DEBTAWARE’S YOUNG LEARNERS GIVE US THEIR TOP TIPS FOR CHRISTMAS SPENDING

Chris Langrick has been talking to schoolchildren on the DebtAware’s Money Skills for Life education programme about festive budgeting and found staggering levels of good sense!

We have made it a priority this year to support efforts by money education charity DebtAware and others to improve financial literacy in the young. In a recent initiative to mark Talk Money Week 2018 children were asked to come up with their top 10 tips for spending money at Christmas. Over 350 children got involved and six were chosen as wise winners earning themselves £50 each in the process. One of those was Dominic Januzzek, age 9, from Clayton Brook Primary School near Chorley who shared these insights!

1. Always think about how much the price of the gift is and make sure it is not too much.
2. Limit yourself on how much you are spending. This depends on how much money you have and how much you want to spend.
3. Think about the person you are giving the gift to and think hard about whether the gift is right for them.
4. Go to many different shops and look for the present you want, so you can spend the least amount of money possible.
5. If you had a toy that you didn’t use much and you know someone else wants, give it to them because then you don’t have to buy a new present.
6. If you can’t find the gift you were looking for then you could use the things you have in your house to build or make something the receiver will enjoy.
7. Rather than giving the person a present or if you have run out of money you could simply give them a voucher saying that you will do something nice for them. You should do this especially for an older person living on their own for this is giving them company and maybe relaxation time which they don’t get if they are alone.
8. For next Christmas, so you don’t run out of money, each month you should put a little bit of money away and then when it comes to Christmas you will be able to buy a nice gift for everyone.
9. Cut down the spending and if you have run out of money quite quickly in previous years then you could only buy for the children in the family. This depends on the size of your family though.
10. If everyone has agreed to visit your house for Christmas dinner, then you could ask them to contribute to the meal, this way you are hosting, yet you don’t have to spend as much money.

DebtAware is a pioneering and engaging financial education charity which offers a unique 6-module Money Skills for Life programme aimed at years 5 and 6 in primary schools. The Christmas tips owe much to key learnings from that programme including the difference between needs and wants! If you are interested in knowing more or want to get involved in our fund-raising activities please get in touch info@langricks.com or sign up to our newsletter.

Merry Christmas!