Good money habits don’t come from nowhere. They have to be learned. But many parents don’t take enough time to teach their kids how to be smart about their money. Neither do most schools.

Good financial habits are a help lifelong. Not only will it help your kids to manage their money better if you teach them good habits, it will decrease the odds that they’ll keep coming to you for loans when they’re adults. Not that you can’t help out when there’s true need, but it’s nice to know they have the skills to only ask when there really is need.

Not bothering to teach them now is so much easier at the moment, though!

1. Use credit cards when you want it but can’t afford it.

Who cares that a new widescreen TV doesn’t fit in the budget? You have a credit card, and that TV would look great with the new entertainment center. Buy it now!

If this is the kind of example you set for your kids, why would you expect them to do any different when they’re old enough to have credit cards? They need that example of saving up for wants, and knowing the difference between wants and needs if they’re going to be smart about money.

2. Don’t talk about credit.

Credit cards are for fun, right? Kids don’t need to understand the finer details of how they work!

There’s a huge advantage in teaching kids as much as you can about credit cards and credit scores. A good credit score helps to get lower interest rates on major purchases such as cars and homes. It’s a huge advantage for them to understand how credit scores effect them when they reach that point in life.

At the same time, don’t teach them that having debt is a good thing. There are better ways of maintaining a credit score than by carrying a load of debt on a credit card.

3. Don’t save for a rainy day.

Rainy day, schmainy day. Why save up an emergency fund when there are so many things you could be buying instead?

Saving for a rainy day can be hard if your budget is tight, but it can keep you away from the credit cards when unexpected expenses pop up.

4. Never talk about finances.

Your kids don’t need to know anything about family finances, whether they’re good or bad, right? They’re just kids!

It always amazes me how much kids can understand about the family’s financial situation. While you don’t need to stress them with your money problems, letting them know about monthly bills, how to save when you go shopping, and in general how to manage money is a good idea.

5. Don’t encourage them to save money.

When your kids get an allowance, let them spend it as they please. They’ll figure out the rest eventually, right?

Kids love spending money. Many will spend all they have in one spot if they’re given the chance.

If you want them to learn to save, help them find a goal to save for. When they’re younger, it could be a particular toy. One of my daughters right now is saving up for a harp, and a basic, student-level harp runs about $400. It will take her a while, but she’s determined.

6. Don’t have them work for money, ever.

There’s a lot of back and forth about whether allowances should be earned or given. It’s a parenting choice, and you no doubt have your own thoughts on the matter.

But if you don’t want your kids to understand about money, just give them what they ask for, whenever. Don’t worry about why they want it or if they need what they’re asking for.

Having them do chores either for an allowance or for extra money can be a good teaching tool. So can having them run a little business, whether it’s the classic lemonade stand or babysitting younger kids in the neighborhood.

7. Never teach kids to make a budget.

Kids don’t have much money that they have to spend, so why bother with teaching them budgeting skills? They won’t need that skill for years!

That’s the key, right there. Eventually we all need budgeting skills. It’s not just about saving up for a goal. It’s about wise use of the money they have.

You can start by having the kids help with the family budget, or just a part of it. Go over grocery bills with them, and have them help you figure out how to manage it wisely. Take them grocery shopping with you so they can see how fast it all adds up.

It amazes me how fast a house can get messy. We clean the house up for company to come over, and shortly thereafter it’s a mess again.

Mostly that’s due to having three young children. Kids just love to play, and that means messes happen. It just takes a moment to forget to ask that they clean up after themselves and the mess just increases from there.

Keeping the house clean is one of the challenges work at home moms deal with. They’re at home, and that means that right or wrong there’s this expectation that they have the time for housework too, and so their house should be nearly spotless. If only it were that simple!

I don’t keep a perfect house. Matter of fact sometimes the mess comes close to driving me crazy because no one cleans without me reminding them, or so it seems much of the time. But I do have some tips to keep things up at least somewhat respectably.

1. Don’t Stress the Mess

Some mess isn’t so bad. If the house is clean enough that you won’t be too embarrassed to let the kids have a friend over, it’s probably not that bad. Depending on how easily you embarrass about house clutter and chaos, that is.

So often my oldest has had a friend over and I’ll feel a bit bad about how the house looks, but their mom comments that her house is about the same or doesn’t say anything. That many people don’t keep a perfect house is something you can learn by visiting your children’s friend’s parents when the kids go to play.

