Do Not Give Them Fish, Rather Teach Them To Fish

I had informed the kids earlier in the year that we were going to spend the Summer Vacation in London. I told them it would be a wise thing to start saving from their pocket money towards the trip.

Edirin, my eldest was the most excited, she promptly asked me for a safe since coins don’t work here and her Piggy Bank was built for coins. So I got her one the very next day.

Joshua decided he would keep his money in his Toy box and the duo bet on who would make the most savings. He later decided that wasn’t such a good idea and I offered to keep the money for him, so he agreed……

Uncle Dan’s visits were usually met with a lot of excitement, my brother always brought something for the Kids, and this Saturday, he had come as promised to take them out to see a movie but to his shock and mine, the Kids didn’t want to go, ”give us the money instead they cajoled, we are saving towards our vacation.

Hmmmm! I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears, I mean even I didn’t expect such commitment when I started them on this project, wow! I never thought I’d see the day the children will turn down going to the movies for anything.Hmmn, children will never cease to amaze me oo I tell you

Well, by the time we were travelling, Edrin and josh had done so well that hubby and I decided to add to the money to make it a round figure and have them split it equally. We also warned that once they had exhausted their savings, that was the end of shopping for them. No extras from us and to be fair we also had a budget  to strictly  keep to ,call it leadership by example.(wink,wink) 

The biggest testimony here is that while we shopped, they both considered an item to decide if it was what they really needed before buying it, Amazing! It is not easy to spend your hard  earned money and sacrifice so much for  just anyho, versus when Mum and dad are paying for the shopping, they just pick and pick! I found this very very interesting.

Who says Kids don’t have a sense of responsibility? They totally do, and if you start now to teach them how to save, and create wealth with their own hands, it will go miles in shaping their future.

Did I mention that Edirin and Joshua started washing Dad’s cars every Saturday so they could earn the money that would have been paid at the car wash?

Hmmm no be small thing o!

Right now, I brought a bigger safe which I placed in the lobby so everyone can drop their “change” in it, I hope by the end of the year when we open the safe, the savings there will be able to pay for our next vacation (Laugh) well maybe not but one thing I’m sure of is the saving culture has come to stay in our home so if you‘ve not started to teach your Kids to save, start today the benefits are enormous. By the way, it’s ok to open an account and save money for them, but also teach them to save, it will teach them discipline, it will teach them to value money, and when you value money, more money comes to you! It will also make them responsible at a very early age.

picture credit wkfn.com,freepik.com

Bless you and see you on our next vacation with your savings!   yes ,you Bet!

 Always yours in motherhood(sharing my thoughts)

Mimi Dogo