Teach your child about budgeting

It can be very frustrating when your child asks for a new toy the week after Christmas. They realize quite young that you can exchange money for nice things like sweets and toys, but it takes longer to see that it doesn't grow on trees. Teaching them about the value of money should start quite early.

Top tips

Here are some ways you can help teach your child about money:

Don't make it complicated. Make a cake out of dough and cut slices out to show how much money goes on each part of your household budget.

Point out prices when you're shopping and compare the cost of different brands. Your child may enjoy going through the receipt with you at home, ticking off items as you put them away. An older child could divide the total cost by the number of things you've bought to find out the median. In this way you can reinforce their math as well.

Give them an allowance, so they can save up for their own toy. This is effective in teaching math skills, and it gives them a sense of achievement.

Talk about credit cards, and how much a movie ticket is worth.

Explain business transactions. You could make a game out of trying to “sell” household items to each other.

Teach your children sound values about money. Your kids might ask 'rich' you are. Explain that for some people it's a struggle to have enough money to buy food and clothes, while others don't have to worry.