School summer holidays can be an expensive time of year and the daily mantra of ‘can I have money for…’ can soon become tiring. The cost of activities such as going to the cinema, visiting water parks and eating out can be a small fortune – which is most likely taken for granted.
However, time away from school doesn’t mean that learning needs to stop – this is an excellent opportunity to teach your offspring the value of money. Here are a few practical ideas on how to make this happen.
Little ones
Give them a weekly allowance or pocket money – Walking around a store or a high street or even browsing online will most likely bring that dreaded phrase ‘can I have…’. The much-wanted Nerf gun or hair accessory can be bought with their allowance/pocket money, which might mean they need to save for a couple of weeks to be able to buy it. This will help them to make financial decisions by budgeting, and they will also be able to understand how much things cost.
Small children could be given an ice-cream allowance – in pennies. Lots of coins look like a lot of money and the big plus is that they have to count it out. They can then work out the cost of ice creams and how many days to spread it over.
Bigger kids
Let them buy the groceries – Giving your kids a list of ingredients and sending them to the shops to buy them is a great way for them to see how much food costs. It also empowers them by allowing them to do something important and independently from mum and dad. Getting them to cook the dinner with you or on their own is another way to relieve their boredom whilst teaching them. Good luck with that one!
Paying for Chores – Paying your children to do chores can sometimes become more of a bribe and a disgruntled ‘no’ is the usual reaction from your little cherub. There are certain tasks that they should partake in to contribute to the day to day management of the household. However, there are other bigger jobs that they could be rewarded for. Draw up a list of the chores over a week, mark the ones that are unpaid – these are the ones they need to do. And then mark the ones that they will be paid for, such as cleaning the rabbit hutch, weeding the garden, mopping the floors. This helps to teach a variety of self-reliance and motivation.
Invest in a ‘gohenry’ debit card. This is effectively the same debit card that you have, with the added advantage that you have complete control of it. You manage it through an app and choose where the card can be used, what the spending limits are and to set savings goals. You can block and unblock it at any time and receive real-time notifications of what is being spent and where. The first month is free and then £2.99/month per child. There is much more to this card – here is the link to learn more and start your free trial https://www.gohenry.com/uk/
