Natwest Fairer Savings have asked me to share with you #MySaverStory past, present and future. The truth is I have never really been a saver, well not until my health scare. Before that I pretty much winged though life. Both the husbeast and I were in great jobs and we were off the mindset that credit was fine and we would be OK. Ha, ha, ha well we were wrong! Life stepped in and it was a big fat wet fish in the face and we got in a pickle that we are still working our way out of five years later!
As a child I didn’t really get pocket money, but I didn’t lose out on anything. I don’t remember the first thing I saved up for!
Presently we are saving up for a new hall and stair carpet! Ours is nine years old and threadbare. We no longer rely on credit and make sure we save up for things that we need. The Natwest Budget tool is a great way to work out how much you can save each month
Our future short term savings goal is to convert our garage enlarging our kitchen in to it so that we have a larger living space. The Minimads are growing up and we want to have sufficient space for us all to live comfortably and I want to encourage the boys to bring their friends in to our home. If you are a Natwest customer this is where the savings goal tool comes in to its own.
So what advice would I give my younger self regarding saving? It would be to do it, anyway that was possible. To get into a routine and save a percentage of what I earned every month into a savings account. To NEVER use a store card and to make sure that I had three months of salary saved with easy access to it. I think that my money personality was to spend, spend, spend and it is hard to change that and it is not what I want for my boys.
This collaboration with Natwest reinforced that encouraging my kids to save one of my parenting goals.
Encouraging kids to save
- Set regular savings goals – Incentivise saving by offering added rewards at regular agreed set points. This is why the Pigs from Natwest really worked back in the 80’s
- Make it visual, saving in a glass jar or even a money box that counts the money makes saving money much more tangible for younger children. Or even have a savings chart with stars and stickers. Open a savings account with a bank book for older kids.
- Pay interest – pay your child monthly interest on savings they have. Not only does this encourage them to save their money longer, but it also teaches them about money management.
- The best way to teach kids to start managing money is to give them some. If they blow their pocket money on the ice cream van and don’t have enough left for later in the week, that’s actually a good thing: They learn first hand the consequence of overspending.
- Set a goal – Are they saving for a specific item? if so make them a chart. Encourage them to find inventive ways to earn money to help them achieve their purchase faster.
- Save smaller denominations to demonstrate how every penny counts. The boys both have a large vodka bottle that they fill with pennies and once a year they exchange it for holiday spending money. It really adds up and Mini is always on the lookout for peoples dropped coins when we are out and about.
- Make sure you set a good example for your kids. Let them see you making smart decisions about money. Be a role model, let them see you have a savings account and how you shop wisely. Show how you set up a budget and stick to it. Money should not be spoken to in hushed tones or b e a dirty word. Make sure you talk to your kids about money and finance. Talk about your work and how your salary is based on the work you do. If your family is enduring a difficult time, find a way to talk about it an age-appropriate manner
- Good Things Come to Those Who Wait. Delayed gratification is one of the hardest money lessons I think. I want to avoid that “buy now, pay later” mentality that could mire the boys in credit card debt later on. So, as much as I can, I reinforce the idea that waiting pays off. But remember that postponement of pleasure is a grown-up characteristic, learned from grown-ups.
- Teach your children that buying an experience (ie a trip to a theme park) brings much more happiness than a products (such as an ice cream). Saving for the experience may take longer or be harder, but it makes memories and makes the experiences so much better
- Give unexpected bonuses, if you kids have done something particularly well or been particularly helpful then give them a surprise reward.
ive tried to help my children and they do have a savings account but i think i need to practice what i preach , i cant save x
Our kids have a child’s card which I put money on every week and which they love using to purchase items online or when they go out. I also give them a little money in cash each week for the small things they may suddenly need (um, sweets etc!)
Some great tips on saving and my kids could really benefit from these, thanks for sharing 🙂
Great advice, both my children tend to save their money that they get for Christmas/Birthday and then spend mine!
Great ideas and I love the surprise rewards idea x x
Great savings tips , I encourage my son to save , he will be in 6 form soon eeek
Fab savings tips. I try to encourage mine to save. I put money in their bank from Christmas’s and Birthdays. I agree, setting a good example is a good way forward.
Great tips, lots there that I hadn’t considered. The older children have a card but they all save up if there is something they want in particular.
Great advice given, my lot are quite good savers and I think we are good role models for that. We are probably not a banks dream as we are always in credit! However we do have things we are saving for, currently it is a loft conversion!
some super tips! I have always been a saver and first bought my first canoe at 16 after saying for a while 🙂 my kids will have to save for big things too 🙂
There are some great tips here. I’ve always tried to teach my kids to save up for things that they want.
Oooh, these are fabulous tips! I’m pinning this to my Deliberate Parenting board. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo
Encouraging children to save is a great idea. My kids used to save their birthday and Christmas money. They loved changing their saved money at the airport into foreign currency and spending it on holidays. I have always put away some money a month and it’s surprising how quickly it builds up if you don’t touch it.
Great advise.
Both mine have a savings account which I put their birthday and Christmas money into, and add to during the year.
Pocket money they are allowed to choose what to do with but if they want a new toy etc they need to save for it
A great set of tips. My girls don’t get pocket money but they do have to ave half of any money they get sent as gifts
great tips – we’ve just been talking about hte importance of saving with the girls
These are excellent points Jen! I particularly like the idea of giving them interest on their money.
I think this is such an important lesson for children to learn x
Brilliant post. Will be coming back to this for sure. I need to follow these tips myself! I’m not great with money, although I’m getting better. But I can see Teen is terrible… blows all his on rubbish most of the time. I need to encourage saving x
My son is great at saving 🙂 Excellent tips. I was always encouraged to save and not use credit wherever possible.
I am so with you on this one. It is really so important to teach children the importance of saving at an early age.
Both my 2 have bank accounts but I think when they are little, making it visual is definitely better! Normally they want to waste any pocket money they get on plastic rubbish! However we have finally convinced older child (nearly 7!) to save her pennies up towards bigger and better toys 🙂 xx #weloveweekends
Great ideas! I plan to teach my boy how to save when he’s a bit older xx
These are all fabulous and comprehensive tips. Aaron’s too young for some of them but I discuss money with him all the time. Most common conversation being “you can only have 1, put one down” as I have always done this, he doesn’t argue. Will have to bookmark this post xx
Encouraging saving is important, but I’m a firm believer you are either a saver or a spender by nature (although we can each change that attitude if we try) my sister and I both grew up in the same house with the same life lessons yet she was a saver, and I spend anything I get. My kids are similar of the two boys my eldest spends as soon as he has it, my youngest saves and is very careful (the baby girl is a little young but is going the same route as her older brother).
Great tips – my daughter is really into saving but my son likes to spend everything as soon as he gets it!! I’m trying to help change his viewpoint though, so thank you for this, good inspiration here!
I have always tried to get my kids to save and my older two have been able to buy their first car with their savings
We have just started encouraging our two to save. They keep their pennies in their new wallets that Father Christmas gave them. You’ve got some great tips in this post. Thank you for sharing on #ThriftyThursday
I was not taught how to manage my finances when I was younger, and, as a result, I was not good at managing them as an adult. Now my husband and I teach our kids about finances. We keep them separate accounts for saving, spending, and charity. I haven’t thought of giving them bonus or interest payments. That would definitely encourage them to save more!
Thanks for sharing at Inspire Me Mondays!
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Wilf’s a little young for this but I am starting to teach him the value of money and that people have to work and save for it x