Son spent our money on Fifa 13 without us knowing

peachyprice

vyle wrote: »

From my memory as a yoof (back when you couldn't get a debit card until you were at least 16), and from seeing my nephew and nieces with actual money:

Having physical money instils upon you the value of money because you have a budget that is set in stone. If I went out with £50 I'd saved from my jobs, I had £50. I couldn't jam a card into a machine and skirt my budget spending money that I can't see. You have what's in your pocket, and if you can't afford it, tough.

My oldest niece is 7, and if she goes to the shop for a treat, she knows what money means. It's hard enough for older people to truly grasp how much they're spending on cards, I dread to think how meaningless the process would be for 11 year olds.

I have to disagree.

DD has an HSBC account, actually two that are linked. The current account has her spends in, the other has her savings. The debit card is only linked to the current account, which has far less money in that the savings. If she goes shopping she knows how much is in there because she checks her balance, she knows that if she spends it all when she's out can't get to her savings and she only ever keeps and amount in there that she's willing to spend.

aldredd

Considering that once they're an adult all their finances will be via bank accounts etc; seems entirely appropriate to teach children how to manage their money in this way.

ThumbRemote

vyle wrote: »

From my memory as a yoof (back when you couldn't get a debit card until you were at least 16), and from seeing my nephew and nieces with actual money:

Having physical money instils upon you the value of money because you have a budget that is set in stone. If I went out with £50 I'd saved from my jobs, I had £50. I couldn't jam a card into a machine and skirt my budget spending money that I can't see. You have what's in your pocket, and if you can't afford it, tough.

My oldest niece is 7, and if she goes to the shop for a treat, she knows what money means. It's hard enough for older people to truly grasp how much they're spending on cards, I dread to think how meaningless the process would be for 11 year olds.

It's a debit card. If there is £50 in the account, the cardholder has £50 to spend. Childrens accounts don't have overdraft facilities. Therefore you have what is in your pocket, and if you can't afford it, tough.

This is basically a case of 'I didn't have a debit card when I was a child, so no-one should have them now' isn't it?

vyle

ThumbRemote wrote: »

It's a debit card. If there is £50 in the account, the cardholder has £50 to spend. Childrens accounts don't have overdraft facilities. Therefore you have what is in your pocket, and if you can't afford it, tough.

This is basically a case of 'I didn't have a debit card when I was a child, so no-one should have them now' isn't it?

Not at all. I admit I didn't know that kids can't get overdrafts, but at the same time, you don't get the physical sense of what you have left over with a card as you do with cash. Especially as, by your argument, even if the kid was permitted to only spend, or had self-budgeted £20, they would still have full access to the 50, whereas without a debit card, if they only took cash, they would be restricted to, and have no choice but to obey the budget.

Furthermore, it's easier to teach a lesson to kids. You can divide up what's going out, what they'll have left, and how long it will take for them to "earn" it back through pocket money, and while I guess you could do that by keeping receipts and going through their bank statement to show them (a dry, number-heavy way of doing it), it's not as immediate a lesson. That's just my opinion, though.