Have you/Will you teach your children about debt?

owetoomuch

I will be teaching my daughter the value of money, she is only 7 but she will learn that if she wants to get something she must save her pocket money or earn extra from doing jobs. As she gets older I hope to show her the dangers of credit cards and loans as I do not want her to go through what I am going through at the moment. Before when she wanted something she got it, now, when she wants something she has to earn it and even if she has the money she has to wait 1 week to make sure she really wants it.

From personal experience I feel that I have learned a valuable lesson that I cannot handle credit and if I use cash to pay for things I tend to think twice before I do. Too late for me now, but I know that I never ever want to have credit in my life and I would like to think that my daughter will grow up with a healthy respect for credit and do things the OS way, if you want it, save for it, think about it, think about it again and only then get it.

Shineyhappy

I was taught that you had to earn money and I always understood the value of money but I wish I had been taught the value of saving.

I dont have kids yet, but I will try and teach them about money fairly early on. I will make sure the kids have piggy banks and savings accounts and I will make sure the kids are taught to save up for things they want. I will also try to get them to save up for the future and if they stay at home I have been thinking I might charge them a fair whack on the understanding that I will be saving a lot of it for a house for them. Although hopefully by that time they will be doing that anyway!

skint_spice

I've explained a fair bit already to my 8 year old DS - a lot of which is because of the ad for Picture which is never off the TV. even he can see why the lady is going to waste a lot of money...

cattie1

my children are only 2 and 3 but lately ds1 (3) keeps getting my cashcard out of my purse and saying "lets get some pennies and go to the shops!"
(it's a game he plays-he doesn't actually want to the go the shops just pretend) so I always say "no not yet-you need to go to work first to make your pennies":rotfl:
It's not really teaching them about being debt free but hopefull he will grow up knowing he has to work for his money.
(I have a brother that likes to shy away from work!).
I was brought up being told "never get a credit card or catalogue"
yet as soon as I was offered one I thought "ooh free money!"
sometime no matter how hard parents try, children just need to learn from their own mistakes!:rolleyes:

cattie1

my children are only 2 and 3 but lately ds1 (3) keeps getting my cashcard out of my purse and saying "lets get some pennies and go to the shops!"
(it's a game he plays-he doesn't actually want to the go the shops just pretend) so I always say "no not yet-you need to go to work first to make your pennies":rotfl:
It's not really teaching them about being debt free but hopefull he will grow up knowing he has to work for his money.
(I have a brother that likes to shy away from work!).
I was brought up being told "never get a credit card or catalogue"
yet as soon as I was offered one I thought "ooh free money!"
sometime no matter how hard parents try, children just need to learn from the own mistakes!:rolleyes:

Kaz2904

My children are 5 and 3. DD (the eldest) started getting pocket money when she was 18 months old because she asked for it (while I was at work she wandered through to the kitchen and said "Daddy can I have some pockets moneys?"!). Both get 50p a week but have to earn it. DD 5 has to do the sock pairing and folding (which I hate!) and DS has to collect dirth dishes/clothes for washing.
If they break anything then they have to pay for the repair out of their pocket money.
I get cash out monthly and if either ask for something I say "well this is how much money I have and this is how much it costs." DS doesn't understand yet but DD keeps saying "well I'll pay for it". It's difficult to explain that if she spends her money on a McD's it will empty her money box but I think she's got it because whenever she asks for some new toy we just say "well have you got enough money?"
I always explained to them that the plastic card doesn't give you free money and they now understand this and only see me pay for stuff with real money or card and then go and put real money back into the bank to replace the card money.
They find the money transferring really boring so I hope will avoid it!
I do think that people will only learn from their own mistakes to a certain extent but I was never told anything about money management when I was a child.

Midnight_Sky_2

I read someone's post - I think it was a school teacher - sorry, I can't remember now, but the OP was saying how difficult it is to teach young children about money, because most of the parents don't deal in cash nowadays, it's all plastic cards.

I must admit, until I got my LBM a couple of months ago, I was very guilty of just handing over a credit or debit card to pay for things. Most times I wouldn't have a clue how much money was left in my account - changed days now thought lol

SarahNeedle1872

Midnight_Sky wrote: »

I read someone's post - I think it was a school teacher - sorry, I can't remember now, but the OP was saying how difficult it is to teach young children about money, because most of the parents don't deal in cash nowadays, it's all plastic cards.

I must admit, until I got my LBM a couple of months ago, I was very guilty of just handing over a credit or debit card to pay for things. Most times I wouldn't have a clue how much money was left in my account - changed days now thought lol

I'd agree with this - I only use my card now for the food shopping, because it's in a seperate, no-overdraft account, so once its gone, its gone... But even that is going to stop soon. Paying by cash really makes you think about what ur buying - I often stand in a shop thinking... yes I could do woth that, but do I want to leave this shop with £4 less in my purse? The answer is usually no!

I do think that money issues should be discussed in school, especially as the children get older and are better able to understand the concept of interest rates etc.

My son is only 3 1/2 months old, but when he gets older, he will get pocket money, but he will have to earn it thru chores - I love the sock pairing and folding idea Kaz, I HATE doing that! I hope to teach him about money by explaining my previous mistakes, and setting him a good example using the MSE ways. Both his nannies will spoil him, no doubt about that, but luckily they both have a eye for a bargain, so hopefully they can instill that into him as well.
He's making a good start tho, he's already got more money in his savings than I have!

Sarah x

Midnight_Sky_2

Hi Sarah,

I laughed when I read that your DS has more money in his bank account than you have in yours. Then I realised that my grandaughter (4 months) actually has more money in her account than I have in mine

I too love the idea of getting the little uns to pair the socks Kaz, (I really, really loathe doing that) perhaps you could hire them out - who knows, you may just have hit on the perfect business idea :rotfl:

Midnight x

nearlyrich

I don't think you can start too soon to educate your children about money, most of us open acounts for them when they are tiny and making the trip to the bank to put the contents of the piggy bank in can be very addictive LOL.

My two are 20 and 21 now but I can remember my son aged about 4 asking to have a look at my visa card and trying to squeeze pennies out of it. I used that as a starting point to explain that you can't get money out unless you have already put some in.

When they were a bit older probably about 13 I amalgamated their school money (dinners and bus fares) and pocket money and made them responsible for budgeting for each month.

My son has just finished 3 years at uni and whilst I have supported him financially to an agreed amount, he only has a basic student loan for each year( less than £10k total) and no other debt, he has "borrowed" a total of £200 from me in the 3 years to help cash flow and keep him in his overdraft limit. I know people who hand chunks of money willly nilly to their teenagers and wonder why they have no idea about money LOL.