The holidays are here, and my kids are asking and asking for more and more stuff. It's not that they think money grows on trees, but they really don't always understand all the ins and outs of money. (They are, after all, kids.) As homeschoolers and folks who are really into sharing life lessons with our kids, we were happy to hear about Virtual Piggy and it's tools for helping parents instill important finance values in their children!
We already practice forms of living what we believe. Our methods include giving allowance, allowing the kids to work for more money, encouraging them to help for free around the community, giving to charity, and even starting their own businesses! They will be buying gifts for their siblings (all 5 of them) with their own hard-earned money. (I will be helping them to "price compare" so that they get the most for that money they worked so diligently for, as well.)
Of course, I closely supervise their purchasing activity (especially when done online). Our iPad, for example, has security features enabled to keep them from buying in-app goodies (like new levels for their favorite games), and we have disabled "one-click" buying tools in all of our online accounts.
Virtual Piggy, a new online service that helps take safety and security one step further, actually allows you to set up individual profiles for each of your children, so that they can shop at popular sites within the pre-determined guidelines you've approved. Instead of asking you for your credit card number, or using a saved card on file, they would sign in with their own Virtual Piggy account and checkout without revealing sensitive financial or personal info. If the purchase meets the approval guidelines, it will be processed!
In addition to having separate dashboards for parents and individual children, Virtual Piggy allows kids to create Wish Lists for items they want to buy. This can help you to determine what items they should be allowed to shop for. (And if you're a savvy deal finder, you can actually pass along discounts to the child's account so that when they DO shop for an item, they can save more money -- no more hanging over their shoulder and doing all the price comparing for them.) This method empowers them to shop within safe boundaries, and sets them up to be savvy consumers later on in life.
To learn more about how Virtual Piggy can help you manage all the details of your up-and-coming shopper, check out the official website. There is thorough walk-through to help you decide if the service is right for you!
Wanna Win? Now through December 7th, you can win your Virtual Piggy Wishlist! Sign up for Virtual Piggy and be eligible (it's free!) As a thank you for becoming one of their first customers, they are awarding ten great prizes to randomly selected winners! Ten lucky kids (ages 6 and up eligible) who fill out a Wishlist will receive all the products they enter (up to $500).
*This is a sponsored post from Splash Creative Media on behalf of Virtual Piggy. All opinions are my own.
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