Educating my children on money

Mrs_pbradley936

At that age children have no concept of cost/price/money. Nothing you do can instill it at that age either. Just think, they still believe in talking animals, the tooth fairy, Father Christmas etc.

Equally they have no concept of stealing, so if a child wants a certain toy (or anything) that another child has they see no harm in helping themselves to it.

The easiest way to deal with this at this age is to get a scrap book, some scissors, a glue stick and a catalog from Argos. Then they can choose whatever they want, cut it out, stick it in and show it to everyone. Other kids that age will not know they are not real either. They don't cotton on to all of that quite yet.

In her mind she will have had her Secret Garden, Frozen (or whatever the children want these days). She will remember a happy childhood full of dreams too. Plenty of time to learn about can't afford it later on!

mair1234

What about trying a pocket-money app like RoosterMoney or GoHenry? I've not used them but a friend mentioned RoosterMoney the other day. It's free and gives kids independence in terms of earning and managing their pocket money but is all monitored and controlled by you as a parent.

usernameisvalid

Pocket money really is the way to go, even at six. Your 3 year old is possibly too young. With my grandkids we save coins in money boxes. When they come visit and we are out on a trip, they can take some money out of the box to buy their " treat" like an icecream or slush. The 3 year old knows what coins are needed for an icecream even if she doesn't really understand money. She may sometimes sit on my bed in the morning and empty the box and we will go through it and work out how many ice creams are in the box . The 10 year old has learned by trial and error to always leave something in the box for another day ( one day he took the whole lot to the amusements ( around £12) and came back with a couple of penny sweets and super balls. He's never done that again

Last year for his 10th birthday he got quite large amounts of money and we were very impressed that he chose to buy trainers and football boots without any nudging, and he even put some away for another day

When our daughter was a teen and was costing us a fortune with her wants, I gave her the family allowance and let her get on with it. Took about 2 months to work out she had to be a savvy shopper and think about where she was spending. She has always been a low earner but she can make a pound stretch and they never do without

kathrynha

With my daughter when she went through the wanting everything, but with no idea of the cost stage I used to convert prices in to the number of hours her dad had to work for her to get the item. It really helped her to understand the cost and appreciate that money doesn't grow on trees

usernameisvalid

kathrynha wrote: »

With my daughter when she went through the wanting everything, but with no idea of the cost stage I used to convert prices in to the number of hours her dad had to work for her to get the item. It really helped her to understand the cost and appreciate that money doesn't grow on trees

That's the method I use on myself. If I'm tempted to waste money, I think about how many hours it will have cost me working. Soon stops me wasting £4 on a coffee whilst out down the shops

Spendless

Thinking back to when my 2 were aged 6 and I'm not sure either was numerical enough to understand prices and what the coins were and equate them with each other. They didn't go to the shops alone either till a later age, so I was always 'over-seeing' what they spent.

Comics nowadays are a rip-off IMO. They are no longer the 'pocket money' prices that they were when I was young, now they all come each week with a 'free' gift which is factored in the cost, so the price is around £2.99, sometimes more

Also think about are you going to be happy if they decide to blow the lot on sweets and chocolate because 'it's my money' Obviously this depends on how much you give, 60p isn't going to get you much chocolate, £2-£3 however......

You haven't said, but is there anything in particular your DD is wanting? If you are getting 'everyone else's Mum..........' please ignore that paragon, it's strange how no Mums ever meet her.;)

Victoria211

it is best to start early.

shiningfaery

Spendless wrote: »

Thinking back to when my 2 were aged 6 and I'm not sure either was numerical enough to understand prices and what the coins were and equate them with each other. They didn't go to the shops alone either till a later age, so I was always 'over-seeing' what they spent.

Comics nowadays are a rip-off IMO. They are no longer the 'pocket money' prices that they were when I was young, now they all come each week with a 'free' gift which is factored in the cost, so the price is around £2.99, sometimes more

Also think about are you going to be happy if they decide to blow the lot on sweets and chocolate because 'it's my money' Obviously this depends on how much you give, 60p isn't going to get you much chocolate, £2-£3 however......

You haven't said, but is there anything in particular your DD is wanting? If you are getting 'everyone else's Mum..........' please ignore that paragon, it's strange how no Mums ever meet her.;)

Haven't been getting much of the but "x" has one etc. Sure it will come in time.
With her I am seeing more of a material stuff nature, what I mean by that is she seems to want lots of toys etc for no other reason than having them. Think this side is being influenced by her father who is very materialistic.

I am giving pocket money now as suggested. She got some money for her b day and got to buy herself a toy, she is learning what the prices are now just to connect the two between what prices are and how it affects her money.....

HoneyOnThePavement

Hi!) I just like to share my experience) I started earning my money before I went to school. So did my brother. I meen, we had to earn our pocket money. And this money we didn't spent - we've been saving it to buy something. I think, our parents did right!

kimplus8

Hi lovely- may have already been said but financial peace junior is great.
It's is based on a 3 way split of spend save and give... 1/3 into savings 1/3 to church or a charity and 1/3 to spend as they wish.
This is from money they have earnt by completing their 'jobs' around the house or homework etc.
I use it for my kids and we just sub the $ for £ and it's working great so far