Start teaching your child about money

A simple way to work with your child to teach him or her about money is to include your child when you prepare a grocery list and go to the grocery.

Here are some ideas:

• Prepare for the trip by having your child put together a list of what we need to buy for a particular cooking project. Go through the fridge and cupboards together and see what is needed. Discuss and decide on ingredients for recipes in the coming weeks (this is also a great way to introduce healthy eating and what it takes to achieve it).
• Let your child write the list, if he or she is old enough to write. Otherwise, you can write it down.
• Your child can be responsible for holding onto the list.
• Go into the grocery store together. Start looking for items. Compare sizes and costs. If the per unit cost of a large container is cheaper, can the item be frozen or stored safely?
  
• Show your child how to keep an eye on the register as items are being rung up to make sure the prices and item description is accurate.
• Pay in cash and count the change.
  

Keep grocery receipts so that you can start to make a household budget for food with your child. This will help him or her learn how a budget works, see the costs of an additional unplanned purchase, compare the costs of pre-prepared foods versus basic ingredients for cooking at home,
and other useful skills.