Deciding when and how to give our children pocket money can be difficult. And then standing on the side-lines as they start to make their own financial choices can be painful. But it’s the beginning of their road to financial independence and it’s important to ensure that they start to grow good money habits from the beginning. Here is our story…
This story is part of our Pocket Money Series.
You can catch up on the beginning of our story here – Pocket Money: Helping Kids Make Important Choices.
Pocket Money: When You Can't Afford Both
Mummy (9 years parenting)
A dinosaur family? Really? Like he ever plays happy families. It’s all goody and baddy games. With Fred (the frog) constantly ending up in prison. Where said ‘prison’ changes quite frequently and could be anywhere. So, by bedtime, Luc has generally forgotten that Fred is in jail and which jail – and so we all begin the hunt for one of the smallest soft toys we have that he can’t possibly sleep without!
But I digress, it’s not bedtime and we are not currently hunting for Fred the frog. We are in a toy shop with Luc, weighing up the merits of buying another, identical soft-toy dinosaur for his dinosaur “family”.
Luc recently hit his 7th birthday (seriously my youngest is 7 already!). Which is the age that we start to give them a small amount of pocket money each month.
He has been planning this purchase for the last few months – his first big buy. He has saved each month (and charmed a bit extra from his Grandparents) to ensure that he would have enough money to buy a second teddy-dinosaur.
He is learning about saving up to be able to buy something – tick! He’s on the start of his money management journey, and I couldn’t be prouder.
So, what is the problem? The snake. The giant, soft, fun teddy-snake.
And the fact that I am suddenly feeling the conflict with him. Because I know he will play with both options. I know that both will become favourites. I know he’s going to have to make a choice and I really don’t want him to be disappointed.
I know what buyer’s regret is like and I want to protect him. But I also want him to learn and experience the pros and cons of having money, saving money and spending money. That’s the point of giving him pocket money.
Deep down I really want to be able to say to him he can have both. And he’s looking at me – knowingly.
Let’s just say I’m not enjoying this new role as financial advisor to a 7-year-old.
So, I wait for him to make the decision – knowing that it’s got to be his decision. And at the least the dinosaur is small in comparison to the snake –
“I’m going to get the snake!” Tomos pipes up.
“And then I can play with it!” Luc is beaming. Tomos is already starting to formulate all the rules that Luc is going to have to follow to be able to play with said snake.
And you can probably already envision the arguments, disagreements and issues that this snake is now going to cause for the next few weeks.
Now I really want Luc to be able to have both. But I think it might be a bit soon to introduce him to the concept of the bank of Mum and Dad.
More Information About Pocket Money...
If you are thinking about pocket money but unsure where to start – here is an article about some good pocket money apps to get you started.
You can also read our 5 Ways to Empower your Child with Pocket Money for some practical ways to start thinking about your child’s financial journey.
More Family Stories...
For more family fun, head over to our Blog page to read more of our family stories. We cover stories from pocket money to sleep to rediscovering the magic of childhood.
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