• Teach your child the importance of earning money. The easiest way to do this is by having them do daily chores that they can earn a certain amount of money doing. This can teach them how to not only earn money, but also how to spend or save it. If you start them out early enough most young children will jump at the chance to help out around the house.
• Instead of just running out to buy them things, teach them how to save the money they earn for that special toy they want. It really teaches them to be patient and to save up for something they really want.
• Take them shopping with you so they can see that everything costs money and that if you don't save it you won't have enough to buy the things you want. For example, take you child grocery shopping with you and learning will take place automatically. A 6 year boy will ask why they can't get a certain type of yogurt, and you will get to explain all about money and how to compare prices.

Teaching a spouse how to manage money
In marriages it is usually the husband or the wife that handles all the finances. It's generally never both that will balance the checkbook and make sure there's enough money in the account for monthly expenses. So it's sometimes up to that spouse to teach the other about money management. Here are some helpful tips on how to do just that without ending up in divorce court:

• Share the budget with them. Since it is usually one spouse in the marriage that handles the money and budget, the other spouse will need to sit down and take a good look at the budget with them. Let's say that the wife is the one who handles the finances in a home. In an effort to teach her husband about money management she might find it helpful to sit down with him and go through the budget with him. That way he will have a better idea of where the money is going.
• Go shopping together. This may not be possible all the time, but try it out at least once so that both people are on the same page. Generally, the spouse that handles the money will be able to teach some valuable lessons on price comparison and bargain shopping in order to save some money for other things.
• Pay yourself. After you get your pay check each month (or whenever you get one) take 10% and pay it to yourself. This gives you a good start on building a savings account and having money for an emergency or rainy day.

Teaching money management to your spouse and children is definitely going to take some extra time on your part, but it can really come in useful in the future to all family members.