Wow. Our readers have some good ideas and are making my life easy. Their thoughts keep pouring in and at this pace it's highly unlikely I'll ever experience writers block. I appreciate the great concepts to share with everyone who make it a habit to glance at what I'll now call `our' article every two weeks.

This week's subject is a quick way to teach your kids about budgeting.

If there's an adult in your household who might be struggling with the concept of a budget, you might want to pass this along to them as well. Hint: So that you don't hurt their feelings, start with, "I just read this article and thought we could try it with Samantha. What do you think?" That qualifies as a "two-fer."

Now, let's get down to business.

Budgeting is one of the best habits you can instill in your child. Unfortunately, most children go off to college without an appreciation of what, or how, to budget. For a child, the word "budget" can be easily defined as a sum of money allocated for a particular purpose.

Think of budgeting as a puzzle. There are only so many pieces to be fit together strategically. Isn't that what we are doing with our money? We only have so much money, but have unlimited things we could want or need, and somehow have to allocate those limited resources to make it all fit.

Here's a good exercise a reader shared which I think could be a tradition when you go out to a restaurant. Try it this weekend and let me know what you think.

Before you order, give your child a menu. Once they've had a chance to survey the offerings, tell them you're going to play a game. Everyone is going to get a budget to spend on their meal. Start with $15 (I'm making that up, so save your emails to me asking, "Where in Westport can you get a meal for $15?") to use for their individual meal. This changes the thought process a bit. Think about all the decisions that now need to be made, all based on, "What does my budget allow?"

* Drink

* Appetizer

* Entree

* Dessert

Now, $15 might be a stretch depending on the restaurant. But you'll find your kids will be very resourceful when they start putting the puzzle together.

Here are some of the things you might be lucky enough to hear:

* "Instead of having soda, I'll have water so I save that money."

* "I'm going to split my appetizer with my brother so we both have enough for dessert."

* "I'm not going to spend the money on dessert. We have Halloween candy at home which I'll have instead."

* "Mommy, if I have left over money, can I keep it?" (This is highly unlikely to be heard in Casa Henske).

Once you've played this game a few times you can include some variables, including the introduction of such concepts as tax and gratuity. Hold off on that one until they get the gist of the game.

I'd love to hear your feedback on how this game goes. You're covering some math skills in here, too, but shhhhhh, we don't want them to know they are learning.

Author's Bio: 

Tom Henske, a Westport resident and partner with Lenox Advisors, a wealth management firm with offices in New York City and Stamford, created the Lenox Money-Smart Kids Program. He can be reached at thenske@lenoxadvisors.com