Mumsnet users share how they teach their children about saving money

[EllieMumsnet]

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We recently ran a survey with Mumsnetters and 45% of you said you think it’s important to speak to children about saving and investing before they reach the age of 10. So Legal & General would like to know how you teach your children how to save, invest and do more with their money.

Here’s what Legal & General has to say: “While many of us believe that encouraging children to think about the power of their pocket money is important, sometimes just knowing where to start with this tricky topic can be the biggest obstacle we need to overcome. We’ve made it easy to begin your savings journey and invest for your child – you can save for their future with £20 a month or a £100 lump sum (click here to find out more). We also recently launched our Investment Academy, which includes a wealth of resources and quick guides to help you develop your understanding, so that you can help your child with theirs.”

So how do you teach your children about saving? Do you give your DC pocket money for doing tasks? Do they have a money box or their own savings account? Perhaps they have to buy some games or toys they want themselves so they understand that you have to save up to be able to afford them?

However you teach your children about saving, please share it below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

Open 04/03/19 to 18/03/19. To enter please post on the thread below. One entry per person. One prize to be won: £300 voucher of winner’s choice chosen by random draw performed by computer process.

The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and any income from them is not guaranteed. Legal & General (Unit Trust Managers) Limited.

We give our son a small amount of pocket money, and when he wants to spend it then he is glad that he's been able to save money in the first place

Much like other posters, if our DC (10 and 8) want something that costs more than their week's pocket money they have the choice of setting aside their pocket money until they have enough for the plastic tat they want (we will buy ahead in case it goes out of stock). Often they don't spend their pocket money the week it comes in, so it goes in their money boxes - that's their other option, to use what they've saved already.

i let them decide how much to save from their pocket money

We have a little piggy bank which I tell my children to always put loose change into

We kept it simple to start with. when out shopping we receive the change after paying and when we got home we would put it into out bottle that all the change goes into. We then cash it up and that is our savings!

We've always given our kids pocket money, but they have to earn it by doing simple chores and homework etc. When they want something, they have to buy it themselves by saving for it. I think we've done too good a job on the youngest, as he won't spend his money on anything!

Too young at the moment to teach them the value of money :)

my little ones are still very young but my eldest who is 4 I explain to him how he can't have treats every day as there isn't the money there or we need the money for other things

My son is only three but we've taught him that things cost money and that you can't have everything you want straight away - he has a pot of coins which we add to occasionally as a reward for good behaviour, which he can use to buy a magazine as a treat ( I don't usually buy magazines for him as I think they're too expensive for what you get). He's so proud to hand over his saved "pounds", and loves counting them up to see how many he has accumulated (he just counts the number of coins, he doesn't know how much they are worth.)

Ive always told my kids to try to save some of any money they get , my youngest is 5 and everytime she finds a penny she puts it in her box ....she does keep asking if she has enough for a toy each time though too

My three have a set allowance each month, 10% goes into their savings account not to be touched until they are 18. If they decide on a purchase that they would like to save for, we work out how many months it would take whilst leaving some money for themselves so that they can work towards buying it themselves.

I started teaching my children to save when they were quite young. When they received pocket money, we encouraged them to save some in a piggy-bank, then we would bank it when there was enough money to do so. If they were given money as gifts by relatives a proportion of this would also be added to their bank accounts.

It taught them that they need to have some money in reserve in case it was needed, and gave them a sense of responsibility.

My son does chores but it's not linked to pocket money as it's his part of the household to carry out certain tasks. He won't be paid by someone to lay the table when he's an adult! However, he does get pocket money and we regularly discuss saving for bigger purchases and not spending it on sweets all the time etc. I feel it's our responsibility to save for his future. My son is now old enough to have a bank account and debit card and keeps track of his spending and balance total really well so we must be doing something right!!

I took my daughter food shopping a couple of weeks ago and she picked up a snack size pack of Pringles which cost 90p. I later picked up a full size pack of Pringles which cost £1 and asked her which was better value. She got the answer right!

I give my daughter disney dollars. It is just printed paper with disney characters on them. She gets 2 disney dollars for large chores. When we go to disney this year, she will get £3 for every dollar she has. She has been saving her dollars in a trinket box and has 30 of them so far! she loves saving for this.

My little one is 4 and we combine good behaviour with saving money. We have simple family rules (mainly to promote independence more than anything) and each day that she follows them she gets a smiley face, on 7 smiley faces she gets £5 to do what she wants with, if its more than £5 then she saves it until the week after :)

I encourage my children to save for things that they want, so more short term savings. It teaches them value and they don't expect me to buy everything for them.

They both have a bank account that has money paid in but never withdrawn

My DC saves up half of their Birthday and Christmas money into a saving bank account and the other half they keep in their piggy banks which they add to with their pocket money each week.
Then they decide whether to buy the latest toy or DVD out of this ass long as they have enough and if not they wait until they've saved again.
It's amazing how if they see you going into charity shops that they too will realise that 3 DVDs for £1 is better value than the latest one at £10.99. :)

We encourage them to save a bit of their pocket money for something they really want!

my daughter is still too young to understand, but we will encourage her to save and be responsible with her money

I save myself for things that I want by putting odd bits of money away here and there and when my dd sees what I get to buy having saved it easily inspires her to do the same!

They have a small amount of pocket money that we encourage them to save up until they find something they really want. This works amazing for my eldest child but my youngest barely has it in his little hand before he’s spent it 🤦‍♀️

We always encourage saving a proportion of pocket money

We sell old toys that are no longer played with.