Responsibility is the key and if your kids are indiscriminately spending horrendous amounts on shopping sprees every other day, then you might be looking at a worn out credit card and a house full of junk. This may sound surprising, but kids these days are becoming more and more commercialized. They are increasingly becoming the market for the hundreds of capitalists out there and mainly because they are the ones who give in easily to whim.
It is therefore very important that we, as parents, teach our children the importance of handling money responsibly. There are a lot of other activities that we spend our time on, why not try bonding moments with your kids by teaching them how to be more responsible when it comes to buying things.
You have to show them that money is earned. Kids will greatly put more value towards their money if they worked hard for it. If they're old enough, you can suggest a job for them, or even help them start out a new business. Perhaps they can join you in New York crafting fairs and festivals and open up shop there. Or if they're younger, you should give them simple jobs that they can handle and then get rewarded for it. This reinforces the idea that good work has rewards.
Suggest that they should save some of their money. Tell them all about the benefits of opening up a bank account and how interest increases the money they have there. Or you can tell them to start a college fund right away, by saving a percentage of their earnings or allowance for, say, every week or month.
Let them participate when you're handling the household budget. You can be a great example in showing responsibility when it comes to handling money and allowing them to see you at your budgeting best is probably a great way to lead by example. You can tell them all about the advantages of keeping a budget and how this greatly helps in keeping the household in order.
It is important that kids these days learn how hard it is to come by for some money. We have to take some time out of our own schedules and show them that money should be handled responsibly and not just thrown away at senseless shopping sprees every other day.