Free Money Management for Kids (and Parents)

Who says money management is just for adults? Through Zefty, children learn to manage their money for free, using a virtual money and a virtual bank account. Zefty is a website where parents can help their children learn how to spend their money wisely, and responsibly.

Zefty lets the parents set up a virtual bank account for their children by depositing an a virtual amount of "money" as their allowance. Parents may add more, or withdraw some money from it as desired. A "ZeftyCalc" assists in calculating an estimate allowance for the kids by basing it on the household income, child's age, difficulty of the chore, and frequency of giving the money.

Once the virtual bank account has been set up, the parents may then sign in their children to the site and guide them on how to spend their money. The kids may add or subtract money depending on how much they want to spend. For example, if a child wants to spend some money on a video game, the ZeftyCalc can estimate the number of days (or months) the child needs to save so he/she can have the money to buy that game.

The website also has a cool feature on teaching children how to sign a check. Through its "ZeftyCheck," children can generate a check with the amount of money that they want, download it, and print it for free.

Zefty may not involve real money, but it does serve as a great Internet-bonding-moment between parents and their children, as well as teach children how to manage their money (now and in the future) wisely. Definitely something invaluable, and cannot be measured by real money.