INDIANAPOLIS — It's no secret when the holidays come around your wallet prepares for a workout.
Inflation has put a strain on American's pocketbooks year round.
The cost of essentially everything has gone up, which means many people are preparing their budgets ahead of the holiday season.
Experts say plan to spend more this year on essentially everything, from grocery cost, to shopping for gifts.
It's one of the reasons the Bonisa family has worked year round to make sure their finances are in check ahead of the holiday season.
Jenita Bonisa, her husband, and two kids work year round to stay on top of their finances.
They say the key to their success is being open about money.
"It's one of those things, where it's a must to teach your kids instead of hiding from it," Jenita Bonisa said.
Bonisa says she sits down monthly with her kids to talk expectations and what their allowance will look like.
"If you teach them now you have less to teach them later," Bonisa said.
With the holiday season around the corner their conversations have looked a bit different.
"We usually talk about okay it's Christmas time you're going to want to buy presents for everybody do you have enough money to do that? You might want to stop buying and start saving," she said.
But tracking their finances has been made easy by utilizing an app to bring the conversation to the kid's level.
They use BusyKid. An app that allows parents to pay their kids for completed tasks.
Gregg Murset created the app, he says it makes budgeting family friendly.
"The nature of money has completely changed. We used to have dollar bills that we'd stick in our pockets and purses. That is no longer," Murset said. "Pop the bubble, and let them understand the stuff and it's actually pretty easy all you have to do is be more transparent."
Transparency has been key for the Bonisa's in staying on top of their finances, year round.
They're able to better manage their money during heavy spending months.
Jenita says in all the app has saved them about $1,000 a year.
The app breaks down earnings into three categories:
- save and invest
- spend
- share
Parents can pick how much of the weekly allowance will automatically go into the save category.
Then a child can learn to better deal with their finances choosing where else their money goes.
