Teaching Them to Save Early

There is a lesson I am intentionally passing on to my kids now that they are still tender, with the motive of them growing with this lesson.

It's about practicing savings as a culture and teaching not to spend everything but rather to grow up consciously practicing savings. It wasn't something I grew up with. I wasn't taught that by my parents, but it's good enough that my kids have the opportunity to learn certain things I wasn't privileged to learn back then as a child, and they are also being exposed to certain things I wasn't being exposed to as a child. I think that's the prayer of every parent: for their kids to know and grow better than them.

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When I was a child, money came in and went within the blink of an eye unless my mom forcefully collected it from me. During the Christmas season, when most of my uncles and cousins, aunts, and other distant relatives are back home for the celebration, they usually gift my siblings and me enough money to even pay my school fees in primary school back then, but the manner in which we spend it all within a few days baffles me as I think about it now.

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Even though I didn't earn the money myself back then but was gifted the money, there is a need to understand that there is something called savings. No adult around me then took the responsibility to teach me that; other than snatching the money away from me when they can, when they cannot, I sneak out to spend it all on biscuits and lollipops, lol. Intentional spending to me is what savings is all about.

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This realization is what pushed me to start educating my kids all about money and savings so they could grow with a different mindset as early as possible. That money entered your hands doesn't mean it must go!!. No, not all money must go on automatic spending. I ensure that they understand it in relation to savings.

Like this holiday season, most of their uncles, cousins, and aunts gifted them money, and I resisted their urge to buy something immediately. It shouldn't spent today, it can simply wait! . This brought about our local piggy bank project at home.

I brought out some empty cartons in my store and asked my second son to craft a piggy bank with them using scissors and cello tape. It wasn't something fancy, but it served the purpose. Take a look at it here, a handmade piggy bank made of a carton, lol.

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Now, whenever they receive money for doing work in my factory or they are being gifted, they save it there. It has become a competitive practice in my home on who will save pass another, and I love that they no longer rush to spend it on snacks but to save. Nothing is wrong with them enjoying themselves with snacks, but I love to see them understand balance in everything.

At times they ask Mummy, Should I save this one? And question like this show their awareness of their teachings and little growth.

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The money in their piggy bank is not much yet, just about $1 each, but having the savings culture is what matters to me, especially in my country, where our economy is always fluctuating. If they learn to save a dollar today, they have learned the same discipline of saving $100 tomorrow. Over time, this savings culture is built, and practicing consistently saves the day.

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Overall, I am not trying to raise children who wouldn't be spenders at all but rather kids who will think right before spending. Imagine if they grow up to know that money can be kept and planned for what to use it for; that's a big plus on my part. The handmade piggy bank might be too local, but the lessons it carries have a whole lot of impact.

Images are mine!