Explaing and teaching children about money

jannyannie

Anyone know how you explain about money to a six year-old? I feel that I'm always on at him about what we can and can't afford. Is pocket money a good thing? I don't want him to get in the same mess that I did when I left home.

looneyleo

I would say by the age of six that money is definately something you can introduce as a concept to him. You could start by giving him a very small weekly allowance-you could even attach it to a chore. So, for example, if he makes his bed in the morning he get's 10p in a tin and at the end of the week he has 70p to spend. Take him into a shop and then help him decide how to spend his money. There will be things he wants but can't afford and will have to wait for the following week when he has more money. He will then relate that to what you are saying about your situation. In my opinion, introducing the concept of money at this early stage is an essential life skill that will only develop as time goes on. It will also help him with maths and other key skills. Good luck and hope it works out for you!

Hapless_2

Ok this is what we do, bear in mind our eldest is 9.

Ours do not get pocket money, they get paid for chores, hoovering, washing up etc. As soon as they reach 10 they will get an allowance from which all but the essentials (such as food, underwear and basic clothes and shoes will come.)
So my daughter will be responsible for around £70 a month, out of that has to come her fancy boots and clothes, her pottery and fencing classes, her music downloads, her dvd's and her treats. If she runs out of money by the end of the month then it is tough, she gets no more until the following month. She will still get extra for her chores, but that money is for saving. That way I hope she learns to budget properly and not end up in debt like us!

Jet

Hapless, I do think that is a good idea. When I was at home, (a long time ago) I got £30 a month pocket money as a teenager (a princely sum then) but all my clothes, toiletries, make up, records etc. had to come out of that money and I think it was a great way for me to learn about money.

My 9 year old son gets pocket money and knows that he has to save for something if he wants it. He is currently saving £100 to put towards a nintendo wii - I've told him I'll pay for the rest for him for Xmas. He's had the dilema of wanting to spend his money on something now but has thought it through and decided he would rather wait for the Wii.

Kimitatsu

I have two boys 8 and 10, they have a list of chores on the fridge that they have to do - not too arduous things like tidy their bedroom, walk the dogs when they get in from school, do their homework, ensure their clothes make the wash basket that sort of thing! At the end of the week we tot up how many ticks they have and they get paid proportionally to the number of ticks.

Half goes to them (£3) and half goes in their savings account (£3). They are allowed to spend or save their half but the the other half must stay in the bank for their "rainy day" fund.

Its good for them because they start to realise that a toy that is £12 takes them 4 weeks to save up for, so frequently they will save up for a few weeks and then go and buy what they want. Loans against future earnings are banned though!

Becles

I don't agree with paying for chores. Everyone has to muck in here and do jobs. I figured that I don't get paid for doing them, so why should they

Mine get pocket money, and they save it up to spend on things. They've recently seen a swingball set with two bases, so you can play normal swingball or put a net across the two bases to play tennis, volleyball etc. They're going to buy that for the summer holidays.

My two have always been interested in food shopping and they can learn a lot there. You can show them the difference between loose and pre-packed produce and showing them the "price per" info on shelf labels and letting them work out the best value brand and size. If they pester for things like Dairylea Lunchables, you can look at the prices then look at the price of buying your own cheese, ham and crackers to see how much cheaper it is to make your own.

Savings lessons must have been learned as my 10 year old is already saving for a car :eek:

mojo_jojo

I never got pocket money when I was a kid and I don't think I'll give any to my children when they're old enough. Maybe something if they have to pay for school lunches. I mean, we pay their living costs already! They get birthday/Xmas presents and I'm paying into their child trust fund.

mojo_jojo

I'm just remember something a work colleague said to me. His son wanted to buy a bike and my colleague said that it was too expensive. His son said, "Why don't you get a better paid job!"

Kimitatsu

Well I started giving them pocket money because as far as they were concerned money just came out of the bank!

Also if I pay them for chores it promotes the link between working for money and not just being given it! As I have two boys, all their money would go on food if it was linked to school lunches etc! I think I would be worried that they would skip school lunches to save money if I were to do it that way, and I wouldnt want to start that precedent.

*Louise*

When my son turned 6, we started using a token system.

Every time he does a job in the house, he gets a token, which is worth either 20p, 50p or £1, depending what he has done. (Doing stuff without being asked = higher value of token) but we don't allow bargaining, he has to do the jobs anyway, tokens are only discussed afterwards as a reward.

At the end of the week, we count what the tokens are worth, and I give him the money for them, which he saves up in his money bank. He usually uses it to buy DS games, but sometimes he decides to buy something for his little brother.:D

He is really starting to understand how much things cost, and how long it takes to save up for them.

ailuro2

We have paid DD's £2 a week pocket money into her bank account by direct debit since she was about 7, iirc.

She also gets half of her family allowance to pay for all her clothes (she is 8 now, I pay for it then take it out of her account, let her click the 'yes I agree' button to make it go through.

In this way she can see that most money these days does not pass through our hands, it happens with the click of a button, or the swipe of a card.

If she wants to spend her pocket money on something special then it comes from her account.
If she wants to buy extra clothes that she doesn't really need, then it only goes ahead if she has enough left in her account after school unirom/shoes etc have been bought.

tbh, we aren't THAT strict with it- socks and the like are usually bought for her and I don't take the money- but bigger things are always processed quickly.

hope this helps.