Soon, half of her summer vacation has passed, and in about a month the next school year will begin. Families in which there are sons and daughters, for whom the issue concerns, should prepare for this, inter alia, from the financial aspect.
For those families who are already in the ongoing process of managing their household budget, this preparation is part of the ongoing process, and for those who have not yet started, it is an opportunity to start. The question often arises whether and how to involve children in such processes. The answer is yes, and for each age a different level of involvement is appropriate. The process itself has added value both for the financial management of the household and for preparing the children to make informed financial decisions in the future.
So what do you need to prepare financially for the start of the year?
List of planned expenses. Examples include: expenses before the start of the year, textbooks, equipment such as notebooks, binders, stationery, school uniforms, sportswear, monthly expenses such as classes, hobbies, pocket money and more. In each of the types of expenses, it is proposed to attach a cost estimate to the family. Data can be found both in networks and in data transmitted to parents by bodies such as schools or the organizers of extracurricular activities and activities. In general, when making expenses, market research and wise consumerism are important.
The impact on the budget is both expenses that are part of the preparations for the start of the school year and expenses that are repeated every month. When the data is ready, it's a good idea to schedule each child's meeting with their parents to view the data, and then convene a joint meeting of all family members to present and discuss the overall data.
An important aspect to emphasize is the distinction between needs and desires. This distinction is something that can be imparted to children - of course not in one day.
Showing all family members, both the data of each child individually, and the overall impact, may well lead to the need to reduce certain expenses for all or some of the children. In these cases, parental information and transparency vis-à-vis family members are very important.
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