In 2008, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to serve as the Co-Chair of my Church’s Stewardship Committee. Through some research I’m doing for this committee, I’ve been introduced, via a fourteen CD set, to Dave Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey is the creator of “Financial Peace University” and a nationally syndicated radio personality. While listening to these CD’s I was intrigued by his suggestion on how to teach your children to give and to save, not just spend. What Mr. Ramsey recommends is giving each child three envelopes, one for spending, one for saving, and one for giving. He then suggests designating the percentage of the child’s allowance that should go into each envelope. Currently at my house, we don’t have envelopes. My daughter has her purse, which is for saving ... no spending ... and then in one fail swoop, it is for giving. My son has a wallet. The purpose of his wallet is to remind him that he spent every penny of his allowance before it ever made it into the wallet. As you can see, we may need some balance here, so I decided that next month we’re going to institute the envelope system. Ten percent will be for giving, 10 percent will be for saving, and 80 percent will be for spending. My rules will be that the 10 percent for giving and saving is a required minimum. The saving envelope will have a goal written on the outside. Perhaps something like a video game. Something that will take at least two months worth of allowance to acquire. The spending envelope will be for just that, spending on whatever they want (within the household rules of course, my children are not allowed alcohol or firearms).
In preparing for my conversation with my children regarding the envelope system, I had no concerns on selling this to my daughter. Mr. “May I Borrow Next Month’s Allowance” was, however, stressing me out. I knew how I presented this to my son would be very important. After all, I could mandate this and force him to do it. But what I was really after was his heart, and that required a delicacy I usually don’t possess.
