What do you wish you had been taught?

maman

littlegreenparrot wrote: »

Would be interesting to get them to work out how much they spend on magazines/fast food/booze in a month, then give examples of what else they could do with that money instead car/holiday etc
lgp

While the majority are probably still living at home, I'm guessing they spend loads on buying things like cans of coke/crisps/choc bars. Teach them that it's ok to meet up with mates for special occasions but for everyday they'd be better off keeping a stash of snacks/drinks bought from a supermarket (or better still somewhere like Farmfoods/Home Bargains) and taking a few with them each day so they don't buy 'on the hoof' at the highest prices.

babyshoes

Our students are slightly younger teens, and most seem to have no idea about how much essentials *really* cost. They see a job with a yearly salary of £15 000 and think that sounds like loads of money... When you get them to break it down into what they'd get monthly, then remove tax, NI, pension contributions etc, and figure out what they'd pay for rent (a local paper is useful for finding relevant prices for bedsits and small flats in the area), council tax, utilities, food, entertainment, car etc they start to realise how little they'd have left to pay for the £100+ trainers they like or expensive sessions in the pub.

It can lead into a useful discussion about the differences between essentials and luxuries, and how one thing can be an essential for one person (eg broadband so they can work from home) and a luxury for another. It can also lead into a discussion about ways of economising (buy cheaper trainers which work just as well but don't have a logo, buy supermarket budget brands instead of name brands, prioritise the essentials and do without some of the luxuries, etc.). Maslov's (sp?) priority of needs can be a useful tool here.

I also tend to find that they frequently have unrealistic ideas about the salary they are likely to earn when they are starting out. Some home truths might disillusion them about their chances of earning £40k straight out of school / college!

I also think enteprenurial skills would be useful to introduce at a basic level, it is something I'd like to have been taught, even if only at a brief introductory level. Knowing what sort of tasks are involved with the money side of starting up your own business would make the whole process less daunting for many. A couple of case studies might be useful here so you can discuss why some succeeded and some failed - and what would happen to the people whose business did fail.

maman

babyshoes wrote: »

Our students are slightly younger teens, and most seem to have no idea about how much essentials *really* cost. They see a job with a yearly salary of £15 000 and think that sounds like loads of money... When you get them to break it down into what they'd get monthly, then remove tax, NI, pension contributions etc, and figure out what they'd pay for rent (a local paper is useful for finding relevant prices for bedsits and small flats in the area), council tax, utilities, food, entertainment, car etc they start to realise how little they'd have left to pay for the £100+ trainers they like or expensive sessions in the pub.

It can lead into a useful discussion about the differences between essentials and luxuries, and how one thing can be an essential for one person (eg broadband so they can work from home) and a luxury for another. It can also lead into a discussion about ways of economising (buy cheaper trainers which work just as well but don't have a logo, buy supermarket budget brands instead of name brands, prioritise the essentials and do without some of the luxuries, etc.). Maslov's (sp?) priority of needs can be a useful tool here.

I also tend to find that they frequently have unrealistic ideas about the salary they are likely to earn when they are starting out. Some home truths might disillusion them about their chances of earning £40k straight out of school / college!

I agree it's about teaching them to prioritise. If wearing the latest gear means a great deal to them (and it does at that age) then they have to compensate in other areas. Plus looking after their clothes/possessions is an important lesson. So keep the fancy trainers and Jack Wills sweatshirt for public consumption and have something old and scruffy for when you're bathing the dog!

littlegreenparrot

More wonderful ideas, thank you.

I've got all sorts of ideas for what to do, and how to make it interesting for the learners.
Will have to go and make some notes now so that it doesn't all vanish from my head on Monday!

lgp

parkgirl

I'm trying to teach my two about the importance of looking after the pennies. We always pick up money roadkill. I work near a school and the number of teenagers who just chuck coppers (and more) down on the floor is unbelievable! I am also trying to get them to compare the prices in the shops - doing the downshift - if we like something that is cheaper we can use the money that we save on something else that we enjoy. We only have so much to spend - once that's gone, it's gone.

Valli

PasturesNew wrote: »

Set some tasks. Get 3 photos of a meal and ask them to guess which one costs to [a] buy at a pub buy at a posh restaurant [c] make at home.

Then give them the recipes to make that food and get them to use supermarket sites and mysupermarket to cost up one of the meals and compare using [a] the most expensive ingredients using popular brand names [c] using the cheapest ingredients available.

Then get them to multiply that saving by 365 and place the money in a savings account monthly - and ask "how much would you have saved over 5 years?"

THAT is absolutely brilliant!:T

You could also do a blind taste test branded vs own brand vs basics.

Store cupboard basics - the kind of things you can use to build a meal what shoudl be in a store cupboard (rice/pasta and tinned tomatoes (on offer, of course) for instance.

Shopping around eg a pack of loo rolls - price them up in discount stores/supermarkets.

Market shopping - as opposed to supermarket shopping.

How to compare prices - eg by working out what 100g costs

Cost of electricity (etc) - and how you save by paying by DD as opposed to slot meters.

Shopping online - how to spot dodgy websites.

Your rights, as a consumer, under the SoGA and DSR.

BAGGY

I think most younger people would be shocked if they worked out how long they would have to work for that posh coffee. Even on a half decent per hour wage, by the time you have deducted all the NI, tax, pension, travelling costs and why not throw in the time you take travelling to work as well it could possibly mean you have worked an hour or more for a hot drink.
A friend of mine works part time. She drives to work and pays £4 to park. Every other day she gets a coffee and cake for 11's. We worked out she has used up just over a days take home pay per week for coffee and parking.

qwerty79

Might be useful to teach the importance of insurance and that it will help them to put the excess on each years insurance into a savings pot. Seeing that excess as part of the insurance cost. If they don't make a claim it's a bonus. If they do then there isn't the stress of finding excess. Especially important with pet insurance.
Also worth doing the maths on how worthwhile a health cashplan can be e.g. specs, dental etc. I know cheap glasses are cheaper than hcp, but hcp means we can have nice glasses every 2 years plus all the other benefits.

evie451

My parents were not good with money, making it stretch and doing your best to get good value was something that I had to learn the hard way much later on in life......I wish I had been taught to manage a budget and get the most out of the food that is bought, leftovers are gods gift!

Hermia

Cazza wrote: »

How a pension works and how much of a difference it makes if you start saving early.

I wish I had realised this when I was a teenager. I recently saw one of those charts in the paper showing how much a 20/30/40 year old would need to put into a pension each month to get enough to live on. It was sobering reading realising how much the monthly cost goes up the longer you leave it to start saving.

My mum used to say to me that you can have one thing in your life that is your indulgence (unless you are rich when you can have lots). So for example, if you like photography you can put some money aside for equipment. If you like make-up you can splurge on a lippie. But, you must be sensible and frugal in other areas of your life.

It's definitely a good idea to give teens a realistic idea of the future, but I am not sure how well this will work. I have worked with teens and if you try to suggest that they might not be earning £60k a year and living in a beautiful home with their model spouse and beautiful children they put their fingers in their ears!