Dear big man,

Today I asked you about money and here is what you said:

A house costs £300
A car costs 100p
If you had all the money in the world you would buy a rocket
Daddy earns £6 a day
The richest person you know is David Beckham
Money comes from Great Britain

I think we can safely say that you have a lot to learn about money in the years ahead, but although you don't technically know David Beckham, he is very well off! At the moment you are a bit too young to fully appreciate the value of money so this is for you to read in a few years time.

So where shall I start? Well let's get one thing straight. Money does not grow on trees. Ok, ok big man, my little scientist, the notes are paper so they kind of grow on trees, but it is an expression. You earn money through hard work. When you go out into that big wide world and start earning for yourself you will understand the importance of saving and how money is much harder to come by than you may now think.

If I had to give you one lesson about money it would be to "look after your pennies and the pounds will look after themselves." Your Daddy isn't great at looking after his pennies. He leaves his lose change lying around on the sideboard and I use it for our days out. But that isn't the meaning of the phrase.You need to think about the things that you buy. Do you really need it? Can you afford it? By all means go and get a credit card, but pay it off in full each month. Don't live off credit, it is expensive. If you can't afford to do it then don't. You need to save for things and it makes them more enjoyable when you can do them. Look at what you are spending and where you are wasting money. If you have signed up for a gym, do you actually go? How much food are you throwing away because it has gone out of date? Do you actually watch the 100's of TV channels that you pay out for each month?

Money helps you buy nice things and do nice things. If you look after those pennies you will have pounds to spend. But one last piece of advice. Make sure you spend it! There is no point having lots of money that you don't enjoy. Life is precious and far too short. Memories are more important than a stack of cash in the bank.

You are a sensible young man so I am sure you will be fine. I must now go and see whether Daddy has left any change on the dresser, and maybe we could go to soft play.

Love you always

Mummy


This is my entry to the Think Money competition