Parenting tips about money and tidyness

We are often asked for what our top advice would be to parents – so here are 10 practical tips on how to help your children learn about money.

Being tidy can help you be more successful and plan goals

1) Have a conversation.

Talk to your children about money. It sounds simple, but this is the most effective way to help your children understand personal finance. Explain how you arrive at financial decisions, what’s in your budget (or if you don’t have one, why not do one together?) and how different aspects of dealing with money make you feel.

2) Don’t forgot about physical cash

Show younger children the coins and notes you have in your purse or wallet and ask them to help you count them. Talk about the different sizes, colours and numbers on them and how many different coins and notes there are altogether.

3) Explain how money is earned

Talk to them where money comes from. We’re an increasingly cashless society, and thanks to the invention of cashback it’s easy for children to assume that the supermarket is the source of all of your funds. Showing your child your payslip and explaining what you had to do to find employment are good ways of building financial understanding. For older children you can look at the deductions made from the gross pay, and what they might be used for.

4) Explore the difference between need and want

Explain the difference between needs and wants. Contrast examples of goods they need every day, such as food and clothing, and items or toys they might want, but don’t need. This is a great way of introducing the concept of saving and the need to exercise restraint in their spending, as well as helping them to understand that sometimes times will be hard and you won’t be able to afford everything everyone wants.

5) Set Savings Challenges

If you give your child pocket money or an allowance, talk to them about setting a savings target and encourage them to adopt good habits early. This is a good opportunity to introduce ideas around keeping your money safe and planning for the future.

6) Involve them in the weekly shop

As you go around the supermarket, ask your children to choose the best-value combinations of set products and get them to do the adding up as you go from aisle to aisle. As well as learning valuable lessons, your new helpers can make your job easier at the same time.

7) Talk about different ways to pay

Talk about the different ways of paying for things – from cash and traditional debit or credit cards, to paying with contactless cards or even using your mobile phone. Have they seen any of these in action? Talk about some of the pros and cons of payment methods – e.g. using a contactless card is quick and easy, but there’s a limit to how much can be spent in one transaction (currently £30).

8) Highlight the importance of security

Highlight the importance of keeping our personal details safe and secure, and not to share the passwords or PINs we use with others. If we think a password or PIN has been copied or guessed by someone we should change it as soon as possible.

9) Involve them in spending decisions

Involve them in appropriate spending decisions, such as buying a new computer or a kitchen appliance. Making real life spending and saving decisions about even small amounts of money can help children to understand more about managing their money.

10) Show them the cost of running a home

Look at utility bills together to explore the cost of running a home, can they help to manage the household budget? See if they can find any savings that could be made!

More on money and the importance of being tidy at home.

Your room is the place where you start and end your day. Whether you are aware of it or not, the physical space in which you live and spend a lot of your time has an important role to play in how we behave. Having a bedroom in such a messed state can have a variety of effects on your life. Our mind cannot live completely independent from our environment; therefore, keeping the room tidy, organized, and clean is significant. A straightened room with a made bed and pile-free floor will not only bring happiness and organization to your life, it will also change your life!

1. Teaching children about money: Start early by giving them an allowance and helping them understand the value of money. Encourage them to save, spend, and give to charity. Teach them to budget and make smart spending decisions.
2. Encouraging tidiness: Set clear rules and expectations for keeping their space tidy. Help them develop a system for organizing their belongings, such as designated places for toys, clothes, and school supplies. Make sure they understand the importance of keeping their space clean and the consequences of not doing so.
3. Lead by example: Children often mimic the behavior of their parents, so make sure to practice what you preach. If you want your children to be tidy and responsible with money, you need to demonstrate that behavior yourself.
4. Making it fun: Creating a rewards system for children for keeping their rooms clean and for saving money can make it more fun for them.
5. Encourage responsibility: Give children age-appropriate tasks and responsibilities, such as making their bed or doing their own laundry, so they learn to take care of their belongings and understand the importance of keeping things in order.