To ask about your young adults' attitude to money

We lead by example eg talk about spending priorities

And never bail out. If DS can't afford to go out cos he overspent, that's on him

They have a good attitude. Both have significant savings despite being at uni. They don’t buy what they can’t afford and save religiously.
I was on my own for a number of years so have seen how I managed money as I always involved them and now things are great financially they see I don’t just spend

If she is at uni and already blowing through her money then I think you have maybe left it a little late to make her naturally good with money.

I would definitely speak to her. But unfortunately you cant police how she spends her money ( short of stopping the allowance, she will soon learn to budget then!)

Mine is still young (16) but careful with his money, has just signed up for a summer holiday job and is cautious about the idea of university because of the debt it involves.

The only thing he really spends on is tech. He isn't interested in brands in the slightest, and refuses to touch alcohol, cigarettes, vapes etc.

Interesting to see if it lasts.

Not quite the same thing but I owe my financial independence in part to a chick-lit type book Meryn SomersetWeb published called love is not enough.

I read it as a late teen (19/20ish) and it changed my entire outlook. It really makes you understand that:

1. the world wants you to spend money because ✨ CONSUMERISM ✨ but you dont have to spend your money. (Example - fashion only has new trends because they can't simply shut up shop because you already have a pair of shoes)

2. what's your plan if Mr Right never turns up? You need to plan for solo living.

3. savings. And why they're important. And why you should not neglect them.

I read it just in time. In fact I think I need to read it again

I think we guided ours by our attitude to money which is, basically, you can't spend it if you haven't got it and you won't get it unless you earn it.

We are fairly comfortably off but there were always things they couldn't do or have as they grew up which their friends did because we couldn't afford them - tech, designer clothes, school ski trips or trips to New York (!), cars at 17 etc.

They also lived through times when we had less money because one of us wasn't working and we had to cut down on the nice things in life. We have never sat them down and had a birds and the bees financial chat, though.

Mine had a bank account and allowance from their early teens, and any non school essential clothes and stuff they wanted came out of that. It taught them to budget. Then they went off to uni - got some support from me, but they had to be frugal. So they're very sensible with money now - they've had some inheritance from their dad, but have not dipped into that until now (DC2 has used some for the deposit on his flat now that he's a graduate), and they still live very carefully. Lots of charity shopping for clothes and household goods etc, look for deals when going out, keep the savings mindset.