The MoneySmart family system

The MoneySmart family system was written by Steve & Annette Economides who are known as America’s Cheapest Family. 

The book covers the steps they used to teach their kids about money and finances.  One of the things they use is the 5/50/500 rule of life.  Each chapter ends with ideas to use the 5/50/500 rule in relation to the topic of the chapter.

There are five stages to the 5/50/500 money rule:

The $5 stage: ages 0 to 5

The $50 stage: ages 6 to 11

The $500 stage: ages 12 to 17

The $5,000 stage: ages 18 to 23

The $50,000 stage: ages 24 and beyond

Some of the other topics covered in the book are saving, spending, giving and sharing.  Instead of giving their children allowances they each have a Point System, where they get paid for each point they earned.

The 4 categories of their Point System are:

1)      Morning point – They earned a point they had to eat breakfast and get ready without complaining or procrastinating

2)      School point – a point was earned for following the instructions they were given from their teachers and parents.  It also included doing their homework. 

3)      Chore point – Each child had some daily age and ability appropriate chores. 

4)      Round-up point – Round-up time is at the end of the day where the kids and parents round-up all of the items they left out during the day.  They earned a point by helping with the round-up.

As with other books, all of the ideas may not work for you but there may be ideas you can use in your family.