Today is day one of the school and pre-school summer holidays and apart from the two days a week that Taylor will be with his childminder I’ll have both boys at home. I’ll be working throughout the hols and as ever am supremely thankfully that I am my own boss and that I’ll be able to work flexible hours around the kid. There will be many early mornings and late nights over the next six weeks but I like a challenge and previous summers haven’t beaten me yet!
Due to changes with husband’s job recently we’ll have to tighten our belts somewhat over the coming months however being of a moneysaving mind anyway and being no stranger to frugal living we see this as a challenge as opposed to something negative.
I’ll keep posting as we move through the summer about saving money on food, treats, activities for the boys and more and perhaps some of these posts will be useful for others?
Here’s to a fabulous fun and frugal family summer holiday!
Dropping down a brand, shopping around, meal planning and being clever with leftovers are all part of how we are saving money this summer.
Very quickly after you’ve found yourself immersed in nappies and sloppy smiles your in-built parenting alarm starts sounding off once you have kids which alerts you to all of the things that you never actually thought you would need to think and worry about. The list is vast and ranges from health to school to development to just about everything that will touch your child’s life between their birth and your death!
Today I’m talking about the parenting worry that is their financial future.
It will come as no surprise to anyone that the UK has had a fairly shocking time of it in recent years. While we seem to be clawing our way back up from a fairly bleak time economically it’s safe to say that few of us are as complacent about our finances as we once might have been.
Our boys both have a CTF (Child Trust Fund) which we have continued to invest in and savings books of their own which we have given them to use to build their own savings for things that they want. Taylor is three and at the moment his is used mainly for birthday money and such-like which we can use to buy treats from those who send him pennies yet Kieran uses his more proactively, being seven now (or nearly eight as he keeps reminding me).
Kieran has a money jar and he puts all of his pennies and pocket money and basically anything he can get his hands on into it. When it starts to build up he trots off down to the bank to pay his money in. He loves doing this himself and I love that he values saving up for things. When he has the “right” amount saved up for whatever Lego or Minecraft treat he must have next he withdraws and buys it. I love that at seven (nearly eight) years old he understands the importance of saving up for what you want and that he enjoys doing it. This sort of attitude will help protect him financially as he moves into adulthood, regardless of what the economy looks like then and we hope to teach Taylor the same lessons about savings.
Before long we will be talking to Kieran about having some extra savings with Santander, an account where he can save up for when he is an adult. Perhaps he’ll put a percentage of his money jar cash in there and keep the rest for his “normal” savings. He’ll have CTF savings coming his way when he hits eighteen which I hope goes towards a car, driving lessons, a flat deposit or similar however we also want him to have long term savings that he contributes to so that saving for now as well as later becomes second nature.
Sadly we can’t control what the future holds for the boys completely however we are determined that financially they will be well versed in the importance of both long and short term savings and that they have the knowledge needed to manage their finances properly.
Kieran’s home savings pots has been emptied into his savings account and is now being refilled!
*Written in co-operation with the mentioned business yet my thoughts, feelings and experiences relating to this post are entirely my own.
