Free Printable Savings Tracker for Kids
Not only do we need to focus on our own financial security, but we also need to help teach our children good financial habits.
Today, we have some great tips and ideas to help you create savings goals for kids that will ultimately teach your children about wise financial choices.
Plus, you can download these kids savings tracker to help them monitor their progress.
Savings Goals for Kids
Encourage them to save for something they wouldn't normally buy
If you really want to get your kids interested in saving money, you need to give them a goal worth reaching.
You can't say, “save for an ice cream cone,” then turn around and buy them ice cream the next day. Their goals need to be for things that are special and unique.
Later in life, they will learn that savings aren't always about fun things, but for now, encouraging them with goals that will keep them on track is what is important.
Get creative with tracking their savings.
As you begin working with your children and their finances, you want to give them a sense of responsibility.
Even at a young age, children can become responsible for their own money. Whether they are receiving money as a gift for birthdays, or they are earning money doing chores, they need to learn to save and make wise choices.
Getting creative includes using things like our free printable savings goal tracker to help them keep track of how close they are to their goal.
If your child is saving to buy something that costs $20 and they only earn $4 per week, it can seem like it will take forever.
This goal tracker will show them how close they are to their goal, and in the process teach them a bit about percentages and maybe even fractions as they whittle away at their goal each week.
Get creative with how they earn
You can also get creative in how they are making their money to reach the goal. Help them think outside the box of money that has been gifted or earned from a weekly allowance.
Set up a list of extra chores that will earn more in their allowance. This list should include things that you need help with, but wouldn't traditionally ask them to do.
Mowing the lawn or outside landscaping chores
Washing and detailing your car
Babysitting younger siblings (for tweens/teens)
Helping with your work-at-home business (posting to social media, answering questions, etc.)
Cleaning your bathroom, bedroom, closet, or other chores you would typically handle.
Cleaning the garage, attic, or storage areas and organizing them.
You may also want to encourage them to think outside the box by doing things for others to earn extra money.
Depending on their ages, there are many extra chores and services they can do that will earn money.
Babysit (neighbors, friends, and family)
Clean other houses (neighbors, friends, and family)
Lawn care and mowing lawns
Helping in gardens by weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting produce
Open a lemonade stand in the neighborhood
Have a bake sale for cookies, bread, muffins, or other homemade foods
Knit or crochet items to sell on eBay, Etsy, or Amazon Handmade
Have a yard sale and split proceeds with your child.
Be sure to print out a free copy of our Blank Check Templates for Kids.
Start with small goals.
As mentioned earlier, one way to really help your kids create a savings goal that is manageable is to start small. A $20 goal seems like a lot to a preschooler, but not much to a teen.
Depending on the age of the kids you are working on finances with, set a reasonably small goal to begin.
This gives them something that is doable in a short amount of time so they don't lose sight of the goal and get discouraged small goal could be saving enough for a new action figure, an ice cream treat, or the season pass at a local amusement park.
These are all goals that depending on the age of the child and their means of earning money, are doable in a short amount of time.
Showing your kids that a savings goal doesn't have to be a huge thing can help them to realize that their finances are manageable in small increments until they learn to manage larger amounts.
Help them dream big.
One of the benefits of our printable savings goal tracker is that you can help your kids keep their eye on the prize and dream big.
Print multiple copies of this tracker and use each one for smaller goals that fit into the one large goal.This gives them a wonderful visual method of tracking their ultimate goal.
Break down the goals into 4-5 parts and create a tracker sheet for each part.
As they fill in the thermometer on each tracker sheet, they can then add that amount to the main goal tracker.
This is a great tool for teaching younger kids not only about savings but about how percentages and fractions work toward creating a whole. You can help your kids to dream big by encouraging them to come up with a large goal that can easily be broken down into increments to track.
Just because a goal seems impossible in their minds, doesn't make it impossible. By dividing up their bigger goal into small increments that seem manageable, you are teaching them that it is easy to manage their financial future in the same way.
Save with them.
Another great way to help create savings goals for kids is to develop one of your own.
Tracking your savings together helps them feel like they are a part of a team and not alone in this adventure.
The best way to teach your child good financial choices is to exemplify them in your own life. Saving and tracking that alongside their savings can make a huge impact on how they handle finances in their own life. These are great tips that will help your kids create a savings goal and learn more about financial responsibility.
Start with our free printable savings tracker, and work on easy saving goals with your kids on a regular basis.