Clipping Coupons

A friend shared a GREAT idea with me and I want to pass it along. She doesn't have the patience to sit and read through the newspaper and clip coupons but she wanted to teach her children to be smart about money (plus, she wanted some real-life reading and math practice). So she told her girls that they would get to clip the coupons and she would pay them -- in cash -- all the money they had saved with their coupons. So if one girl cuts out a coupon for fifty cents off toilet paper, she would earn the fifty cents after her mom had finished shopping at the store. Mom's theory is, she would have planned to spend the money anyway. Daughter is now reading the newspaper and clipping coupons like crazy because it's worth it to her. And this mom (whose daughter is now all grown up) told me that her daughter watches her budget like a hawk and can pinch a penny like nobody's business because her mom taught her how to clip coupons.

Maybe I will try that with my three. It's great math work; it also gives them a reading task and ties in nicely with nutrition and meal planning. Not to mention the added benefits of Increased Responsibility Around the Home. You could give your child a coupon organizer as a gift. And (come to think of it), this task requires organization skills because you have to be able to find your coupons at the store. Alphabetizing practice, anyone?