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Step 1: Stop Spoiling Your Kids!

From Jean Chatzky

Understand that limits like these (just like those on R-rated movies and reasonable bedtimes) are good for kids. Harvard Psychologist Dan Kindlon's research has shown that kids who had consistent limits through their lives were less likely as they grew up to use drugs and get depressed than those who were given free reign. You've likely heard that kids want limits. What Kindlon's work shows is that they need them as well.

Then expect them to stick with their choices. Once they make a decision about the cereal, the candy bar or whatever you've put in their universe, don't buy another one until it's gone. If you head back to the grocery store the following week with a full box in the pantry, you can explain to your kids that you don't need a box of popsicles because you (and they) haven't finished the box of Fudgesicles they picked out last week. Don't succumb to the whining. Just keep your cart moving through the aisles.

Now that you're ready to stop spoiling your kids, it's time to teach them more responsibility. How and when to give your child an allowance.   

The best money lessons you can teach your child