Sneaky Saver

When I was a kid, I would go to the shops with my brothers but instead of using the money I had been given, I would abstain and only have a little nibble at what they bought. The pennies saved would go in my money box. Cheeky little bugger, huh?

My little brother came home from school the other day and declared he was embarking on a path of previously unchartered saving. Unchartered for him, since the concept of saving money does not really apply to children when the only thing they want to spend on is sweets, chocolates and chicken and chips. (Yuck!)

So what had brought on this bizzare change of attitude? It had been PSHCE day at school and they had learnt about saving money to satisfy ‘big wants’ instead of smaller wants. We listened in bemused silence as he laid out his plan to have saved £28,000 by the time he was 21. He seemed quite sure of his plan although it did have a few holes in it. I mean, why on earth did his school tell him that he can get a paper round job at the age of 13 when that job is practically non-existent? (In my area anyway.) However, I didn’t try to convince him otherwise as he seemed quite excited about his plan. I thought that whatever makes him stop browsing trainers websites like a zombie is a good thing.

Motivation is key to saving, especially as a child when you do not really know the true value for money. When I was young, my grandad gave my older brother and I a money box to put our pennies and pounds in. The aim was to save up for a holiday and it took a good few years before we finally decided to open them up. Obviously, the challenge was who had saved more as sibling rivalry was at it’s peak but I was happy to see that I had. Four hundred pounds! Being a cheeky clever little kid had helped!

My grandad built us a wooden money box each. Not as fancy as this one but cool nonetheless! Oh, and it was nailed shut so no chance of being tempted.

The difficulty kids these days face is that there are so many temptations. Annoyingly, they have become more into fashion so if they were to save, they may end up spending it on clothes. I mean, who spends money on clothes at the age of eleven! I still need to teach my little brother a few more of my tricks. For example, on Fridays my secondary school would finish early and my dad would give me some money to buy a chicken burger. Although I did this a few times, there came a day when instead of buying myself lunch, I’d keep the money and come home to a sandwich!

Now now, don’t laugh. I’m sure you must have had your own ways of sneakily saving, if so, share them with me. They could go a long way to helping my little brother reach his £28,000 target….

Until Next Time

A Worried Student