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 daughter is just like I was when I was little - a spender! She has her own money box and purse to keep birthday money in and I try and get her to wait a day or two to decide if she really wants something.... She's usually forgotten within an hour what she even wanted to buy!

My two are still quite young - 4 and 6 - but they have a small amount of pocket money on an ad hoc basis to save/fritter away as they choose, to teach them the value of money and that once its gone its gone. It surprises me how good they are with their money actually.

My two (teen and tween) are rather more like DH than me...Not particularly careful with money given to them as presents.

DC2 went shopping with Christmas money and managed to spend £40 and none of it on items in the Sales...

Although DC1 is starting to get more of a sense of money's worth than he used to have, since we started giving him a monthly allowance.

Incidentally, we will be opening Nationwide Junior FlexOne accounts for both our DCs in 2017.

Tried to install a savings habit, so DC appreciates how much things cost, and it's better to save and think about future purchases, rather than rushing out and buying stuff that just takes your fancy. Having said that, pocket money is theirs once they have it, and if it is frittered on stuff, well so be it.

Going through this with my 14 year old so would love to hear some tips that work for teens rather than younger kids!! She has an electronic account with bank card we pay a monthly subscription for. The idea is that she can easily put money into savings and there is transparency (we can see what's she spending). She gets a monthly allowance, can earn more through helping out and any extra money gets put on it. BUT she can't control her spending and has burned through £300 this year, mostly on junk food from the local supermarket. This was despite having a saving goal of an iPad and having seen us be careful with money for many years. She's now asked us to take the card away.

My son is too young at the moment to manage his money, but i have been saving on his behalf since he was born and when he is old enough i will encourage him to save up to buy what he wants and not expect us to get everything for him.

All 3 of my DDS have an account which they use to save directly into. They also have a flex one account for shopping online or in town where pocket money goes. They can not go overdrawn but when they have spent up, they have to wait until they get more. This makes them aware of how finances work

I encourage them to save their money and I also give them choices with any money eg they can get a bigger thing or two of something smaller.

Teach them to save even for smaller items they want

Manage it?! We have to force ours to spend any of it! Our middle one is the worst. Every time we go on holiday or on a day out we have to remind him in advance that it would be appropriate to bring some money for souvenirs etc and then just before we leave the house we'll check he's remembered, which he won't have. Then he'll disappear upstairs and come down with something tiny, like a fiver, and still not spend it! I'm sure he has more ready cash than we have - except I bet we'll never know quite how loaded he is as he's probably hidden half of it!!

I teach my children they have to save for things you cant just have everything at once. I don't buy gifts all year round if they want something they save up for it

DH and I are probably middle ground between being spenders or savers. We have 1 ds who is a saver and the other is a profligate spender.

The spendy ds (now a 20 year old student) has just had a horrible shock when he's realised he has spent double what he thought he had over the last 2 years on holidays and beer . At his request, I've been looking after some money that he inherited from a great aunt. He actually didn't believe me but thankfully I have kept a careful spreadsheet of every time he's taken 'a bit' of the money. Lo and behold, the cupboard is now bare and ds has found out that many only a little bits add up to quite a lot.

Mine get a set amount and they have to budget for the week. One is really good and saves - trying to get her to spend money is like trying to get gold out of Fort Knox. The other spends s soon as she gets it and then has to negotiate with her sister on how much she can borrow and what rate of interest. I think this child is going to be a banker!

My son is only 4 but he loves to put any loose change into his savings tin and then sort through it and count it ready to put in his bank account.

If he gets spends from my grandparents say £1 to buy himself some sweets or something then we show him the different things he could get for that money so he knows that you can get one big thing or lots of smaller things and that has meant now if we are out and he asks for something he tends to ask for the smaller things as he knows he gets more.

Pay them for doing odd jobs so that they can equate money with how much time and effort they put in. That way, if they want to buy something they can equate its value to how many hours they had to spend on a task.

My daughter has a savings account, she doesn't know how much is in there as she is aware she cannot have it until she is 18. We give her weekly pocket money but that is only £5 so not sufficient to save. She also gets £20 at the end of the month if she has helped around the house and kept her room clean and tidy. She knows she cannot have everything from us and thinks about what she wants to do with her £20 each month and often saves this to but something more expensive.
She has in the past wasted her birthday money and has regretted doing this, I guess she learnt the hard way as often talks of the things she culd have done with that money.

My eldest has always had money burn a hole in his pocket, no matter how many times we explain to him that he needs to save and not spend straight away he just doesn't get it. He doesn't get an allowance as he doesn't help around the house but he does have a small part time job - in 3 days he has usually spent all his wage.
My DD on the other hand is a thrifty shopper and a wee bit of a saver, very much like I was/am.

Money boxes for little bits of cash and bank accounts for pocket and birthday money. Having to actually withdraw money for any purchase sometimes acts as a brake on spending, as does competitive saving.

Pocket money is paid every week. If they want anything - they have to pay for it themselves. Thus encouraging saving and not wasting it

My LO is only 4 but he is well aware of money and we are teaching him its value. We have a money box (which can only be smashed once full) and my LO often puts all of his pennies in there, as he is saving up for something special (though he won't share what that is with us yet!). We can already see he values the worth of money and we hope that this will continue throughout his childhood. He is always very grateful for everything and I think this stems from his understanding of the concept of money.

DS is very like me - a saver! He loves putting his birthday and Christmas money away and planning what to spend it on, so I'm also hoping this will continue when he starts to earn more pocket money. He is rarely tempted to spend it straight away, but I also think he is sometimes quite surprised how long it takes to save for things he wants. A good lesson to learn at this age though as it puts money into perspective.

Funds have been tight in our family for the last 3 years so DCs have got used to us always looking for the best offers/deals. This has rubbed off on them and they do their best to save their own money and check that it's in the best place for them - they love getting letters saying they've earned a few pounds interest!

We put money in monthly to a savings account

I was a collector when I was little...I collected those packets of cards and stickers from the news agents. My mum must have spent HUNDREDS of pounds on them over the years. I wish I never bought them. I won't let my children buy these kinds of things as I have the insight that they will not be used or loved.

I try to encourage my son to save money, but at age 6, he is still clueless about spending and saving. Yesterday he wanted to buy a toy from the shop, but he didn't bring any money with him, nor did he know how much money he had in his piggy bank. He didn't understand that the cashier wouldn't accept 'I've got the money back home in my piggy bank....i think' as a payment option!!

I'd definitely set up an account for him when he turned 11, and he could pay in all his birthday money etc.

My boy is 6 and understands that 20 is more 10, so when it comes to learning how to budget his money he knows the meaning of cost and saving to reach the amount he needs to get what he wants. When I see he has been saving his money for something and not blowing it on sweets I reward him by making up the full cost of what he wants if he can reach over half the cost. He has become a good saver.