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​Teaching Kids to Budget by Charging Board - May 2018

​I have teenagers of my own now, but am still grateful to my mother for the board arrangements we had in place when I was in my first job. Essentially, I had to learn what it was like to budget both time and money. Rather than let me get off with just paying a flat, weekly board amount my mother said "you will live here rent free, but you will pay your way". This meant I paid half of each phone bill (only had landline in those days - these days it would be a matter of paying for your own mobile), I paid half of each electricity and gas bill, I paid my share of groceries, and of course I bought my own clothes and toiletries and paid for my own transport. There were two of us in the house, which is why my share was half - if you have more family members then the formula would be 1/3 or 1/4 or 1/5 - whatever equates to the number of people using the electricity and eating the food, etc. The advantage of this system was that I had to learn to be aware of when these bills were due and to set aside money for them. When I moved out of home I had a very good understanding of the implications of leaving lights on and letting the electricity usage creep up, I had a great understanding of shopping for specials rather than just buying my favourite things week by week. These skills put me in good stead for paying off my first mortgage. It's worth mentioning that I was also aware of the fact that I was living rent-free - so I quickly got a habit of setting aside a weekly amount equivalent to what I would have had to pay in rent if I was in a share-house and I saved that amount. The other thing that was expected of me when I had my first job was to pull my weight around the house. This meant I had to budget time as well as money. This was especially important in relation to things like laundry - because I needed clean clothes to wear to that first job! When my children finish school and get their first jobs I'd love them to still live with me - but I would also expect them to get the next part of their education: the time and money skills needed to operate a household.
Contributed by Jennifer Martin