photo credit: °Florian

Rolling coins with your kids is a great way to deposit loose change into your savings account and it can be an opportunity to teach kids about managing money. Take the time to involve your children in this simple process and discuss what money represents and how it can be used to build savings. If you are looking for a great rainy day project, you can bring out a coin jar and get the entire family working together for a common savings goal. Many families have “vacation jars”, “pizza jars”, “clothes jar”, or even an “new furnace jar” for long term savings goals. Next time you have some loose change, get a jar and start a savings fund with your family. Once the coins are spilling over the jar, roll the coins and deposit them at your local bank branch.

Some reasons rolling coins can be valuable for yourself and your family:

1. Saving the 10% fee that Coinstar charges is another huge incentive. I made the mistake once of using a Coinstar at Safeway and the machine stopped working. I estimated I had deposited over $50 in coins and Safeway wanted me to prove that amount. How do I prove that the machine ate my coins? I had to deal with 2 managers before I was finally given credit.

2. Teach your kids to sort and count. Help your children sort the coins based on color and shape and educate them on the different coin values.

3. Treasure hunt. Finding Canadian Pennies or old silver coins can be exciting. Find a silver nickel or dime and you can take your kids to the local coin shop to find out the value.

4. Compound interest. Deposit those coins in your local bank and educate your children on the power of compound interest. Those coins aren’t earning anything when they are stuck in a jar. Deposit them in the bank and your money starts working for you. Compound interest is a source of passive income.

5. Saving money. Use this time you are rolling coins with your family as an opportunity to talk about saving money. Why do you need to save these coins and what can you purchase with them? Get your children involved in the savings process and start a family “savings jar” that will be for a common goal. Maybe you want to save for a family vacation or start a college 529 savings account for you kids.

Have you started a savings jar with your family?

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photo credit: HarshLight

Countless hours were spent as a kid playing my favorite board game, collecting rent on apartments and hotels while negotiating for Park Place and Boardwalk. What type of Monopoly player are you? Do you play with the properties you land on or do you like to barter and make deals? Playing Monopoly might seem like a childish game, but it definitely has some sound money managing principles that teaches you to stay within a budget and not stretch yourself thin. In Monopoly if you can’t pay your rent, you must declare bankruptcy. In the end the bank forecloses on your property and the other players can pay off the liens.

The game of Monopoly may have been the first time that you learned some basics about budgeting your money. The rules are easy to follow, but how you play the game is up to you. You can simply roll the dice and pay rent or you can build up a vast wealth of apartments and hotels.

Even though Monopoly is just a game, what are some money management tips we can learn from it?

1. Cash is king. The bank in Monopoly only accepts cash. Building up passive income through property rentals can help you achieve your goal of building apartments or hotels. Today, you are payed by your employer in cash and it’s up to you on whether you invest the money or just pay your landlord rent.

2. Negotiate. You won’t get anything unless you ask. That goes for a raise from your boss or Board Walk that your friend currently owns. Will they sell it for $300 or $1,000? It probably depends on how they are doing in the game at the time. If you don’t attempt to negotiate and make a deal, you might not win the game. If the asking price is $2,000 for your future wife’s diamond ring, will you ask to negotiate? Did you?

3. Pay your bills on time. It’s funny how Monopoly imitates life. When you land on luxury tax, you must pay it or start selling off properties. The game comes to a stop until you take action. You don’t have a chance to pay the minimum on a credit card and move money towards another debt.

4. Being a landlord can be fun. Owning hotels on Park Place or Boardwalk can be very lucrative when a fellow player stops on your property. Owning property can create a passive income stream that can pay for your retirement or children’s college. In real life you obviously want to charge a market rate and not something expensive like Boardwalk that has the potential to put your tenant into bankruptcy.

5. An emergency fund is always needed. One roll of the dice and you could wind up in jail or owing a huge luxury tax. If you’ve overextended yourself and purchased property without an adequate emergency fund, you’ll wind up having to sell something. Having an emergency cash fund or rainy day fund can help you navigate through tough times. Having an emergency account in real life can help you fix a flat tire or purchase a new washing machine.

Do you have a favorite game you played that taught you money management skill?

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