When I was invited by Britmums to be a beta tester for the new http://www.pktmny.com I found the whole idea very appealing. My children are still quite young at 9 and 6 but I want them to learn from an early age the value of saving money and sticking to a budget. They have traditional savings accounts but I control these for them as the money is needed for things such as swimming lessons and big treats.
I have never yet managed to establish a system for regular pocket money and it was always a bit adhoc and was never the same amount each week! In fact I was guilty of giving them more than they deserved in the form of magazines and small treats when out. This new site allows me to set an automatic minimum payment each week that they get paid into their accounts without me having to remember to do it.
The extra tasks that earn extra money are easy to set up and I agreed with the children a fair amount for things like washing up or tidying their rooms. The good thing about this is that they really have to earn their spending money. So if they want to be able to afford something like a new magazine they need to either wait until they the basic money builds up or get busy with household chores.
My 6 year old still thinks that if his account has £5 in it then he has to spend it straight away. On the other hand my 9 year old has become much more savvy about choosing what to use her debit card to buy. She feels so grown up going into a shop and using her own debit card.
The good thing is I can adjust the maximum amount allowed to spend so that if they really wanted something above their normal allowance and have saved up then I can allow them to spend more. The fact that I can help them learn to budget is a great thing to do as a family. I know myself the dangers of credit cards so I think that starting young with a debit card is a brilliant idea.
As they grow older then the allowances they have will grow with their needs, abilities and willingness to do chores! It's such a simple yet flexible idea. I look forward to continuing to help my children learn to manage their own money better than I did!
This post is part of a project with BritMums, sponsored by PKTMNY, highlighting it's launch (http://www.pktmny.com). The new tool allows parents to easily pay and monitor their children's pocket money online, whilst allowing their children to earn, save, spend and manage their money in a totally safe and fun way.
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