Kids' Corner
Getting pocket money has always been something to look forward to. Many years ago, I was given a small box from my godmother. It had a slot in it, in which coins could be inserted. But, I had to take it to the bank to have it opened. At the bank, I was able to open an account with the money I had saved in the money box. I tried to save as much as possible, because I liked taking the box to the bank. Watching the lady counting the money and then adding the amount to my account was great fun. I used to go into the bank to take money out of my account when I wanted to buy a birthday present for my Mum and Dad. Also, I took some money out when I was going on holiday.
That was how I started saving money. Eventually, I began to do small jobs for my Mum and Dad and neighbours. They paid me for doing them. I delivered newspapers in the morning and worked on a lorry delivering bottles of lemonade on Friday nights. I was paid for these two jobs and the only money I would spend, was on the Friday night. I would buy a fish supper and eat it on the way home, after being dropped off at the chip shop, by the lemonade lorry.
The rest was saved. I always wanted to have saved more than my older brother.
Of course, by this time I was not using the money box very much, as I had more notes than coins. I still got my pocket money though. It was great.
I started selling programmes at the two football stadiums in Edinburgh, where I lived. This meant that I had work every Saturday and not just every second Saturday, because each team played at home every second week. I started saving a lot more money.
Today, putting money in a bank is still the easiest way to save.
The banks and building societies offer many different types of accounts, some with free gifts, to encourage you to save. As well as banks, there are other ways to save money. However, it is wise to divide your savings into two areas. You should have one place for money you need to use for birthdays and holidays. You should also have another place for money you do need immediately.
The place you save money that you may need to get hold of quickly is called short term. This can be money for Cds, books, games, clothes or perhaps birthday presents.
The other place you save may be for things like a holiday, your first car or any larger item that you might wish to buy, in the future. This could be as much as 5 years away. This is called longer term.
If you wish to save for the longer term, look beyond bank and building society accounts. One place where people invest money for the long term called the stockmarket. To see how a stockmarket works, go to the "stockmarket – made easy" section of the website.
Many different companies offer a way into the stockmarket, quite cheaply. Each month, you could give part of your money to one of those companies to look after for you. Because investments in stockmarkets move up and down, any investment must be for the longer term. It would be no use having money invested something where, if you need the money, the value is less than you have invested. This can happen in a stockmarket. But, if you can afford to leave the money for a few years, this will be much better.
So, my advice is to start doing little jobs and saving money. If you decide that a longer term investment is right for you, drop me an e-mail and I will send out our fact sheet on "making my pocket money grow".