DoughMain: Teach your kids financial responsibility!

Raising kids responsibly is a task that is a full time undertaking. I find, as a busy parent, I can use all the tools I can get my hands on to make this job easier. While I was searching for a way to teach my children and prepare my  homeschool plan, I came across a site called DoughMain.com!

This site is similar to other free online kids chore charts, but it has several added bonuses. DoughMain isn’t just a free online chore chart, it’s a site that helps you teach your children financial responsibility. I was really excited to learn about all the neat sections DoughMain has on its website!

I started out using DoughMain by adding my kids to the account. The set up process was pretty self explanatory, and really easy to do. It took less than 5 minutes to add all three of my children. The feature I really liked was that I could choose to allow my kids to use their own email addresses to log into their accounts. That way they don’t have to remember how to spell Crunchy Frugalista when logging into their accounts.

After adding all my kids, I started to add the chores! DoughMain has a great pre-made list of chores that you can select and give to your children. They also have the option where you can add your own chores. After selecting the time, dates, and frequency for the chores you can also select how many Dough Points each is worth. Dough Points are points your child earns for completing chores. They can then turn these points into rewards or activities. There is another area where you can set what rewards you want to offer the kids. Get creative with the rewards, and trust me your kids will get excited!
I love the fact that DoughMain puts all the chores in one neat little calendar! You can even print it off. The chore section of DoughMain is very child interactive, which helps them take ownership of their chores. I was actually shocked when my kids started to beg to do other chores just to earn more Dough Points. I usually have to constantly remind them to do them. I have to thank Doughmain for saving me a few gray hairs!

Doughmain isn’t just about chores, it’s also about teaching your kids financial responsibility. This is my favorite part of Doughmain AND what sets itself apart from other online chore charts!

If you have a bank account for your child, you can link participating banks to your child’s account. This allows them to see their account and in turn learn how money is used. You can also teach them how to read bank statements. If you don’t have an account, don’t worry you can easily set up a new account at participating banks through DoughMain.

The feature I really liked for my pre-teen is that they are going to be offering pre-paid debit cards. This allows you to load the card, and the teen to have access to cash. You don’t have to worry about your teen racking up credit card bills or wiping out your checking account. I actually just got a Walmart pre-paid debit card for my daughter, but I think once this goes live I will actually use the program through DoughMain so my daughter can take more ownership of her spending.

The kid side of DoughMain is equally neat. They have so many ways that your child can customize their site to make it their own! They can upload a picture, and even change the theme. To safeguard kids though, kids under the age of 13 can’t change their name on their side, they can only add a nickname. I really like this feature because it allows you as the parent to have control of that information.

Lastly, DoughMain has a great site with games that help teach kids in a virtual world how to run things like a candy store. They learn how to bank, budget, shop, make decision, coordinate resources, and even plan for retirment. It’s a really neat interactive game that educates kids and they don’t even realize that they are learning. Isn’t that the best way kids learn?! 

DoughMain has passed the test according all three of my kids, and I have to tell you they are some pretty tough critics. You might want to check  out DoughMain and see if it’s a great fit for your family too!