teaching children to save? how do u do it

[savy57]

not sure if this is the correct place to post it but cant see anywhere else to put it
after battling with debt for years and still struggling and never had a penny of savings how do you ensure your children dont go down the same path?

i know u can never guarente they will never get in debt but how do you teach your children to save from an early age and learn the value of money

Probably the main one for me is about teaching the value of money and the goods that they buy.

so - it's being able to say - no you can't have that because it's too expensive or encouraging them to save pocket money etc to contribute to something - and being aware of what happens if it is broken/lost etc - ie it won't just automatically be replaced.

I think it is difficult as we are in a throw-away society and able to buy things (with credit) immediately - so the thought process of saving up for something is very different to that of 20 years ago.

dc's have pocket money which they can either save or spend depending on what they want - they also browse toys etc and then spend forever deciding what they want to spend birthday money on etc.

Natwest.com used to have moneysense for children on it, don't have to bank with them but it's got some useful tips.

I know a lot of children that can't have £1 without it burning a hole in their pocket so I try to find ways around that. If we go to an attraction with a gift shop, for example, DS gets £3 to spend. However, if he decides there's nothing worth buying (value vs price judgement) he can save his £3 until next time and then he'll have a £6 budget. Similarly, he's encouraged to save up pocket money to buy things he wants rather than ask me to buy them.

On the value of money I think a great way to learn is for them to earn it for themselves. Someone handing over a fiver means nothing. If they've had to roll their sleeves up and clean a couple of cars or polish everyone's shoes for a week, it represents effort and is more valuable

Same as Cognito.

Also, I think a lot depend on the child.

Our son has always been good with money, would save his pocket money if there wasn't something he needed that week. Would save up if he wanted something specific. Always saved half and spent half of any birthday/christmas money etc. Now as an adult he is very astute and sensible with money.

Our daughter always spent all her pocket money every week wether there was something she needed/wanted or not. Threw a strop when we tried to explain about saving up for a special item. Threw a strop when she wasn't allowed to keep all her birthday/christmas money. Now as an adult she just coasts along expecting dad/boyfriend to pay for stuff.

We write down the pocket money in a book every week rather than giving it directly to the children. So it's automatically saved until they see something they want to buy.

When they want to buy something, I remind them: that's x weeks pocket money, you'll have x left if you buy it. They've bought cheapo rubbish a couple of times and now have realised that badly made toys don't last and are a waste of their money.

They get a bit extra for days out. They can spend in gift shop, bank it in the note book if there's nothing they like, or buy something at the gift shop that uses the 'holiday' money and any other saved money.

I don't offer credit. If they really want it, they'll save.
Bascially same approach as my Mum.

Our son has had his own bank account since about the age of 10. We've encouraged him to bank cash he's received as presents for birthdays, xmas, etc., and then spend it on "bigger" things as and when he wanted them, rather than just going out and spending relatively small amounts on tat.

As he got older, we sold some of his old toys, clothes, etc on Ebay and put the net proceeds into his bank account so he could see the link between getting rid of old stuff he no longer wanted and the benefits of the money which increased his bank account.

He's now got over £2k in his bank account and loves getting his monthly bank statement in the post to see the £3/4 per month interest he gets.