have your child start tracking his or her own spending if he or she is always out of money.

  7. Open a savings account.

  8. Play board games about money management or have them read books on it.

Children need to see that you are serious about using your money wisely. They will learn from your choices if you bring them in and make them part of the process.