Kids have returned to school and between supplies, clothes and books needed to help those little darlings learn as much as possible, now is also the perfect opportunity to educate your youth on some sound principles of personal finance.

Allow kids to view and tabulate receipts for some or all of the goods purchased for school.

Assist in creating a weekly or monthly budget for lunch payments or for the purchase of food items to prepare lunch at home.

Involve kids in the decision to pay more or less for a desired item as it relates to the risk of affordability of another item wanted/needed .

Allowing your kids to participate in the household finances is as imperative to financial literacy as exposing a budding swimmer to deep water. The budding financial literate must be able to experience the “feel” of participation to fully understand the ebbs and flows personal finance. And simple waiting until your kid gets to college is allowing the “new-ness” of independent college life to compete with the financial choices that will guide your child’s life into adulthood.

However, college kids, finances and credit cards do not have to be a nightmare. When it comes to credit card use and the college students, set usage guidelines and establish spending limits with the card issuer to request co-signers approval. Perform a monthly review of the statement with the student and offer congratulations and criticism where necessary.