I have previously written about how important it is to prepare our children, especially once they become teens, to money management. Since schools don't teach this, we must. I recently tried out a new program called FamZoo and think it is a wonderful way for parents and their children, tweens or teens to work together to learn about saving, spending and giving in a fun environment. Check out the contest below for a free FamZoo membership!

FamZoo is an online program in which you set up a family account and then make individual accounts for each member of the family. For each child, depending on their age, you can give them a Starter Plan, an Allowance Plan or the Teen Budget Plan. You set up rules, such as how to divide the money in each account between spending, saving and charitable giving. The accounts are virtual, no money flows through this website. It is used as a record keeping device that does so much more. It teaches money basics, managing allowances and chores, tracking savings goals and setting spending limits. FamZoo also is a great reminder to parents to remember to pay allowances on time.

The Teen Budget Plan recognizes that your teen might be already buying things like clothing for themselves. You can set up extra budgets for your teens for items like this. The general budget would be for fun things your teens wants to buy, but then you can create a separate budget which you might fund yourself for more useful items like clothes. Funding a budget to give your teen purchasing responsibilities is a lot better for both of you than having him constantly ask you if he can buy this or that.

FamZoo gives everybody a free two month family membership to try out this fun, educational program. After that, the cost is $5.99 a month. You don't give any credit card information until after the two months, if you decide you want to purchase a membership. I highly recommend you take advantage of the two month trial. And, if you enter the contest below, you have a chance to win a free year membership.

The Contest for a free full year membership to FamZoo is very easy to enter:

1. Write a comment below about why you would like to try FamZoo for one entry
2. Tweet about the contest and follow @FamZoo on twitter for another entry, and then write a comment below telling me you tweeted and your twitter name.
3. Become a fan of Connect with your Teens and FamZoo on Facebook for another entry. Comment about this below and give your Facebook name.
4. All entries must be received by midnight, April 30th, PT. The winner will be chosen on May 1st, 2010 using Random.org.

I hope that you find FamZoo as helpful a tool as I do. It is extremely flexible, so you can customize it to your family's needs. Since kids spend so much time online, you are taking these financial lessons to a place where they like to be. Try out FamZook, a wonderful tool to teach financial money management to your kids of any age, but especially your teens and tweens.


Disclaimer: I am being compensated for hosting this giveaway and I have received a free lifetime membership package. This has no way influenced my review of the product.

See also:
Helping Teens Understand The Value of Money
Is Your Teen Ready For a Credit Card?
Teens and Money - Understanding Needs vs. Wants

Teens and Money - Cash, Credit or Debit Cards?

 

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