MoneyTrail.net : Kids Money Management and Teen Money Management

There are a few sites of this type around offering families a platform to keep up to date with who owes who. They follow a similar pattern in that a virtual bank is created, with Mom and Dad providing the funds of course, and virtual transactions are credited and debited to reflect the real cash position.

What amuses me is that they all use a similar marketing ploy and target the kids with statements like "never miss out on your allowance again" or words to that effect. Whether paid weekly or monthly I cannot imagine any child forgetting the significance of the day it’s due with most no doubt standing next to Dad with their hand outstretched as he tucks into his cornflakes.

As an educational tool however Moneytrail is up there with the rest and gives parents the tools to teach their kids the importance of financial management.

Mom and Dad have the option to set up automatic credits to their children’s virtual accounts to reflect allowances and these can go in either as lump sums or spread over three sub-accounts called save, spend and share. The latter arrangement encourages the importance of putting a little money aside for both savings and charity giving.

I suppose another advantage is that kids don’t have to carry a lot of cash around with them as anything they want can be bought by their parents and then deducted from their virtual account. Parents can use their mobile phones to check if enough virtual credit exists before making any purchase and make the necessary adjustments on the spot.

The service is free as Moneytrail make their money through an arrangement with Amazon.com. The site allows the kids to make wishlists of items on Amazon and when they’ve built up enough virtual credit Mom or Dad log in and buy it and a small commission is paid to Moneytrail.

Conclusion
With kids spending a lot of their time glued to their laptops and mobile phones these days they’ll probably enjoy using this app to remind Dad just what he owes. And if they can get a few pointers about money management then all the better.