Since starting Primary One this year, one of the things that Noey has been most excited about is the fact that he now gets an allowance. Yes, real money which he can use to buy whatever he wants! “I’m rich!” he said delightedly just the other day while jingling his coins in his coin pouch before heading to school.
With him now having to manage his own money on a daily basis, I am realising a bit belatedly that money management in the form of saving and budgeting is something I maybe should have started a little earlier. My children are very fortunate and while I do not think we are indulgent parents, the fact is that they do often get the things that they want, from small treats to big presents. If not from us, then from their doting grandparents and relatives and our generous friends. It is probably not surprising then that they don’t have much of a concept of the value of money. “But why can’t we buy this?” is their frequent response when I turn down their requests. It is an ongoing process teaching them that the bank doesn’t just give you as much money as you want (though wouldn’t it be nice if they did!), and distinguishing between wants and needs.
Managing money can be a little daunting for children, especially if they can’t quite count, or add and subtract quickly. At 6 years of age, Noey is fairly adept that these, but even then on the first day of school, he totally overspent his budget by first buying a drink that left him too little money to buy real food in the canteen. It awoke me to the fact that I needed to teach him how to apportion his money and ensure that he had some left over everyday to save. And he hasn’t even discovered the school bookshop yet!
We’ve been making some small steps. Upon my suggestion, Noey bought food first on the second day of school and was delighted to have money left over to put in his money box at home. He has since decided that just drinking water from his water bottle instead of buying a drink is a better option. His eyes have truly been opened to the possibilities. In fact, his mind has raced so far ahead in thinking of how to accumulate his growing wealth that he recently came up with this gem:
“Papa,” he said, “I think when I grow up, I’m not going to buy a house. I’m just going to live in your house for a long time. Then when I have children, I will make them buy a house then I will go live in their house!”
Well. I might have something to say about you intending to sponge off us for the rest of your life, young man!
Seeing how he is keen to save more money in a short time, these are some of the things that we’ve been doing to help him better manage his money and encourage a saving habit:
- Familiarise him with the canteen menu. Since this is where he will be spending most of his money, it was important that he knows how much food costs so that he would be able to make an educated choice. For this, I snapped photos of the menus of different stalls and went over the menus and prices with him at home.
- Set saving expectations. Since he is getting a daily allowance of $2 for school, we have told him that we expect him to save at least 50 cents of that everyday. I think setting a daily saving goal would help him to cultivate the habit of making sure that he has some money to save everyday.
- Take stock of his savings together. At the end of the week, we dig out his savings and switch his coins for notes. I think this helps Noey see that his money is growing as he gets more notes in bigger denominations. He is certainly excited about that!
- Introduce him to the bank. I started a bank account for him to save his ang pow money when he was little. Since he is now actively saving, he has started to show a bit more interest in the bank so I took the opportunity to show him his bank book and explain how a bank works (savings, interest, investments, etc.).
And speaking of the bank, I was pleased to learn that POSB will be bringing back the POSB National School Savings Campaign in a big way this year to kids like Noey learn the value of saving. Like any child of the 70s and 80s, I grew up with the ubiquitous Smiley the Squirrel as my saving companion. Well, he’s been the face of POSB over the past few years and this year, he’ll be returning to his roots to front this campaign!
The POSB National Schools Savings Campaign is a 10-month long initiative by POSB, supported by the MOE, to encourage primary school students to save. The key elements are the POSB National Schools Savings Stamps and Savings Stamp Card, which will be used as tools for saving. The money the children save from their daily expenditure can be used to buy Savings Stamps (S$0.50 each), which will be sold at, Pacific or Popular school bookstores and at SingPost outlets during the period of this campaign. Collect these stamps on the Savings Stamp Card and when the card is completed with 20 x S$0.50 stamps, students can then deposit the stamp card into any POSB/DBS Quick Cheque Deposit location.The bank will credit the full value of the stamp card (S$10) into the child’s account PLUS A $1 BONUS!! (This bonus is limited to one stamp card per child, per month and valid only for POSBkids account holders).
Personally, I think this is a great idea as it teaches kids to focus on a long-term goal, with a reward in the form of bonus cash. I can see it being an eye-opener to my children about how saving in a bank and interest work too. I know though that my son will probably consider the best part the fact that he gets to collect stickers! The added responsibility of looking after his card with also be good for him to teach him to be more careful with his things.
Not all schools are on-board with this campaign yet but I’m certainly hoping they will be bringing it to Noey’s school! If you think this campaign is something you’d be keen to have at your child’s school, do visit the pledge site here to find out more and to register your support to help bring this campaign to more schools in Singapore. You can also pick up the POSB National School Savings stamp card at any POSB/DBS branch, SingPost outlets and at Pacific or Popular bookstores in schools from 2 February 2015 onwards. I know I’ll be popping down to pick one up for both Noey and Mei and help Noey get started on his wealth accumulation plan. You can sign up for an ePOSBkids account here if your child doesn’t have one already.
As Smiley used to say, Save Now and Save Wisely! If you have any good tips on encouraging a saving habit, do share them with me in the comments!
* This post was sponsored by POSB. All opinions and tales remain, as always, strictly my own.
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