“The thing that she impressed upon me is that you can’t take anything for granted,” Auerbach-Rodriguez says of her mother, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic in her early teens, putting herself through college and always working to earn money. “She always said how important it is to have your own money. I would never be extravagant or frivolous with money because my mom constantly reminded me how much work went into every single dollar earned.”

Even though her son is just a toddler, Auerbach-Rodriguez is beginning to dispense fiscal wisdom, using everyday experiences to express gratitude. “We’ll talk about never wasting or playing with our food, and I feel strongly that he understands our family’s history was not one of abundance,” she says. She also tries to model good behavior. At the toy store, she’ll narrate her spending decisions in real time. “I’ll say, ‘We are here to buy this one thing, and that’s it.’ ”

Though Chandler’s mother came from very little, she always saw the silver lining. “She believed that you take what you have and do something creative with it,” Chandler says. There will always be people with more than you, so you appreciate what you have and give what little you have left over. “Joy is in the act of giving, like when she made a prom dress for a friend who couldn’t afford one. She got a lot of pleasure from those moments,” Chandler says.

Chandler encourages her four kids, ages 10 to 16, to give back like their grandmother did, including donating a portion of profits from their lemonade stands. Those stands also offer opportunities to teach entrepreneurship. “We’ll talk about things like inflation, what they’re going to charge, their location and net revenue,” she says. And gratitude underlies all her lessons. The kids can’t keep a present until the thank you note is stamped and sealed. “That’s not easy when they’re young!” Chandler says.

The most valuable money lesson Fahmy’s mother taught her was to invest in herself. For her, that meant pursuing an education. Her mother had paused her own career after having three children. “However,” says Fahmy, “it was very important to her that her daughters had the best education, so they could stand on their own feet and achieve financial independence.”

Fahmy teaches her 11-year-old daughter to set goals — and develop patience. “A few years ago, Riley really wanted a dog,” Fahmy says, “but I told her that was a want, not a need, and she should save for it.” They created a “puppy goal” chart to tally her progress. “She earned money by completing chores and put away what she received for her birthday.” And Fahmy takes her to the local bank branch to deposit her savings.

When Dugan headed off to college, her mother cosigned her first credit card — an action that led to a lasting money lesson. “I maxed it out,” Dugan admits. Her mom bailed her out, then set up a repayment plan. “She sat me down and said, ‘I want you to feel what happens when you do something like this.’ I worked for an entire summer, and I was paying off things that I had purchased months earlier. I couldn’t even remember what they were.”

When Dugan’s two sons each turned 14, she opened bank accounts with debit cards for them. They deposit their allowances (and she can monitor their spending). “When it’s something they are paying for, they are savvy about questioning if they really want it,” she says. Other lessons are indirect: She and her husband are not shy about discussing finances within earshot of their sons. “I want them to know what a car payment and a mortgage can cost, so they can take that knowledge into the future.”