If you think it’s impossible to keep your retirement strategy on track because of your kids, think again. Here are some money-saving tips for Filipina mums.

In a book titled ‘Sheconomics’, authors Karen Pine and Simonne Gussen share some common sense advice to keep your bank account healthy even when you’ve got never-ending school expenses to think about. Here are seven tips to live by.

1) Give pocket money from around the age of five or six. Make it a fixed amount given on a set day, with no strings attached. It’s a way to teach them the finite nature of money and that it has to last until the next ‘pay day’.

2) Be careful about paying children to do chores. Washing dishes or cleaning their bedroom should be seen as their contribution to the household.

3) Get them involved in the household budget. Tell older children the limit you’ll pay for a holiday or you can take them grocery shopping and ask them to find the best value buys available.

4) If your children are around 10 or 12, replace pocket money with an allowance that give them more control over other expenses that you would normally take care of, such as shoes, school umbrella, stationery and so on. You’ll be amazed how their attitudes change over that expensive toy or runners once they see how those choices reduce the amount left for other needs.

5) Don’t talk about your money problems in front of your kids. They cannot help you with your financial worries.

6) Instead of saying ‘We can’t afford that’, challenge your kids to find ways they can afford things they need, either by shopping around for better deals or selling their unwanted stuff.  

7)  Don’t lavish money on babies. In the first few months, they have trouble picking you out from other human beings. Instead of getting them expensive clothes, set the money aside for their ‘first year in school’ expenses.

Source: Sheconomics, $24.99 at most retail stores

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Linda Barnes Alvarez

I am a 65 yr. old grandma. "Seven Tips to Grow Old W/Money" gave me a chance to recollect how I dealt w/ my childrens' pocket money etc. in the Phils. 3 yrs in Australia, my husband died and we all learned the Finite Nature of Money. My 3 children "worked" to finish universities & have their own families.With faith in God & prayers I am stretching every dollar till next pension day.

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