Currently clueless...aiming for awareness

BadBookkeeper

My 10yr old has a hyperjar card and app.  It’s free to use unlike some and has little jars you can set up.  We are going to Centre Parcs in December and he rounds his balance down to his savings jar for that.  It’s also stopped him buying overpriced drinks etc when we are out as he now realises they’re a rip off!    He wanted an ice lolly when we were out recently and instead of buying an overpriced one he suggested we go to the nearby supermarket on the way home & he’d buy a box for less!!

He likes having it so saves me money.  I top it up when needed but once he’s in high school, he’ll get a regular monthly amount. 

canvascamper

WinterWarrior said:

That’s hard. Could you start an actual account for them (like go Henry or similar) and then make sure you aren’t subsidising treats going forward.  Budgeting is such a good skill to learn…although I didn’t learn it either 🤦🏻‍♀️. We’d save for our weeks U.K. seaside break and divide what we had over the days there so we didn’t overspend on rock, penny arcades or holiday tat, yet here I am learning it all again 🤣 

We've said 10yo can have a card next year when he's in year 6, ready for high school, Rooster does have a card option but you have to pay a subscription, I think GoHenry might be the same? He doesn't carry a phone or a wallet or anything like that and very rarely goes anywhere without us so it doesn't seem necessary to pay for his own card yet.

stymied said:

Do they know how much they’ve got? If not you could halve it to partly account for all the treats you’ve bought them instead?

They definitely know 😂 10yo is a math whiz way beyond his years and I suspect keeps a running tally in his massive brain, and 7yo has been diligently saving for a Switch for over a year so she checks it regularly. 3yo has no idea of course but his is all birthday and Christmas money that I would feel very guilty about taking from him. 

canvascamper

@BadBookkeeper I'll have a look at hyperjar, thanks. Does he have his own phone for the app? 10yo doesn't have a phone yet and mine is really old so has no memory for new apps 😕

BadBookkeeper

canvascamper said:

@BadBookkeeper I'll have a look at hyperjar, thanks. Does he have his own phone for the app? 10yo doesn't have a phone yet and mine is really old so has no memory for new apps 

Ah ok, yes he has an old phone with the app on and I have the parent one so I can see what he’s doing.  

canvascamper

Oh, that's cool that there's a parent app! I'll definitely look into that for year 6 (I think he will get a phone then). I'm really terrified of the 'phone years'! It feels like A Lot for a kid. But I don't want him to miss out socially if he doesn't have one. I was looking at all the parent security apps and it's a bit confusing so I need to do some more research. Plus I will also need a new phone to get the app.

My phone is now no longer on the update list so it will eventually stop working altogether when the operating system is incompatible with everything. It's so annoying that companies can do this! I know there are some very clever hacks you can do to add the next upgrade and I'm quite good at tech but definitely not that good. The phone is only 4 years old as well! 

canvascamper

Happy 1st of May, phone friends ☺️

I'm not a pagan by any means but I love the symolism of Beltane, of growth and greening and new life. My seedlings are all coming on nicely. I feel optimistic and up for a challenge!

Speaking of challenge, I'm taking the kids to my parents' today for the afternoon which is always a very mixed bag. 10yo can get quite disregulated especially around eating at other people's homes and my parents are quite (understatement) judgemental (despite my mum having been a social worker for decades), also my dad who is absolutely definitely autistic winds the kids up with mad games and then gets annoyed when they're being hyper. So I feel on edge the whole time and then I get a call a couple of days later saying "we're worried about you, you seem very stressed..." . It's a tricky dynamic! 

As a result I'm aiming to get everyone out to do a treasure trail around their town to keep everyone entertained/distracted for a couple of hours.

My sister might come over which is lovely, but she's got a very jumpy dog, and 7yo is genuinely terrified of dogs, so, extra fun 🤣.

See you on the other side, comrades 

canvascamper

Happy extra day off 🌷

We're planning on a quiet (relatively, kids are still here 😂) day today. Yesterday ended up very full on, my mum decided we would go and visit my gran and then my sister after a trip to the park so we were in and out of cars and making pleasantries for a lot of the afternoon. Then OH car appeared to be leaking so we didn't leave my parents' until nearly 9 while my dad tinkered with it. Hopefully it's sorted now, I hate cars, they always seem to need something. We were in 2 cars yesterday for various complicated reasons and the warning light came on mine whilst I was driving home as well, so that also needs looking at.

I had to put £30 diesel in yesterday so my monthly spends from child benefit are already down to £30. It's only 2nd May! Arggh! I can top this up by another £50 when I get paid mid month but it's going to be tight. Thankfully we had a big food shop delivered yesterday so I shouldn't need a top up shop for at least a week 🤞

Will try and get some more stuff on eBay today to give me a bit more breathing space for the month - I need to start thinking about 7yo birthday at the end of July, and we're booked to go camping in the Channel Islands in August - ferry is paid for but only the deposit for the site and I'd love to be able to pay the balance from money rather than credit. 

WinterWarrior

Happy bank holiday. I hope the cars get fixed cheaply.

[Deleted User]

Hello, I'd definitely recommend working towards  having a buffer in your account when you're able. Enough to cover bills Inc fuel and food etc. Because my DH gets paid 4 weekly that's what we've had to do to stop us from living in our overdraft/ beyond our means. Xxx

canvascamper

Yes, definitely working towards a buffer which is why I've separated the bills account from my spending account (the Monzo one), but it seems really tough going, it's very slow progress!