14 Feb

Written by Kathryn Vercillo on February 14, 2010

Your children are at an advantage compared to you when it comes to using the latest technology. They’ve grown up in an era where Internet chatting, online social networks, cell phone text messaging and other forms of technology are second nature. Learning how to use these things may have taken you some time or come with some bumps in the road but for kids it’s just a part of growing up like learning how to talk or do their multiplication tables. This is good news for you as a parent in some ways. One of those ways is that it’s fairly easy to teach your kids early on about how to use discount codes to save money. The technology is at their fingertips and they’re already rapidly learning how to use it. So how do you make the most of this fact and get your kids thinking about this while they’re still young?

Set a Good Example by Always Using Discount Codes

Teaching your kids how to use discount codes to save money when shopping is just like teaching your kids anything else; it starts by setting a good example. If you always use discount codes when shopping online then your kids are going to learn that this is part of the online shopping ritual. Of course, the kids have to actually see you shopping to know that you’re doing this. Make it a part of your normal shopping routine and then make sure that they know that you’re doing it.

How can you do that?

Including your kids in some of your online shopping is a great method of teaching them about responsible online buying behavior. Establish a routine for when you do some of the shopping online. For example, if you always buy certain grocery items online then set aside a day of the week or month to do that. Give yourself enough time so that you aren’t rushed if you include your kids in the process. As they help with some of the basic online shopping, they’ll start to learn about how you typically use discount codes. This is the first step.

Include your Kids in Finding Discount Codes

Simply setting an example is important but it’s not going to teach your kids how to use discount codes for themselves once they start shopping online. They don’t have to be ready to be online shoppers before you can teach them this great habit. In fact, it’s something that you can start with when they’re fairly young by teaching them how to search for specific discount codes online. Young kids will love the fact that they are able to help with the shopping in this way.

As the kids get a little bit older, you can incorporate challenging games into the activity to show them that looking for these discount codes can still be fun. Ideas for such challenges include:

  • Make a list of five items that your child needs to find discount codes for. Time her as she looks for each of the codes. Have her try to beat her time with each item while still finding a good code.
  • Let your child look for discount codes when you’re done adding items to your online cart. To encourage your child to find the best deals, let him purchase an extra item of equal or lesser value to what he is able to save with the discount codes. You won’t save as much money but you’ll be teaching your child an efficient lesson in looking for good online deals.
  • Let siblings compete against each other for who can find the best codes in the shortest amount of time.
  • Keep a chart showing your tracked savings as a family. Celebrate when you reach certain milestones by doing a fun family activity together.
As your children get even older, they will be ready to do some of their own online shopping. You can help them with this and use it as a teaching tool for using discount codes at the same time. Maybe you’ll allot a certain amount of money to your child to spend on Christmas presents for friends on year. By using the best discount codes, she’ll learn how to make the most of that money. Or perhaps you’ll start letting him buy certain things online with his allowance and will teach him about the value of discount codes as you go.
Find creative ways to get your kids involved in the process of actually looking for discount codes. It may not sound fun to you but think back to when you liked clipping coupons for your own Mom. She probably didn’t love that tedious task either but you did when you were a kid and your kids will like looking for discount codes. As your kids get older, encourage them to keep this up.
Get Your Kids To Help You With New Technology
As technology changes, discount codes are changing too. For example, right now we’re starting to see mobile coupons really beginning to take off. If you find that any of the new technology is a little bit challenging to get a grasp on, ask your kids to help you figure it out. They might pick up on it easier than you do and they’ll like showing off that they can do so. In teaching you about how to use the latest discount code technology, they’ll be learning and using it themselves.
Talk about Saving Money and Using Discount Codes
Perhaps more important than anything else is that you really learn how to talk to your kids about money. Make it a habit from a young age to start teaching them about your financial values and what you do to save money. Include talk about why we use discount codes in that discussion. Miscommunication or lack of communication about money causes a lot of big problems for people when they are trying to save money. Nip this problem in the bud for your children by learning to discuss money openly with them. Discount codes are a nice neutral topic to focus on when kids are growing up.

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One Comment

  1. 1

    Anna Taylor
    February 15th, 2010

    Teaching kids to comparison shop is also important. You want your kids to shop for quality and best price. I have been working with my 7 year old son to understand comparison shopping, to have an idea what an item should cost by using premier shopping tools like Onewayshopping.com and other.

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About the authors

Kathryn

We are Kathryn and Captain Frugal two money saving fanatics. Kathryn is a freelance writer living in San Francisco which means that she's had to work hard to maintain a frugal budget. Captain Frugal learned from a young age that a penny saved is a penny earned, he's made it his life's mission to beat "the system" a few cents at a time. "Living the high life is easy!" say's captian frugal, "all you need is a little creativity, to improve your lifestyle and still save money!

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