Bring on the credit crunch!!
Giving your children pocket money could keep them out of debt in the future.
Imagine this, you never teach your children good manners, you never show them how to hold a knife and fork properly, which cutlery to use, where to put a napkin, how to sit at the table, how to chew. You expect the primary school to do it for you as they are the ones supposed to be educating your child.
This scenario is completely unthinkable. Of course you as a parent bring your children up to be socially acceptable at table, the thought of leaving this role to chance, to schools or to society is unthinkable. I would hazard a guess that almost every day from birth onwards you are guiding and teaching your children how to have good manners, from “sit nicely” to “ have you washed your hands” to “what do you say when you wish to leave the table?” So why do we leave the concept of money, potentially the root of all evil!!, to chance and to a society who’s money values, financial understanding and monetary control are out of control.
I chatted to a group of parents recently and the following comments emerged. “we didn’t really bother too much with pocket money the children just got what we thought they should have” “pocket money is a waste of money as they just spend it on rubbish” “ I tend to give it to them when I remember and they spend the money on sweets so I don’t give it to them as I don’t want them to have it”
Saveabitspendabit is a website which is designed to help parents teach children about money, how to save it as well as how to spend it.
We at saveabitspendabit believe whole heartedly that parents are in an ideal position to teach their children the value of money by giving them pocket money and teaching them how to manage it from an early age, as young as 6 or 7.
“ Children learn by example but it is human to make mistakes, and by making financial errors at 6 will keep them out of debt when they are 16 or 26 or 36” .
If a child blows their pocket money on a big bag of sweets one day and sees a power ranger they would dearly love to own the next day what will happen? Yes they will nag but it is our job as parents to teach them the lesson of careful spending and regular saving so the ‘penny drops’ for the future.
“ I know of parents who dread the weekly shopping expeditions. The I wants’, can I have’s the you’re so means are difficult to cope with especially when you already feel so guilty as you leave them in extended child care due to your long working hours.
But, hasn’t it always been thus? Every generation has its challenges of its own time. We are a society of mass consumerism, marketing messages come at us from every direction in bright shiny colours and it is very very hard not to have your head turned as a child and think I want.
However; if as parents we always give in to our kids, what will be teaching them. At best and this is the best scenario, the bank of mum and dad will pay, at worst they will buy it immediately with a credit card which the banks are eager to dish out to our ‘tweenies’ with no coaching or control, and there’s little you can do about it.
A whole generation has now grown up with the instant gratification their flexible friend affords them. This generation are now having children and so breeding a throng of children who have never had to wait for anything. Fast food, 24 hour TV and instant credit.
The largest group of rising bankrupts are in the 16-24 year old range. They now see bankruptcy as a financial solution to their problems, this is a scary state of affairs, these people will be outsiders of the community, not able to afford to get on to the housing ladder, which will reduce the amount of first time buyers on the market in the next few years, only to be able to deal in cash and so borrowing from expensive loan sharks to fund their spending addiction.
Times have changed and every decade is different and has very different challenges but if the credit crunch which we now experience is a wake up call to the mass consumerism we have ‘enjoyed’ over the last few years then I say ‘bring it on’.
The credit crunch has meant families have had to budget more, they have to plan more, they are spending more time together. Brilliant! Hopefully this time can be used to enjoy each other and instill some money values and money common sense that will stop the spiral a spiral of debt that could lead to a very unhappy future.
www.saveabitspendabit.co.uk inspiring children to save.