You want things clean enough to be healthy and safe. That doesn’t take perfect, dust free surfaces and constant scrubbing.

2. Get the Kids Cleaning

Kids can start cleaning pretty young. My oldest two are regularly assigned to empty the dishwasher, clear the table, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, clean two of the bathrooms and their own rooms. Plus toy general pickup, of course. Laundry assistance will soon be added to the oldest’s list

It takes time to teach kids to do a new chore correctly, and it’s harder than doing it yourself. I often have to help them get the sweeping or mopping done correctly, but they improve over time and eventually they won’t need help at all.

All other adults living in the home should be helping to clean as well.

3. Quick Cleaning Spurts

You may not have time to really get into the details of cleaning your home every day, but you can probably spare 5-15 minutes here and there to get some work done. That’s time enough to load and unload the dishwasher. Time to sweep or vacuum one room. Time to pick up some clutter.

4. Declutter

One of the biggest sources of messy homes after children is clutter. If you have a lot of stuff, it’s harder to keep it all clean. Simple as that. Take some time and get rid of the stuff you don’t need, and organize the rest.

5. Decide If You Can Afford a Cleaning Service

A cleaning service can work wonders for getting all the cleaning done that is so hard to get to. You still have to have your house generally tidy for them, but they’ll take care of cleaning surfaces, sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, stuff like that. It can be really nice to have someone else scrub down your bathroom for you.

You don’t need to keep your home absolutely perfect. Most of us don’t manage that. Clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy is more fun than perfection.

Most parents have to be careful with their money. Raising a family isn’t cheap. Even when you have a good income, it pays to know where your money is going?

Are you teaching your kids the same thing?

Even when money is tight it’s easy to want to give your kids everything they want. Doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea, just that it’s something easy to do. But kids don’t need everything that they want.

There are a few aspects to being smart about money.

Want vs. Need

Teaching your kids to understand the difference between wanting and needing is a vital step to take. It’s something you can teach even when you’re giving them something just because they want it. That doesn’t make it an easy lesson to learn.

Kids want lots of things. Often lots and lots of things if they watch much television at all, talk to friends at school and so forth. It’s the simple desire to have what they think others have.

The things that are needed are pretty easy to explain, but don’t assume children won’t be mentally adding in some of the things they want. The younger kids are, the more wants feel like needs. Just keep explaining that things they need are things they must have for life. Wants are the things that are more fun to have.

Keeping to a Budget

We all know how little fun it is to keep to a budget much of the time. It’s work, especially if the budget is a tight one.

You have a few ways to teach your child to keep to a budget. Giving an allowance is one way. It helps if you expect parts of the allowance to be used in certain ways.

The requirements you give will vary by your child’s age. Younger kids you might only expect to put some of the money into savings or give some to a charity or your church. Older kids might be expected to include paying for school lunches. Still older kids could be expected to budget for their clothes, cell phone and other items that you’ve been paying for.

Obviously, the allowance should be increased depending on what you expect your child to budget for.

Just how challenging you make budgeting for your child depends on what you think your child is ready for. You don’t want to make a child budget for school lunches if he or she has never dealt with a budget before. But the more you can teach your child to do well on a budget, the better the lesson.

You can do a lightweight version of this when shopping for clothes with your child if you don’t want to do it through an allowance. Give them a budget for the particular things they need to shop for at the time. Give them some motivation to do well, and help them to see that spending wisely means being able to buy more of what they want, or that they get to save money for something else.

Have Your Child Earn Money

You have many options for allowing your child to earn money. An allowance for chores is one way, but don’t forget to consider the possibility of teaching your child the value of running their own business.

This can be as simple as running a traditional lemonade stand or as current as helping your child to start a website and earning money online. Figure out what’s right for you and your child and put some effort into it.

There’s a lot of value in teaching your child to run a business. It’s good for children to see being an entrepreneur as an option in life. It’s good for them to see that it doesn’t always work out. It’s good for them to learn the skills involved in running a business.

If you do let your child run an online business, you’ll probably have to keep most things in your name. Many companies won’t allow someone under 18 to have a contract with them. There are some things kids can do, such as making things to try to sell online, but it’s still likely going to require some parental supervision.

