Pocket Money

Money is that sphere of life that we cannot bypass and pretend it's not for us. Everything in our world costs something, much can be bought and sold. Even many spiritual things need financing. Although the Gospel in the modern world is free and offered to people on a selfless basis, it costs someone big money and is distributed through huge capital investments and investments.

Children, as a rule, are financially dependent on their parents until their majority, and the smaller they are, the less their requests and needs for money. But with age, needs also grow, new interests in material goods appear, and the influence of the surrounding world and peers forms a certain way of thinking.

The civilized society of our time is set on raising consumers who are called to think about their material situation corresponding to changing fashion and creating their comfort zone based on permissible possibilities. And our children grow up under the influence of all these temptations and absorb the values of their environment, sometimes not knowing why this is needed, but trying to somehow correspond to it.

The question of pocket money for a child should not be posed as: to give or not to give? Because the correct answer is: to give; and not just allocate a certain sum, but also teach the growing person to correctly manage received funds and wisely manage accumulated money.

Preschool children usually ask parents to buy them what they like. They don't yet know the value of money, but they love new toys very much. In school years, the child learns to write and count, and it's from this age that parents need to allocate pocket money for him and conduct lessons explaining how and what to spend it on better, and what shouldn't be bought.

In early school years, the child can get by without personal funds, but the more he grows, the more his needs grow with him.

In teenage years, parents need to begin allocating certain sums of pocket money on a regular basis. This should not be a symbolic minimum, but also should not be large sums. And the earlier you begin doing this, the more you can tell about how to properly manage money, what to save it for, and where to give it.

The very first lesson that parents should show by their personal example is that they are God's stewards, and the true Owner of all their income is God, Who gives these means and gives health and strength to acquire wealth and other material goods. Through setting aside the tithe, which is the tenth part of all income, parents recognize God's authority as Master of their property and don't claim these monies under any guise. The same thing needs to be instilled in children.

Parents themselves should decide how and in what to educate their child in the area of finances, but the best example of teaching is your life and wisdom in managing resources entrusted to you. Theory is good because it lays a foundation in the child's consciousness, and personal experience shows how this knowledge is applicable in life.

In using his pocket money, the teenager should have complete freedom and can spend it on everything he wants, but with the clarification that this money is not intended for buying dangerous and forbidden things, such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, weapons, and gambling.

Although the teenager is free to spend everything as he wants, wise control from parents and observation of how received funds are used will give the opportunity to understand weak and strong sides in relation to money and give timely advice at the right time.

Mistakes in using personal funds is a normal learning process. Money can be spent all at once, unnecessary things can be bought with it, it can be invested in understanding "like everyone else" on all kinds of advertising trash, given to someone's imaginary needs, or eaten in a local diner. Don't scold your child for mistakes, but use these situations to teach something. In such cases, it's worth remembering your childhood and sharing your stories about stupid expenditures that were also in your practice.

Also, don't hurry to replenish the teenager's empty pockets with extraordinary money. If he hurried and spent everything completely, then let him wait for the appointed time and not get ahead of events.

The issuance of due pocket money should be no less than once a month. Don't reduce the due sum without valid reasons. Let the teenager count on your faithfulness in this matter. Money can be given once a week, and if there's necessity—every school day for school lunches, knowing the cost of what the student buys for himself. Money for food doesn't relate to pocket money, but if the teenager wants to save on his stomach to buy something else with this money, then give him this right.

It's good to teach the teenager to divide all received sums into several funds. The first fund is the tithe, the Lord's sanctuary, which cannot be touched under any pretext and must be returned to God at the appointed time. The next fund is the missionary department, where money can be set aside for different charitable needs, voluntary offerings, and missionary trips. This fund is called the "second tithe," and its size should be determined by the steward himself.

After this, it would be good to have an accumulation fund where the teenager could set aside part of received funds for big goals that cannot be achieved in a short time. And the remainder of money can be used for current needs.

Correct and wise financial management includes developing many useful spiritual qualities, such as: wisdom, patience, long-suffering, abstinence, honesty, faithfulness, mercy, joy, kindness, generosity, empathy, analysis, ability to plan, value, respect others' labor, and fight many temptations.

Money becomes not only an instrument for raising good qualities of the soul, but it also performs the function of litmus paper, revealing many hidden character features that would never manifest themselves in another sphere.

Parents' ignorance in teaching children financial literacy can contribute to raising another consumer or be covered by God's mercy, where the Lord will send light into the teenager's life from another source of knowledge. But parents have special influence on their children and can timely invest many useful things in their consciousness that will be very useful in subsequent life.

Pocket money is a kind of fitness center for the teenager, where he trains spiritual muscles, acquires the ability to make mistakes and analyze, calculate, foresee, and understand, in order to enter adult life with this experience and know his worth and the worth of his strength.

Parents cannot deprive the teenager of pocket money if he has additional income from some temporary work performed. But if he got permanent work and has stable income, then the necessity of giving pocket money automatically disappears and other concerns appear.

1. Please read Gen. 1:1; Luke 16:10-11; Prov. 3:9-10; 6:6-8; 10:4; 11:24-25; 13:11; 14:23; 20:7; 21:5; 23:4-5; Eccl. 11:9; 1 Tim. 3:4, in light of this lesson.

2. What other verses from the Bible came to your mind?

3. What was revealed to you in this chapter?

4. Why is God the Owner of all money?

5. What character qualities are developed with the correct attitude toward money?

6. Why can money become "litmus paper" for checking character?

7. How to distinguish God's wisdom in managing money from human greed?

8. Is it necessary to keep track of one's expenses?

9. Were you given pocket money in childhood? If yes, how did this influence your financial thinking?

10. What mistakes did you yourself make in youth when managing money?

11. How does wisdom in expenses differ from strict economy?

12. Why shouldn't you give a teenager too little or too much money?

13. Why is it important to give the teenager freedom to manage money?

14. How to explain to a child the difference between "desire" and "necessity" in spending?