I was asked to write a piece on teaching kids to earn their own money, so one of the first things I did to prepare was do a Google search on "Teaching kids to earn their own money." Guess how many hits I found? That's right, none. Zip, zero, nada. That goes to show how much attention is normally devoted to the subject.

Over the years I have bookmarked numerous web sites pertaining to economic education; however many of them fall short in the "Earnways for kids" department. Many of them skirt the issue, presuming that some sort of gift or allowance already exists and that the task at hand is to manage it, with an emphasis on understanding the importance of compound interest. Here's one site, however, that does an exceptionally thorough job of listing viable earnways for kids, based on an actual survey of things that have really worked:

www.kidsmoney.org/

However, most of the ideas on this list are the traditional fare: babysitting, paper routes, lawn care, pet care, house cleaning, beverage stands, etc. In the twenty-first century, I reckon we need to think beyond the status quo. For example, as a boy I had a paper route. But now, as an adult, I read the "paper" online. Furthermore with overcrowded jails and unsavory characters roaming about, as a parent I would not feel comfortable letting my child deliver papers or do household chores for strangers as I did. We need new ideas.

Fortunately kids are a limitless treasure-trove of new ideas. As parents then, it seems to me that our challenge is to guide them through a discovery process in which we help them invent their own earnways, instead of relying on the same old ideas. In so doing we can develop an earnway that is unique and therefore more valuable, and also equip them with creative problem-solving skills.

Here are some steps I would suggest to guide children to their own earnway.

1. Identify their income goal. What do they want to afford and how much does it/do they cost?

2. Challenge the child to identify one problem that he or she cares about, and solve it. The solution is the child's earnway. Here are a few examples of some common problems that a child could solve, or help solve:

I could suggest solutions to each problem but I have a hunch you and your children are smart enough to do that yourself. I do not want to hamper your imaginations with mine. The purpose of this list is to just get you thinking.

3. Consider turning a hobby into an earnway. For example if your child is into Lego's, how about a Lego storage system with an add-on consulting service on how to use it, to help other children conquer their Lego chaos? Or, how about a brokering service to bring different Lego enthusiasts together to buy, sell, and trade each others' collections after they've organized them?

4. Remember that it's all about service, always. Even if your child choses to make, sell, rent, or broker a product, emphasize that the largest cost component of that product is the service that goes into making and moving it. The materiel is immaterial. Service is everything.

5. Package the solution into discreet units. Assign a price to those units that the market will bear, and that will deliver adequate profit to fund the child's goal(s).

Of course if you'd like some help making any of this happen, that's why I'm here. Feel free to contact me at (360) 734-0066 or kris@makinendsmeet.com.

Kris Freeberg is a privately practicing Economist from the Pacific Northwest, serving clients in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. His mission is to lower the divorce rate by helping moms and dads see eye to eye about money. More can be learned at his web site,