** Again, these are merely suggestions. Adapt and change these practices as you see fit.

Organizing Their Closet Space and Room

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Let's face it, children are learning by trial and error unless they have someone or something to model after. So naturally, they are going to make their choices and decisions on what they think is best.

If your child(ren) haven't had much success maintaining an organized closet, maybe it would be best to start from scratch. However, before you clear out their closet completely to start reorganizing, first observe what seems to be problem area. Are their clothes scattered on ground? Are toys out of place, thrown here and there? What seems to be messiest?

Each child will have different needs that have to be addressed in order to have a clean, organized closet/room. Just like you wouldn't ask a guitarist to play guitar with only two strings, you can't expect a child to put his/her things away unless he or she has an actual "place" or container to put stuff in.

Take time to teach your children where their "stuff" goes. If they have trouble remembering, label containers or areas as needed. You may need to buy some rubbermate containers from BigLots (PicNSave). Better yet, you can often find containers for a dollar at 99cent store or Dollar Tree (if you haven't been to one of these stores yet, you are missing out on a ton of deals!)

Weekly Review

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Once you have organized, color coded, and explained new procedures/laws that will now be enforced, have a "weekly review" time where you can sit down with your child(ren) for 5-10 minutes. This would be time when you go over what you liked throughout week, and areas they may still need to work a little bit on.

Keep in mind that children will need to be reminded about procedures you expect them to follow, so don't get frustrated if they do not do a perfect job first week or two. This is a process that may take some time to internalize, but once it's learned, your life, and your children's lives, will be much more fluid and organized.

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You should also be sure and make jobs/chores age appropriate. A twelve year old will be able to do more than a seven year old, so take this into account when thinking of chores.

Now don't confuse allowance, with basics. What are basics? Keeping their room clean. Doing their homework. These are jobs that should be done without question. Period.

Once You Start

When your children earn their allowance for first few times, they will want to immediately go and spend it. Fear not. This should be expected. Here is where you can start to teach your children.

Sit down with your children and talk about "things" they want to buy. Have them prioritize their items on a list, in order of importance. This list can be considered their "Goal Sheet" - reason they are saving their money.

Have them keep this list in their wallet/purse/piggybank, so they will always be able to look and see what they are saving for. You should also keep a copy of this list just in case they lose it, or want to purchase something that's not on it.

The next time you are in a store, and your children want to use their money to buy something, first ask them: "Do you have your wallet/purse that has money you've been saving?".You can then ask them if that particular item they want to buy is on their list.

Asking these questions will get them thinking about items importance. Is it more important than other items on their list? Let your child make decision whether to buy or not.

Regardless of what you say, more than likely your children will make purchase even if item is junk. That's ok! This is a lesson your child must learn. Only when initial thrill of toy wears off, or when your child realizes that other items on his/her list were more important, will they begin to understand value of their money.

Conclusion

These are only some of possibilities you might want to look into. Regardless of what you can take from this article, adapt it so it fits into your family lifestyle.

Money management is a learned skill that comes from real experiences. It is very important that children learn value of money and role that it plays in our lives. Teach them how to make smart, educated buying decisions. Stress importance of setting priorities and working to achieve that goal.

Once your child achieves one of his or her goals, they will understand what it takes to be successful. They will know how to budget their money and limit unnecessary spending in order to buy what they REALLY want or need.