if you save money for your dcs..

[beansmum]

will you just hand it over to them when they are 18? Or is it for something specific, driving lessons, uni? Do you think of it as untouchable or would you spend it in an emergency or for pressies?

I'm just wondering in a kind of general way and also wondering how terrible it would be to spend some of ds's savings on food and school stuff and birthday pressies over the next few years.

we save each month

will hand it over to DS at 18 and hope he has enough sense not to blow the whole lot on beer, as there won't be any more forthcoming!

if your £ is so tight now that you are struggling to buy food then quit saving for a while and then re-start

now point having money in the bank if you are struggling day to day

I'm ok at the moment, I save a decent amount for him and a bit for myself each month, but I'm going back to uni next year and it's going to be very very very tight, almost impossible.

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we put dc into trust funds. only cos it will be tax free. they will be told it's our money. and there to avoid tax man once their in teenage years. incase they get ideas of blowing the lot as it's "theirs"

it is to be spent on uni/driving/house deposit as WE see fit.it is after all our money. if the children want to spend money on going out they will have to get a job and earn money to play with.

CTF's plus savings accounts in their names so they will have access at 18. We have plenty of time to brainwash DCs into thinking that the stash is to help them through uni. Although we use up the annual allowance, I'm not convinced that it'll be enough when the time comes, realist that I am. Forget about funding a car/house deposit/wedding!

no wouldn't hand it over at 18
it's for university (assuming they go) and would fund them over the 4 years or so of study. If not university, then not sure? haven't thought that far ahead. we don't put any money into the CTF for that reason, as it will be theirs.

yes i save, but, when i needed it a few years ago, to give to df who needed money, and it was the only money i had access to, i wrangled with the moral issue of my money/their money, and decided that it was ok to use it to help out dfather.
i will not behanding it over to them when they turn 18. it will be used to help fund uni, or driving elssons, or towards deposit for a house etc. most definitly wont simply be handed over. the money may be in their name, but it is money i have saved, so i will be very upset to see it frittered away on clohtes etc.

however, when money has been tight, i have reduced the amount being saved.

The CTF is theirs and we haven't paid anything into it except the cheque from the government.

We have savings accounts for both our boys but WE will decide where that money goes uni/house deposit/car etc etc.

Remembering back to my university years I think it is funny that 18 year olds are considered adults as the majority of students who had access to decent amounts of money blew it on drinks, take-away food, clothes, drugs.

We will hopefully have saved for 18 years so there is no way in this world I am handing that over, they can have the CTF to blow on whatever they want.

We intend to give our kids money for a house deposit when they are ready. My husband blew through a ridiculous amount of inheritance handed over to him at the age of 20, so we do feel a bit like lesson learnt.