Book Review: The Moneysmart Family System by Steve and Annette Economides

FTC disclaimer:  I received a free book for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

In The MoneySmart Family System, Steve and Annette Economides set forth a plan on how to no only curb the "wants" of children but teach them about finances, budgeting, and saving from an early age. They discuss through this book how the system works. Everyone is expected to do chores, and points can be earned for various activities in the day. The number of points earned each day translates into allowance that will be given and then the children are expected to give some, save some, and are allowed to spend some.

One of the biggest problems I have with this book is starting at age nine children are expected to be buying their own clothing. Based on the numbers set forth in the points system, it feels to me the points need to be valued at a bit more. Unlike some people who have read this book I don't find the problem in making the children buy their own clothes, but I do think they should be given a bit more funds to do so.


This is an excellent book and even if you wouldn't want to use all the ideas in it, it has a lot of suggestions for all ages, from pre-school through adult. Additionally, if you already have children, you would have to ease into this system. They speak of shopping garage sales and thrift shops, and if your teens are used to buying jeans at the mall, to make that switch suddenly would likely create lots of arguments. The premise of this book, though, is the younger you can instill good financial habits in children the less costly their mistakes will be.

The other thing I feel this book is missing is teaching children about starting their own business. I understand they want to teach them to have a job and be responsible, but what about if that job is babysitting or shoveling snow when they are younger or another idea. At age sixteen they expect their children to get a part time job, which I think is fine, however what if their child would have a great idea to go to work for themselves? This isn't discussed at all. America needs small business owners, and my concern without thinking this through might limit a child's future if he isn't encouraged to think about what he could do for himself and his ideas of work are limited to just working for another.

I think this is an excellent book and one I would recommend to all parents.

You can purchase it here:

Read the beginning of it here: