If you are receiving unsolicited phone calls from an entity pretending to be ACCC (a trusted non-profit credit counseling agency), please be assured that ACCC’s policy is NEVER to contact you unless you’ve explicitly requested us to call you. Also be cautious of emails from an unusual or unfamiliar domain. ACCC’s domain extension is @consumercredit.com, and any emails using a different extension should be treated with suspicion.

×

ACCC’s Client Login allows current clients to access their program information, including the due date, program benefits, and other documents.

Select a Client Login below based on the service that you are currently enrolled in:

Debt Management Program

Client Login

Bankruptcy

Pre-Bankruptcy Client

Post-Bankruptcy Client

Not yet a client, but looking to get started?

ACCC offers debt relief options to individuals and families that are suffering from stress related to credit card debt by providing effective credit counseling, helping to consolidate debt, and advising on debt management.

Get Started

Wait!

You are now leaving the Consumer Credit website and are going to a website that is not operated by ACCC. We are not responsible for the content or availability of linked sites.

Are you sure you want to leave?

No, return me to the previous page.

Yes

First Banking Lesson- What Is Money?

Do your kids hold up a card or a penny hoping to pay for groceries? While this is a super cute gesture, it might be time to introduce the concept of money and working. Our credit counseling belief is that kids are never too young to start learning about finance. Here are some tips on a child’s first banking lesson: explaining how money works.

ACCC has tips for the first banking lesson!

ACCC has tips for the first banking lesson!

How to Teach Their First Banking Lesson

When kids see money come out of the ATM or see their parents swipe their credit card, they may not realize where money comes from. It’s important to teach them what money is and that it has to be earned by working.

What Is Money?

Money is a type of currency. It’s an exchange. You can help teach their first lesson about money by trading one object for another. Then, you can play store to give it more context. Finally, you can go out into the world and reinforce what you learned at home. Try to pay in cash to let the concept of an exchange sink in deeper rather than using a card (also, don’t forget to check out our other money lessons for kids to teach them more concepts). 

If your child is older, you can discuss money has different values. There is a set value for each piece of currency. Here are a few more key concepts you can focus on:

  • MONEY is exchanged for goods and services.
  • BUYING something means exchanging money for it.
  • The amount of money needed to buy something is called its PRICE.
  • Different goods and services have different prices.
  • Some things are FREE – they don’t cost money.
  • If you don’t have enough money to buy something you can either save up to buy it another time or buy something else.

How Do You Get Money?

Money has to be earned or given. They probably already experienced receiving money as a gift. Now, it’s time to teach them about earning money. Help them set up a bank account for saving, and make them work for their money. Give them a chore chart and an allowance for successfully completing their jobs. However, it’s important to delineate between their obligations as a member of the household, and chores that will help them earn allowances. It’s okay to expect your child to clean up after himself or herself, and to contribute to the household responsibilities without “pay.”

If you’re struggling to pay off debt, sign up for a free credit counseling session today.

ABOUT AUTHOR / Michelle

Michelle is a regular contributor to Talking Cents. She has taken several financial courses on debt management and is ready to circulate what she has learned from them as well as lessons from her own life- family to DIY projects to student loan debt.

View all author posts →

creditU

Say goodbye to the burden of debt

Struggling to manage your debt and improve your financial health is a thing of the past with the CreditU mobile app, an essential tool for anyone looking to manage their personal finances with ease.

CreditU Apple App Store CreditU Google Play
Dev Tool:

Request: blog/first-banking-lesson-what-is-money
Matched Rewrite Rule: blog/([^/]+)/?$
Matched Rewrite Query: post_type=post&name=first-banking-lesson-what-is-money
Loaded Template: single.php