How do you support your DCs in managing their money? Tell Nationwide for the chance to win a £300 voucher. NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

For some parents, when your kids get a little older, helping them to manage money responsibly can be a challenge. To celebrate their FlexOne current account for 11-17 year olds, Nationwide would like to know the ways in which you help your DCs manage their money.

So, is your DC a saver by nature or does spare cash burn a hole in their pocket? Are they always badgering you for extra pocket money, or do you enforce a strict allowance limit?

We’d also really like to hear how your DC compares to you when you were their age – do their spending habits mirror yours when you were young? If your DCs are a little younger, what advice do you plan to give them, or what advice do you wish you could give your younger self when it comes to money management?

Whatever advice you give, post a comment below to be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks,

MNHQ

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My kids are too young to understand money yet but when they are older I will encourage them to save for things they want by paying half of things they really want. I will set the a bank account and encourage them along the way to see the bigger picture for the future.

My three DC are fab with money. I started their financial education as soon as they could count (now 5, 10 and 13). The same happened with me as a young child and has meant I've always lived within my means - whether a higher rate tax payer or temporarily technically in poverty.

I started out with little fairly instant choices like an icecream/ doughnut from McDonalds or a pack of 10 from the supermarket next door or put the money together buy 10 have a few each and save half. Things that any outcome was positive but it gave a choice, empowerment that it is their choice is so vital.

I'm really proud of them all. If they want something they don't badger me. They make a case as to why, even our youngest, and we workout a plan of action as to how we'll get it. Its lovely being able to not say no but to say lets make a plan as to how we can get it. They're great at cleaning up old stuff and looking after their things so we can sell them on to reinvest in their latest desire.

All three have a savings current account and are proud of their little pots of money. Hopefully by the time they're 18 they'll be able to have enough towards something that will help them out in life whether its driving lessons or a house rental deposit and a few bits of basic furniture etc.

We've not bought our dc smartphones (obviously that makes us really bad parents, as everyone else in the school year has an iPhone 6, of course). No, they can buy one for themselves, I know they have enough money saved up. That way they will be more careful with the 100s of £££s in their pocket. Oddly enough, one has chosen to buy a vastly cheaper Motorola, the other manages with their dumb-phone. I think they've had a good lesson in the value of money

My children are only 5&6 but they save their money for chores in their piggy banks and then get to use the money to buy themselves a toy etc when it's their birthday or other special occasion.

I got them to work out an annual pocket-money budget, using a spreadsheet and allowing for Christmas/birthdays etc. They negotiated pocket money level based on this, and have so far stayed within budget.

For some purchases I would agree to fund half if they save the other half.

Both my 2 have their own bank accounts which we put £20 each in a month. They never ask for pocket money as maybe they are just a little too young (either that or they generally don't need anything). They do understand that things cost money and they can't always have that magazine that they only want for the rubbishy toy on the front that will break when it's been played with once....
I do think it's important they learn the value of money and we often count up how much is in the copper box to pay in at the post office. As they say it all adds up!

I have always let mine choose how birthday money is spent (e.g. Can buy 1 big toy or 2 smaller toys).
I used to earn more pocket money for doing jobs in the house so I I do this too if there is something big they want to save for.

I use ynab for my personal spends & another for household spends & once dc are a bit older I will do up an excel spreadsheet for them showing cause & effect on their budget if they splash the cash.

I hope to instill saving 10% of what they earn in them from when they start having pocket money.

My DC are too young to understand money though I have started to bring up the topic occasionally - teaching them the basics about what coins / notes there are, that you use money to buy things, that you have to earn it and that there is a limited amount!!
As they get older I'll teach them the value of money, try to make sure they live within their means (I always have / do), and encourage saving.

we encourage them to save in a (see through) piggy bank, so that they can see their savings.

I've always encouraged my DC to save. When they get money for Christmas/birthday, I do let them spend it how they want but they quickly learn that the big, shiny thing they wanted may not be worth the price tag when they can't get anything else.
Same as Flouncing, I have used the example of cookie from KFC or go across the road to Sainsburys to get a pack of 5 for same price, to show them the value of money and how to spend wisely.

I hate to come over all smarmy, but my 12 year old's had a FlexOne account for a year and it's great. He can see how much he's got and spent online, and I put his allowance in. When he forgets his cash card and I pay, he transfers it to my account. He gets £5 per week cash from his Grandad which sees him right for sundries, and everything else is traceable.

