My 3 year old has amazing tech skills. It took him all of about 15 seconds to figure out how a cursor and mouse work. The only thing he can’t do yet is spell (he knows his letters) so he needs me to get him to his favorite sites to play games. On our Xoom tablet, he not only knows how to launch his favorite apps, he knows how to get to the app store, find an app, and then he knows that if it has a price listed he can’t get it. But if it says “free” he knows how to put them on the tablet. He has to be watched pretty closely because our tablet is always loaded up with junk that we have to clean off.

As I’m doing this review, it’s Cyber Monday and Americans are expected to spend billions of dollars today, all online. Online shopping has become a way of life now, not just a fad or a trend. So I was thrilled to be introduced to Virtual Piggy.

Virtual Piggy is a great way to teach your kids budgeting and online shopping, with responsibility. The parent sets up the account and links it to an existing account. You can pick a credit card or Paypal. Then, you set parameters for your kids–You pick the stores, the amount they can spend and so on. You can add their allowance to Virtual Piggy, a birthday gift and so on. The kids can even create wish lists that you can share with relatives.

I really like this for so many reasons. First, I find that for myself and my husband, we shop more responsibly online just because of the nature of online shopping. There aren’t many impulse purchases, because no matter what you buy, the earliest you can possibly get it is the next day. And, I like being able to set the limits for them, my little guy really does understand limits that are put on him. There are a good number and nice assortment of stores to choose from too.

The holiday shopping season tends to be when many Americans overlook their budgets and just spend, spend, spend. That’s why there’s no better time than now to introduce your kids to Virtual Piggy.

Now is a great time to try Virtual Piggy. From now through December 7, they are having a “Win Your Wishlist” contest. They also have an online MVP program which offers special sales and promotions for members.

This is a sponsored post from Splash Creative Media on behalf of Virtual Piggy. All opinions are my own.