When Lori Mackey was a young mom, she and her husband struggled to stay afloat financially. “We didn’t want our kids [Briana, now 17, and Devin, now 15] to grow up with these kinds of struggles,” she says. “We needed to get a grasp on our finances.” So she explored practical ways to help the family save both money and time. “I’d teach my kids life lessons about money while doing things we needed to do.” These days, as a financial literacy expert and founder of prosperity4kids, she helps engage kids in fun fiscal lessons. Here, her top tips.

Grocery games
Save on groceries by planning meals in advance and involving your children. Mackey would invite her kids, starting at age 6, to tag recipes they liked and then go with her to the market. “I challenged them to find the best prices,” she says. “We’d get store discount cards, use coupons and buy on-sale items.”

Home movies
A family trip to the triplex (especially with popcorn, candy and drinks) can run up a hefty bill. That’s why during spring and summer Mackey created her own theater in her backyard. “We’d download a movie from Netflix and move our TV or a laptop outside,” she says. “We’d bring out some comfy pillows, make healthy snacks and snuggle outdoors.” Then she’d ask her kids, who loved these nights, to compare the cost of their backyard screening with the cost of going to the movie theater.

Utility lessons
Mackey challenged her kids to lower water, gas and electricity bills. Their bills dropped by $100 the first month, after her family started turning the lights off, taking shorter showers and wearing layers instead of cranking the heat. “The kids had thought we didn’t pay for utilities,” she says. “They thought they just came with the house.” teaching these lessons early, she says, helps avoid financial stress later on.