Susan likes taking old handmade quilts and turning them into jackets to wear!
When is it too early to start talking to your kids about money? That’s a trick question because it’s never too early.
Put your savings first. You can add to their college fund but focus on your retirement savings. Check out your states college savings plan: https://www.savingforcollege.com/529-plan-details
Family Meetings. Specifically about budgets and spending. Why you go to certain supermarkets, when you can spend on treats, when you can go out to dinner, when to shop for clothing or special outfits. Include them in a goal and how you reached that way. I.e. you were saving for new patio furniture by eating out only once a week.
Give them a chance to earn. Helping around the house, getting an after-school job, walk or wash the dog, babysit a younger sibling, make dinner, clean out closet/garage. Take it a step further and insist they save a portion of their earnings.
Help them set up an outside savings account. You can do it at a local bank (but low savings rate), online high yield savings account, or open a mutual fund. Parents can also match the child’s savings when younger children get money as gifts.
GREAT money book. The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money by Ron Lieber - a writer for NY Times