SuperKid Savers Campaign: Teaching Kids about the Art of Saving

MoneySupermarket is launching a SuperKid Savers Campaign, a kids’ saving challenge aimed at encouraging the next generation of savvy savers.

Leading by Example:

I always liked saving money from a very young age. When I was little, my mum would give me and my brother a monthly allowance to spend on sweets, chocolates, treats and toys. We could choose what we would spend our money on, but we were not given much. My brother would spend his monthly allowance in a matter of days, but I always managed to stretch it until the end of the month and even save some of it.

My first purchase from my savings was a lipstick case with a mirror inside when I was around 10 years old. I saw it while I was out shopping with my mum, I checked how much it was and I was determined to save enough money to buy it one day. Little by little, I managed to save the exact amount to buy my dreamed lipstick case and asked my mum to take me to the shop to finally purchase it. It was such a great feeling of achievement when I took my very own lipstick case home, I still remember it today how happy I felt that day.

From that day, I learnt the power of saving, the art of sacrificing today for something bigger and better tomorrow. My next purchase was an electronic organiser, it was pretty cool in the 90s and quite expensive. Ever since my childhood, I have been saving for bigger purchases and I consider myself a savvy saver.

Where Money Comes From:

From my own experience of saving, I am teaching my three and half year old boy the same principles I learnt. He is aware that we need money to buy what we need from the shops and that we also need to work to earn money.

My little boy is still young, but he is aware of the value of money. If we are out and he asks me to get him a toy, I explain to him that I can’t buy it as I don’t have enough money for it. I rarely buy any toys on the spot while we are out. Instead, I will surprise him on his birthday or Christmas with his desired toy. The smile on his face is just priceless!

A friend of mine thinks I am being harsh, but I believe I’m teaching him to save for himself and earn what he wants. It is often more enjoyable when we earn something, rather than when it is handed to us on a silver platter.

Savings:

When little man was born, we set up a Child Trust Fund for him. Besides, little man has a savings account where his birthday money is put away and child tax credit goes by direct debit every month. He is not aware of it yet as we are planning on using this money for his university fees when he grows up.

However we do take little man to the bank when we are paying bills or paying in some cash to our savings account. We constantly tell him that we need to put money away and that we should go to the bank to do so.

For now, little man has a money box in order to teach him how to save. Little man was given a piggy bank on his birthday and we explained to him that he needs to save if he wants to purchase something. From the day we told him that he should store coins in his piggy bank, he has been searching the house for coins. Once he finds a coin, he runs to one of us and asks if he can put it in his money box. We usually say yes and then he runs to store away his coins in a flash.

Look after the pennies:

My advice is to teach children from a young age the art of saving, by showing them how powerful saving can be and what they could purchase out of their savings.

The way I learnt to manage my monthly allowance during my childhood has helped me to look after my finances now that I am an adult. I shall pass it on to my child so he can carry this skill through life with him.

My main tip is to teach kids to truly “look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”.

By educating our child that little by little they can save up to whatever they would like to buy, we are instilling good saving habits and educating little man about saving.

So far, little man is very good at saving and we hope that he carries on like this (or improve) throughout his life!

This is my entry to Moneysupermarket.com SuperKid Savers Challenge.