Should children be taught how to budget at school?

Hapless_2

happymoneysaver79 wrote: »

I thing that bankruptcy shouldn't be stigmatised and I don't think that some of the people that have gone through or are in the process of bankruptcy would thank you for that comment! People go bankrupt for many reasons as I am sure you are well aware and being in debt is not a new thing it is just easier these days.

I know people who have gone bankrupt, 12 people personally some of them relatives. 8 of whom have not learnt their lesson on discharge and they are in the same boat again. waited until their credit ratings were cleared and have racked up credit card bills, loans, mail order bills etc. Bankruptcy does not help all people and perhaps if it was more unacceptable people would rack up debt in the first place. What is it with the "I got to have something bigger and better than x and I don't care if I put myself in debt because of it" attitude?
Bankruptcy through a job loss, fine, no problems there, but no savings to fall back on? No back up plan in case it messes up? Paying all your money out on mortgage and loans and having to use your credit card for food shopping?


Fill up one credit card...get another, too many credit cards? get a loan to pay them off.
Do I got to Cornwall for a weekend or book a trip to Florida on the plastic?

Is it really acceptable to get into debt and go bankrupt over a holiday, or a bigger car? No. People who do that continously are fools and a fool and their money are soon parted.
Am I supposed to be sympathetic to people who want to have everything and then complain that they have huge debts? If so, tough. I won't.

Teach the kids the "I need X to survive" attitude instead of the "I want X because next door has" attitude and then you may get somewhere.

Racklen

i wasnt taught money management, much diy or much cooking at cschool and i only left in 1997.

i think they should b=ring back home economics the same for both sexes though and teach them basic cookery, basic diy , money managment, basic seing, cleaning ( i know should silly but you'd be suprised on some people) and how tto fuse a plug

a bit of prep for the real world away from mum and dad

also ironing, clothes washing

candygirl

Even though kids study maths at school, imo this isn't the same as learning how to manage a household budget.
I work as a supply teacher and the kids often ask me how much I earn in a day, and although I don't tell them they thing I must be loaded.When I explain that after mortgage, utility bills, food , car etc, I have next to nothing left at the end of the month, a lot of them don't believe me.
I think budgeting could be included in trhe PSE(personal and social education) lessons.This would also give them the realistic amounts that they need to earn to survive when they leave aschool, as a lot of them think they will be minted on the dole. :rolleyes:

duchy

What kind of message is been given to kids with the endless consolidating loan ads that appear in every single ad break -it's the whole culture of debt been a nesercery evil rather than something to be avoided that is the root of the problem. Student loans give the most damaging message too-If you want to be educated you HAVE to go thousands into debt.
It's a scary situation for our kids.

happymoneysaver79

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

My parents helped me alot with learning how to budget. From when I was 11 I was given responsibilities around the house and paid £15 a month for doing them. With this money I had to buy my own treats and things they didn't or couldn't buy for me.

When I turned 14 I was encouraged to get a paper round (I had been offered one when I was 8 that my sister had been doing with me helping her, but had to wait to be 13 to do it even though I had showed the company I was responsible enough then to do it hehe). The paper round made me on avereage £10 a wk for a Wednesday only paper. So I earned overall £55/month with my pocket money and paper route. At this point my parents stopped buying my clothes and stopped paying for cinema trips and said I had to budget for these with my money, fair enough really. I managed to do this and also saved a fair bit of money.

Now at 18 I earn on average £250/month and get £200/month for my parents to help towards living costs. I pay for basically everything on my own now (they still pay towards my college equipment and things of the like though). I'm a happy budgeter and just about to get my first visa debit card NOT a credit card although I was offered the chance to have one :eek: (had visa electron before but lost it Thursday ). I think my parents have done a wonderful job with teaching me the basics of life; cooking, budgeting, cleaning (good as I'm a part-time cleaner now, hehe) aswell as other things. They wanted to make sure I learnt from their mistakes so the fact they were in debt and had a mortgage was never hidden. I believe they gave me the incentive to be so self suficiant (to the point that I refuse to borrow money from friends and don't even like to borrow from my boyfriend OR my parents!!)

All in all it's the parents responsibillity, however those that have serious problems with money and do not admit it are not going to teach their children well so schools could give a helping hand here.

You are lucky that your parents have taught you these skills and you are obviously putting them to good use - well done u x

My parents (bless em) didn't really do this for me and now I'm in a pickle -I don't blame them but maybe things would be different if they had?!

I whole heartedly believe that it is an essential parenting skill and I wish I was 18 and debt free again lol!!! I too don't like to borrow money from relatives and never have but unfortunatly circumstances allowed me to accumilate debt and now I have to deal with it. You are lucky that you have the support of your family - many don't x

chocolatechipcookies

Hapless wrote: »

It is taught in school, it's called Mathematics, at least it was when I retook my GCSE at 27!

So you learned how to budget a bank balance in math class?

chocolatechipcookies

Racklen wrote: »

i wasnt taught money management, much diy or much cooking at cschool and i only left in 1997.

i think they should b=ring back home economics the same for both sexes though and teach them basic cookery, basic diy , money managment, basic seing, cleaning ( i know should silly but you'd be suprised on some people) and how tto fuse a plug

a bit of prep for the real world away from mum and dad

also ironing, clothes washing

I agree! See, my mom never bothered to teach me basic skills, like how to do my own laundry, she was too busy yelling at me for doing it wrong when I tried. She wasn't involved at all and didn't care, so I would have loved someone to show me how to be self sufficient in the real world.

Poppy9

I take responsibilty for teaching my DD (12) the value of money and how to live within her means. She is given £20 pocket money per month. She has to arrange her weekend social life within this budget. She soon learnt that we were not going to bail her out. The first few times she went to town with her friends she bought a Subway for lunch and that was almost all her £5 gone. Now the girls go to town after lunch thus saving them this expense. It's wonderful how her desire for something lessens when I tell her if she wants it she can use her pocket/birthday money to buy it.:rolleyes: She does get extra money in the school holidays for outtings as we appreciate that the £5 per week doesn't go far but she has learnt the value of money. I talk to her about credit cards, the good and the bad points. I talk to her about buying major items like cars and houses on credit. I encourage her to sell unwanted toys and she keeps the proceeds. School can teach her to add up but I can teach her about managing her money.

I do think that 6th form/FE students should have lessons on managing money before they go off to university so they don't emerge drowning in debt.

candygirl

chocolatechipcookies wrote: »

So you learned how to budget a bank balance in math class?

I didn't ,and the kids I teach certainly didn't:rolleyes:

happymoneysaver79

Looking at some of the replies on here I am quite suprised to see that 'money savers' who regularly use this site for support/advice themselves are quick to condemn those who are in debt because they have been a bit silly with money, overspending and maybe taking holidays that they shouldn't. Life is all about making mistakes and some make more than others (me included).Yes there are major problems with societies view on borrowing (too easy) but at the same time who hasn't bought something that they really couldn't afford? Problably quite a few! So don't be too harsh on money savers, we are all here for one common goal - to save money and it doesn't really matter how you got the debt, so long as you are dealing with it.