Question: I've heard of a kids' piggy bank with separate compartments for things such as spending, saving and giving. Can you help me find one?
Answer: I'd be delighted. You can choose among several such banks, each with its own unique twist. Here's the lineup — plus a few other resources that will help your kids learn to save and manage their money:
Moonjar ($6.95, www.moonjar.com)This comes as a set of three colorful, collapsible cardboard boxes, one each for spending, saving and sharing. Each kit includes a guide for using the boxes and a passbook for recording transactions.
Money Savvy Pig ($14.99, www.msgen.com). From Money Savvy Generation, this translucent polystyrene pig is available in six colors and has four compartments: save, spend, donate and invest. Also available for $2.50: a Money Savvy Pig coloring and activity book.
My Giving Bank ($19.99, www.mmforkids.org). From the late Larry Burkett's Money Matters for Kids ministry, this clear plastic bank focuses on finances from a Christian perspective. The bank's three compartments, for saving, spending and giving, are in the form of a bank, a store and a church. Includes Bible-based financial information for kids.
Money Mama Piggy Bank (www.prosperity4kids.com). Money Mama comes with three little piggy banks, one each for giving, saving and investing — the remainder goes into big mama for spending. The china bank costs $34.95 alone, or $49.95 as a package with the picture book "Money Mama & the Three Little Pigs," by Lori Mackey.
Kidsca$h ($12.95, www.kidscashmanagement.com) A basic spiral-bound ledger in which kids can keep daily and monthly records of how much cash they get — from allowance, found money, gifts, earnings — what they spend it on and how much they save.
ParentBanc ($9.99, www.iqkids.com). With this checkbook, which I use with my kids, you record your child's allowance as a deposit in the check register. When the kids need money, they write a check — which you cash — and subtract the amount from their balance. Saving isn't required, but I pay interest on any amount left in the account at the end of each month.
To encourage young kids to stash their cash in the first place, read "It's a Habit, Sammy Rabbit!" by Sam X. Renick ($8.95, www.itsahabit.com)The book is the first in a series of adventures in which Sammy Rabbit learns the value of saving.
Have a question about kids and finances for Dr. Tightwad? Write to Dr. T at 1729 H St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006. Or send the good doctor an e-mail message (and any other questions for this column) to jbodnar@kiplinger.com.