why don't we get taught this at school?

princess2010

ok, call me stupid i don't care. But i am truly astounded at how hard it is to learn how to take care of yourself.

You go to school until 18, then university until you are 23 and then boom. you are out in the big wide world.

Direct Debits, Council Tax, Income Tax, VAT, etc. BILLS BILLS BILLS.

No one at school ever taught you how to sit down and budget these things out, and before you know it your outgoings are higher than your income and you don't know what to do.

i had to learn it the hard way, going into the red. It was totally irresponsible of me i know, but it wasn't like i had spent it on shoes or anything.

day to day living and surviving, working a 9 to 5 to just barely keep my head above water wasn't what i had imagined when i was younger!

luckily i had a good friend who was well experienced and sat down with me and really helped me to put some financial planning into my life!

before i knew it i was out of debt, and through simple budgeting everything got paid off!


now........ is it just me, or does anyone else think that there should be actual life skills taught at school?????

how to set up a bank account, tax a car. i know it seems stupid, but if they can teach you how to not get pregnant, surely they can teach you this too.

Mikeyorks

Have parents completely given up then?

whatmichaelsays

Don't they call them maths lessons?

Hazzanet

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

elisebutt65

Actually, I do teach this at college:) I teach the Gcse and AS level in Financial Planning, supported by a charity (IFS) and I teach the students about financial products, planning, risks etc etc. My students enjoy this and as some of them are mature students, also say they wish they had learned this earlier.

From the training I had this year, I learned that quite a few schools are now picking this up as a subject, ESP as the students gain UCAS points from the advanced levels.

And I have 100% pass rate so far with the majority getting A*s and A's, probably because of the help I can pass on from this fantastic site

opinions4u

princess2010 wrote: »

But i am truly astounded at how hard it is to learn how to take care of yourself.

Really, it isn't. It's about prioritising your own time towards working things out.

Direct Debits, Council Tax, Income Tax, VAT, etc. BILLS BILLS BILLS.

You have an in column (wage, benefits etc) and an out column (all your bills, an amount for saving, round it all up by 10% for error and spend the rest).

No one at school ever taught you how to sit down and budget these things out, and before you know it your outgoings are higher than your income and you don't know what to do.

Has it crossed your mind to sit down with parents and ask how they manage their finances?

before i knew it i was out of debt, and through simple budgeting everything got paid off!

And it really is relatively simple. You can choose to spend your income like a kid running to the sweet shop with his pocket money or you can budget sensibly and balance out enjoying life today and building life for tomorrow.

now........ is it just me, or does anyone else think that there should be actual life skills taught at school?????

When I take in to account tax, national insurance, VAT, council tax and the like, I realise that the state takes about half the money I earn. I really don't want THEM teaching my kids how to budget. Have you seen the budget deficit that this nation has? And even with all the so called cuts, the amount of national debt is still forecast to rise over the next four years!

how to set up a bank account, tax a car.

Walk in to a bank. Walk in to a post office. Go on to the interweb thing - it's not just for EyeTunes and FaceTube!

but if they can teach you how to not get pregnant, surely they can teach you this too.

The newspapers tell me that British teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are the highest in the world. It seems to me they do a fine job of teaching kids how to get pregnant.

Glad you've found a way to budget. I just don't think we should let the state interfere in our lives by telling us how to do it though. They're not very good at it themselves.

pink_princess

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Have parents completely given up then?

I have to agree,my eldest is 15 and we are busy going through tax,paye etc.The money for teenagers on here has helped me as a parent .

McKneff

I agree totally 100% with what princess2010 says.
Kids dont want to learn from their parents about money management.

They should be taught life lessons at school.
Insurance, tax, I have lost count of the so called graduates on these boards who dont understand the basics about PAYE or NI
Dont know what their tax code means. Have no idea about deposit schemes or itineries when they are renting accommodation.
Intelligent people who when it comes down to the nitty gritty of life, havent got a bliddy clue.

Yes, I agree totally.

Al1x

I think parents should lead by example. its deffinetly their job to teach their kids about money.

Also its all common sence isn't it.. as long as you earn more then you spend out then you'll keep your head out of water.

When i was young my parents gave me pocket money and if i wanted to buy a magazine or game i had to pay for it myself.. obviously meaning having to learn how to save up to get more expensive things.

I really can't see how you can get to 23 and be totally clueless about money (?)

(my sister was 20 when we bought a house together.. i'm so glad she has more knowledge of money than you)

Decluttering

I completely agree, I took Maths at school to quite an advanced level and it seemed more important to the curriculum to teach me how to find out the length of a side of a triangle than it was to teach basic money management skills!

My mum luckily had the sense to teach me the basics and I've picked up some great tips here too. It does seem daft to me though that so much importance is put on not getting pregnant (I got 4 years of lectures on that subject) and none on how to cope financially if this happens.

I know it seems like common sense but I still find it easy to get carried away with my spending and I think there should be more awareness of these basics.

bengalknights

They do teach you how to setup a bank account or at least they did at my school by bringing in Natwest to teach us, and it was the same for employement and prospects they used connexions to teach us although fair point on the rest they should really teach people about tax and debt.