Letting your child earn his or her own money is an amazing lesson, especially for children who aren’t old enough for most jobs. They learn what it takes to earn money. They may better understand why you say there isn’t enough money for this or that.

Encourage Savings

Do your best to help your children understand the importance of having some money saved up. They can save for larger purchases they want, for college, for that first car.

This is an important lesson even if your kids earn money on their own. Think of it as building the habit of not living paycheck to paycheck early on.

Exactly how you go about teaching your kids to be smart about money depends on your child’s personality and your own beliefs about money. But you can start them from a very early age and help them to be smart about it throughout their lives.

If there is one thing that changed my life more than any other thing, it would have to be becoming a mother. This won’t surprise anyone who has had children. Being a stay at home mom really emphasizes the challenges. Thank goodness for the rewards.

Children change your life. Not just in the ways you expect, such as having to get up at night to feed the baby, watching him or her grow, spending money on the many things kids need, and so forth. They change your life in ways that if you weren’t a parent would probably drive you crazy. That’s just kids.

It will be years before you take your privacy for granted, even in the bathroom. Little kids won’t stand for it most of the time. You’re behind that door and they’re going to find out what you’re doing. Then they’ll tell you all about their latest imaginary adventure or what’s happening on their favorite show that they’ve watched more times than you can stand.

You’ll also discover how fascinating potty talk can be when you’re potty training your child. Not only will you talk freely about bodily functions to your child, but to other parents as well. And they’ll even get excited about it with you.

If you changed your name when you got married, that change of identity is nothing compared to the change when you become your child’s Mommy. That’s how you’ll be identified by your’s child’s friends and many of their parents for years to come.

Perfectly clean home? You mean for more than a few minutes while the kids are awake? Not likely! Some days it seems like kids just have to look in a room to make it into a disaster area.

Perfect hair, makeup and clothes? You’re begging for the baby to get sick, aren’t you? Probably just as you’re ready to head out of the house.

How about a sick day? Check your temperature, because you must be feverish. Sick or no, the kids need to be taken care of, and if it’s mommy they’re used to, it’s mommy they will try to get even if daddy is home.

On the plus side, there are few things as wonderful as being snuggled by your child. It doesn’t matter if you both had a really rough day. Kids can make it up to you with one quick hug. And if that doesn’t get your energy back up at the end of the day, have a little chocolate, a hot bath or another indulgence after your kids are in bed.

I make no promises as to how this all works in the teen years. That’s an entirely different game.

One of the troubles with being a stay at home mom is that you don’t earn any money for what you’re doing. If you need an income while you stay at home you have to find a work at home job or a home business to start, and that takes away from your time being a mom. That’s not a bad thing, just that you’ll have more things to balance in your life.

But just because you aren’t earning money doesn’t mean that you aren’t getting something in return.

No, I don’t mean frustration, although parenthood in general brings frustration with it quite often. It’s not an easy job, no matter whether you work outside the home or stay at home and focus entirely on what your family needs. Most kids are far from being perfect angels all the time.

In many ways the pay a stay at home mom gets is the same one all mothers get – the love and affection their children can bestow. The stay at home mom is just a bit luckier in that she has more time for it to happen.

It can’t be taxed. It can’t be spent. But you can save those earnings in your heart.

The love you earn from your family is what helps you get through the hard times, when the children aren’t listening, when you feel unappreciated, when things just aren’t going right. A quick hug and a kiss can make a lot of problems fade away. The problems may come back, but you’ll have a reminder of why it’s all worth it.

That doesn’t mean that staying at home isn’t an adjustment from working. It is. The kind of feedback you get is entirely different.

In either case people will probably feel freer to tell you that you’ve messed up than you’ve done a great job, though!

Teach yourself to see the feedback you get as a stay at home mom and teach your family to give it. If you want your children to show you gratitude, show it to them and tell them when they need to express it. If you want affection, give affection. Children are amazing mimics, so the more positive things you show them, the more you will get in return.

It’s both frustrating and fascinating. Frustrating because you will see all your little bad habits being echoed. Fascinating because you’ll see all the good too. If you want to earn the most affection from your kids, show them lots of it. It’ll pay you back most times.

And yes, there are times when kids try to hide what they feel. They go through phases where showing their parents affection is an awkward thing. But just watch them and you’ll know you still matter.