How young is too young?

mina626

I've recently started a little at-home scheme to teach my 7 year old ds the value of money, like rewarding him with a little bit of pocket money for doing little tasks (like learning to put the Lego away after he's finished so that mummy doesn't tread on it in bare feet and end up hopping and cursing ), and encouraging him to save up for things he really wants... (though like me he has scant natural ability with regard to the saving bit!) I also got this this free booklet from the children's mutual with some fun ideas for "saving" and "adding up" games, which he rather enjoys. Is 7 too young to start this sort of thing really? I personally am of the opinion that it's never too young, but my dh disagrees...

Jet

No, it's definetely not too young in my opinion.

My 9 year old son really appreciates the value of money. He has to save up for something he wants then has the dilema of knowing that he could save a bit more and get something better. He has seen my household budget and shows a real interest.

Dealing with money is a life skill and should be learnt as early as possible in my opinion.

emmaroids

thats not too young,

my 5 year old cleans his bedroom weekly for his quid fifty a week.

Jet

emmaroids wrote: »

thats not too young,

my 5 year old cleans his bedroom weekly for his quid fifty a week.

fifty quid a week for cleaning his room? :eek:

mina626

Jet wrote: »

fifty quid a week for cleaning his room? :eek:

heh, that's what I thought when I read that I think it's £1.50 though!

Horasio

You're number dyslexic:D

Sounds a good idea encouraging him to earn money and add up

Make sure he can't squander it in his late teens tho'

Agutka

I was amazed when I hear my cousin's little boy (7) was a saver. I said he was lucky to get a whole fighting arena for his toy collection, as it was expensive, and cousin said he'd saved all his Bday and Xmas money and bought it himself. For five months!! I was gobsmacked. I wish I had that kind of ability...
Well done for teaching your son.

jamgirl

not too young at all.

my 3 don't get regular pocket money but do get money sometimes for doing chores.

if they are saving for something special, like my daughter currently wants a nintendo, then they save.....sometimes for a very long time.
she has so far saved all her xmas money, has done chores and knows she will get birthday money (in may) i will then put the rest to it (she doesn't know that yet.)
it may seem harsh to some people to make her wait so long but she knows i don't have the money to go out and get one and it also makes her realise the importance of money.

keep doing as your are

mummytomoo&roo

I think the younger the better.

As soon as they can add up properly and recognise the different coins you should encourage them to save.

My 2 yo loves nothing more than emptying her moneybox and putting all the coins back in.

My 6 yo gets excited every time she gets money from Nanny or the tooth fairy and saves hers for when we go on holidays etc. She knows she is able to spend it as she likes but prefers to keep it in her piggybank on her shelf!

I think they like to watch their money 'grow' so use a plastic piggybank or box so they can see how well they are doing.

KarensKraftyBits

No i think its just the right age to be honest!
He will learn the value of money and also start to feel a little independant and proud of himself.
And also teach him that in life you have to work for things and that is a great lesson to learn in life.
xxx

Mark7799

I also agree - this is something that can't be taught too early.

Another trick we used was to make a shopping trip fun (for the offspring) was to say they could spend up to a figure (say £2.50 each) on anything they wanted to eat that evening, no questions asked - then they could spend an extra £1.20 on a drink if they could agree between them what they wanted (at this stage they were 7 & 5 yo)

Taught them budgeting and co-operation in one go!