Our children used to love having a certain brand of cookie or snack, but unfortunately they were also the most expensive. I wanted to teach them about a budget without making them feel as if they were missing out on something so we invented "Family coupon night."
I clip coupons everyday and then on Friday night we make a bowl of popcorn and put all the coupons on the table. We divide them into categories and each person takes a few.
Even our youngest who cannot read yet recognizes the vegetables on the coupons and is excited about helping. We then go grocery shopping with our coupons on Saturday morning.
When home, I show our budget and how much we saved. The difference goes into a vacation jar and each year we use it to go someplace special, like camping. Everyone feels like a special part of the project and are proud of their contribution.
If your children get alllowance, and they want the "extra's" in life, see if they would want to help pay for them. Maybe if it were coming out of their pocket, they would be more aware.
When I was younger I was on a sole parent pension and my son always used to whine about not being able to have stuff - so I laid out all the money on the table and showed him where it all went - rent, food, utilities etc etc - once he understood he was a lot happier with his lack and often helped me with the budget as he was very quick with math . he has grown up to be a responsible husband and father with sound budget stategies that now help him and his family
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