Our 7yo has a savings account that has some inheritance money in and will be enough to buy a small cheap car and take a gap year if she wants to. She won't have card access to this and DH and I oversee it.

We use GoHenry for her pocket money and spending money. She monitors the amount and know if she needs to save (and will offer her services to help in the kitchen if we pay her!)

We started dd off with a monthly allowance in secondary school with a current account and linked saver account.
She hasn't dipped into the saver account mainly because she can't be bothered to learn how to do online transfers....

Start young - my dd already has a money box and a savings account and she is 3.

Dd just got her first bank card. It's great she gets texts when anyone puts money into her account so she knows her balance. It's not chip and pin, which I think is better in case the card gets lost.
She's pretty good at saving, if there is something she wants that costs a lot she can save up for it determinedly.
I'm a single working parent so she knows the importance of working for money and how important bills are and saving some money for emergencies.
She knows about how to look online for getting the best price, discount codes etc.

DC are too young to manage money - 2yr old and 2week old - but all birthday/Christmas money goes into savings accounts for them

DD has had a bank account and monthly allowance since the age of 7. It has helped her understand how money can 'dribble' away in a little here, a little there on sweets and transient things. She's just got herself something she wants by saving for 3 months, and has started saving again (and doing some chores for extra money) for the next thing on the list.

She was a bit upset when she found even the cheapest smart phone would take about a year to save for (but I was quite pleased - I think she's still too young!)

They all have bank accounts with debit cards. They manage their own budgets for socialising, "treats" and their personal bills such as mobile phones and iTunes.

Accessing their bank balances via apps on their phones is very helpful to balance / plan their money and they also all have their phones set up to Apple Pay so that they can track small transactions and see where their money is going.

Setting up Apple Pay was a big help in demonstration that buying food/magazines at the corner shop even for a couple of pounds adds up very quickly and eats away at their savings for "bigger"things.

I've always been honest with them about how much money is coming into our household.
If we cannot afford something I have always told them so
and why

now they are old enough to go shopping with their own cards (late teens) they are very canny consumers

they have fully internalised "deferred gratification" - ie that you have to save up for some things
rather than borrowing for stuff that will be worth less at the end of theloan than you paid for it.

I'm slightly bias, I took my DD to the local Nationwide branch the day she turned 11. She opened a flex one and I put an amount in for her monthly. She has to manage and save herself 10% of what she gets monthly. She was more pleased with the cinema card that came with the account, allowing her to save on cinema tickets. Then she discovered the Nationwide app and I think she quite likes checking on the finances :).
It's been very useful having a £30 overdraft facility and seeing her account 'in red'. It's only a small amount, but it allows them to understand basic things we take for granted, such as: 'there is no more money, you spent them' and 'now you owe the bank, how are you going to pay it back?'

Mine is definitely a spender, but not when it comes to her own money, she becomes very wise when they have to leave her account!

My approach is this: I taught her to use a spoon, walk, wash, behave, make good choices, cross the road, make up with her friends, say sorry, load a dishwasher or a washing machine, make herself a meal, rude a bike, open a bank account, save money, manage money, become a savvy woman.

It's a stark contrast to my own upbringing, finances were never discussed. It was all a bit of a mistery to me. Then I got married and left it all to my husband. Then realised he hasn't a clue and that I'm much savvier and open to learn than him.

I am playing the game long term. Building her a credit history, hopefully she would have 'developed a relationship' with Nationwide like I did, and she'll take her first mortgage at a good rate, like mummy did :)

My DD is a saver just like me. Savings accounts are less of an incentive than when I was her age and interest rates were in double figures though!

We discuss family finances in her presence too. I think that's important.

We give our boys a certain allowance for the month and have explained what we expect them to use it for... They're made decisions about priorities ; sweets/comics/savings etc. It has always been their responsibility to buy gifts, we built that in to the allowance. They both now get a huge amount of pleasure buying gifts for others. and think that having their own money to do so is a huge part of that.

We give our boys a certain allowance for the month and have explained what we expect them to use it for... They're made decisions about priorities ; sweets/comics/savings etc. It has always been their responsibility to buy gifts, we built that in to the allowance. They both now get a huge amount of pleasure buying gifts for others. and think that having their own money to do so is a huge part of that.