I don’t know who came up with the phrase “money doesn’t buy you happiness” but I have to say, I think they were only halfway there when they did. Why? Because whilst money doesn’t actually buy happiness as a commodity, having enough to get by on, does make life easier. And when you have some extra money available, it can make it much easier to create memories! We were asked to complete the Piggy Bank Challenge by Think Money and normally, I don’t do this sort of thing because a) I don’t do many competitions and b) it involved crafting. Thankfully, my Mum and Lovely Bloke were on hand as it was the summer holidays, so we embraced it and went with it.
Armed with a £30 Hobbycraft voucher and two cardboard pigs in the post, we’ve gone from this….
To…. <drumroll>
These two beauties!!! My contribution is writing this post and taking photos. The rest is all my Mum, Lovely Bloke and the boys.
We have come up with a Policeman Pig – he is here to look after our money and keep it safe. We also have a Chinese Fire Pig – he’s lucky and designed to bring us more money into our lives. You’ll note that the Policeman pig has a hat – this has been made using papier mache and there was custom drawing of handcuffs on by Daddy. William loved the sticking and gluing for a while, but got bored and wandered, before returning for the glory moments of helping Grandma. Elliott was really into it. He’s done most of this himself. Daddy has been recruited to envisage the fire and flames coming from the Chinese Fire Pig’s nose. And Elliott was particularly impressed with the bum of his Pig. No idea why, but he is.
The requirement for entering the competition, is to decorate the pigs and also, to come up with three top financial tips that we want our boys to grow up with. Of course, us being us, this has launched us into a series of conversations:
– What it means to be rich
– Are we ‘richer’ than Bob? Because Bob and his Mum and Dad go skiing every year as well as a summer holiday.
– Why is it a good idea to save money?
– How can we make good decisions about what we want to spend our money on?
– Why does everything cost so much? Especially Lego and Playmobil?
So for me, the things I want the boys to know are:
1. That you should always have skills which will enable you to generate your own income. I particularly like Lovely Bloke’s vision for the boys training as hairdressers in their teenage years – because wherever you go in the world, people always need a haircut. It can’t be ordered online and is a lifelong skill, so long as you have a pair of scissors and a comb!
As a working woman, it’s really important to me to work – it definitely is part of who I am and shapes my outlook on the world. I want the boys to have the opportunity to be self employed – to start their own businesses – because it will shape them and their lives.
2. Money isn’t solely to be spent and nor is it solely to be saved. There has to be a balance. Over the years, they’ll find this difficult and easy to do in equal measures. That’s part of learning how to manage all things money.
3. It’s ok to be frustrated with the world and how money makes things happen in it. Right now, we have an 8 year old who wants to give up his bedroom and have us bring some Syrian refugees to live in it, and have his spending money. He is so angry that there’s not enough food for everyone who needs it. He’s upset that there are people who don’t have houses to live in – in Cambridge, right where we live. I want them both to grow and see that money is a good thing and that it can cause a whole host of problems as well, so we have to handle it carefully.
This has been such a great activity to do together – we’ve really enjoyed it and it’s sparked all sorts of conversations – including how we should allocate the money if we do happen to win!!! Should William get an equal share as he wandered off for part of this? Should Daddy get more as he had the idea for the Policeman’s hat and the fire for the Chinese Fire Pig? And should I get a reward as I’ve been the one to bring it together? It’s all good for conversations and makes me want us to have more of them – so long as there’s no glue involved, we’ll all be fine!
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