Aunty Em
Well-Known Member
Personally I think kids have it too easy these days. When I was 14 most of my friends worked for their pocket money/weekly allowance. Now you're lucky in any of them do.
When I got my first weekend job my parents stopped giving me money and I had to pay for schoolbooks, pens, etc., personal toiletries and tights out of my wages. How I spent it was up to me and if I wanted to go to the pictures or buy trendy clothes I had to do that myself too. They still fed me and bought my basic wardrobe but the rest was my reponsibility. So I learnt to budget effectively. If I wanted extra I had to work extra hours to get it.
Now I know this was because I don't come from a privileged background, there were 4 kids and money was always tight, but it was the best education for life I could have had, in my opinion. And because my friends were all in the same boat I never resented it, it was just the way things were. I had a post office account to save for the things that I wanted.
These days most kids just seem to get cash thrown at them for no effort. Personally I think that's wrong cos they never learn the true value of money or how to manage their finances properly for adult life. And yes, I did get my finances in a mess at one stage, but I sorted it out, not my parents, and I learnt a valuable lesson about no overstretching your credit limits and I haven't been "in the red" since I was 25. I've had credit agreements, but my bank account has always been "in the black", even if it was only a couple of pounds.
When I got my first weekend job my parents stopped giving me money and I had to pay for schoolbooks, pens, etc., personal toiletries and tights out of my wages. How I spent it was up to me and if I wanted to go to the pictures or buy trendy clothes I had to do that myself too. They still fed me and bought my basic wardrobe but the rest was my reponsibility. So I learnt to budget effectively. If I wanted extra I had to work extra hours to get it.
Now I know this was because I don't come from a privileged background, there were 4 kids and money was always tight, but it was the best education for life I could have had, in my opinion. And because my friends were all in the same boat I never resented it, it was just the way things were. I had a post office account to save for the things that I wanted.
These days most kids just seem to get cash thrown at them for no effort. Personally I think that's wrong cos they never learn the true value of money or how to manage their finances properly for adult life. And yes, I did get my finances in a mess at one stage, but I sorted it out, not my parents, and I learnt a valuable lesson about no overstretching your credit limits and I haven't been "in the red" since I was 25. I've had credit agreements, but my bank account has always been "in the black", even if it was only a couple of pounds.