December 3, 2013
Oink: Teaching Financial Literacy and Independence #review #giveaway
Teaching our children financial literacy skills is incredibly important. It gives them the strength, knowledge and independence to help them grow as stronger young adults. But how do we teach our children these skills? Money can be such a sensitive topic for people and others may not feel comfortable discussing bills, savings, etc. The tricky part can be in how to get these conversations rolling.
Image from VirtualPiggy.com
Oink (previously Virtual Piggy) is an online piggy bank where children and teens can safely (and securely!) spend, save their allowances, create wishlists, donate and more. Most importantly, Oink opens up the door of communication so we can have these important financial chats with our children (that do not always happen when we give them their allowance in cash and they disappear quickly and I speak from experience there – never seen a nine year old run to his room so quickly before!).
Oink has set up quite a few safeguards for children when it comes to spending. A parent must first set up their own account linking it to their child’s account. Parents can then set a number of parameters depending on the age of their child, the amount of independence they feel is right, etc. Parent’s can set up funding goals, choose how much a child can spend in a single transaction, how they are alerted for these transactions and if approval needs to be given before these transactions can go through. Oink works with kid friendly retailers online and when your child goes to make a purchase they simply click on the “Virtual Piggy” at checkout. This video by Oink really helped walk me through the whole concept and understand our accounts better.
I love how Oink not only allows my son and I to have important financial conversations but also how it empowers him to make good financial decisions on his own. I was quite proud to hear him say that he did not want to spend all of his money on one toy because then he would have nothing left! He wanted to save a portion of his allowance and the other part he would save until there was something he really wanted. Oink gives him the tools to independently save his allowance, create a wishlist that we can go through together (you know all those “wants”) while still allowing me to monitor from a distance to make sure he is safe. It allowed me to feel confident in his choices and help us to speak more freely about money and budgeting for our wants and needs.
The best part of Oink? It is 100% free to use! Yes you heard that right! Both the child and parent account are completely free to use, save and spend online!
Oink is also a Parent Tested Parent Approved Winner. They have met the high standards of other parents just like you in order to earn that designation which is well deserved!
You can also check out their website which has a wealth of financial knowledge and tips. They have great tips on starting money conversations when paying bills or shopping along with helpful resources for families. You can also keep up to date with them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
Oink is giving one reader a chance to win a $100 in gift card credit at shop.virtualpiggy.com!
This giveaway is open to residents of the US, 18 years of age and older. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
GOOD LUCK!
Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are my own. The only compensation from this post is the giveaway for you my readers.
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I require my kids to save half of whatever they earn from allowance or money they receive as gifts.
That is so important to save half! We have taught our son the same and it took him a while to appreciate it but he loves going to the bank now and seeing his account!
Required savings is part of my strategy, and having them "help" me when it comes to budgeting. Going to the grocery store for 2 or 3 items with only a certain amount to spend is a great teaching too, and fun for them too!
I love the grocery idea! We had to sit our eldest down for the budget talk as sometimes I think it's hard for them to understand how much work is involved in earning money
I make my kids 'save' their money to buy things. They get a lot of change, and are young, so they don't really have a concept of different coins, but they save it all until they have 50 coins and then they can buy something they want.
That is a great idea Steven!
We loan money to our kids and show them how to pay it back with interest. We also show them how to save money for things that are wants. We try our best to teach our children to make sound financial decisions. Thank you for this chance!<br /><br />ninigossett at gmail dot com
Stephanie that is a great idea with the interest! I remember going off to school and having no idea about the concept of interest (and how quickly it adds up!)
We talk about budgeting through earning her own money (she is 5) so she can use her money, or save it up for something bigger! I (obviously) shop online with her! 🙂 -Rachelle
It's amazing how quickly they realize that if they save their money they can get something bigger and more likely what they want! Great tips Rachelle!
Oh…for sure to start early! So important to teach them to budget and have a savings account for emergencies! I think letting the kids help pay the bills so they understand how much it all costs from electric to cable TV!
My son was shocked with the hydro/water bill and how long it takes to earn that money to pay it. We were trying to teach him why we can't leave lights on or the tv. We had to put it in a way he could understand before he finally realized how much money we were wasting on simple things (and if he was good the money would go to family activities!)
We give them an allowance and half goes in savings half they can do as they please.
So important to let them have some spending or money to do as they please with! Thanks for stopping by!
I teach them how to shop smart.
So important Tara! I am training them to be Little Price Matchers and Couponers 🙂
i just let my daughter take part in the family finances and learn the good and bad lessons with us!
So important for them to learn both sides – the good and the bad. Good luck!
I'll be honest – I'm not very good at teaching my kids about money, but I'm trying to start!
My daughter currently is learning how to "save" by collecting money in her piggy bank and she learns how to buy responsibly by using her allowance to buy dollar store toys. She knows if she waits and saves she can eventually buy something better.
I teach them about budgeting and saving by discussing household spending and saving decisions with them. As far as online spending, I have taught them how to identify secure sites and to make sure that they do not store any credit/payment information on the computer or with retailers and to change their passwords every 90 days. It is too easy for your info to get stolen.
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