We all know how important it is to teach children financial responsibility, and as they grow up, they should know about personal finance. Parents or guardians have various ways of instilling this knowledge into their kids or wards. A resourceful mother of three from the UK, known as Milly, has gained attention for her own ways. Milly, known as Budgetwithmilly on TikTok, has gained attention for charging her children rent, food costs, and utilities. Her method has sparked curiosity and discussions on parenting and money management strategies.
Children and Personal Finance
Personal finance is a knowledge that should be taught to children. Parents should talk to their children about money and how to spend wisely, but many don’t.
A 2022 CNBC + Acorns Invest survey carried out a research. They surveyed 1,149 parents and asked them questions. The reports show that only 15% talked to their kids about household finances more than once a week. About 13 percent discussed money with their children once a week, and 16% did so once a month.
Personal Finance: Surveys and Statistics
Reports from the survey showed more statistics. Another 24% of the parents surveyed said they talked about money with their kids less often, and an astounding 31% said they never had these conversations at all.
Milly said in an interview that her mom never taught her or her two siblings anything about managing money. “My mom didn’t know anything about finances,” Milly said. “She was in debt, lost her job, and at times we were homeless. Most times, we lived in a bed and breakfast and went through other hardships.”
Teaching Children Personal Finance
Milly learned all about finances independently and wanted to teach her children. She didn’t want Stiffany, Hannah, and Jordan to be as clueless as she was when she was their age.
Her children are between 8 and 12 years old, so she taught them what she had learned on her own. “I didn’t want my kids to have the same struggles with money. My siblings and I faced money problems with our mom; I don’t want them to face that,” she explained.
The Inception of Milly’s Idea
“I started this method when I was thinking of ways to teach them about finances,” Milly said. The idea came from wanting to teach them about paying bills. “We wanted them to learn about managing money. So we charge them £1 each for rent, food, and utilities.
Milly did not just ask them to bring this money from nowhere. Neither did she ask them to go out to work for the money. Milly asked her children to bring the money from their £5 weekly allowance. Stiffany, Hannah, and Jordan are usually paid for doing chores around the house,” Milly explained.
How To Improve Your Financial Situation
There’s a saying that goes, “Experience is the best teacher.” Milly knows the ordeals she faced when she had little knowledge about personal finance. She learned from the experience. Milly strongly believes in the importance of managing and growing your money.
She advises, “To improve your financial situation, you should learn how to make money. You should also know how to spend it wisely. “In order to keep the money flowing, you need to find ways to increase it.”
Personal Finance Rules
Milly has always tried to teach her kids important financial lessons. After she talked about how she taught her children, she got a few questions. She explained, “Charging my kids for rent, food, and utilities helps them. It allows them to learn the value of money and how to plan their finances. However, she wants to go beyond that.
“We also want to help them understand money. We want them to know how to use their money wisely by investing, saving, and spending,” she said.
Milly’s Responsibilities to Her Kids
As a mother, Milly feels a strong responsibility to her kids. As a mother of three, she feels it’s her responsibility to teach her children about money and finances. She believes that without her help, they won’t learn these essential skills, and not knowing these skills could make their adult lives harder.
She points out that schools don’t teach kids how to handle real-world money issues. As a result, many young adults struggle to manage their finances, living from paycheck to paycheck and accumulating a lot of debt.
Teaching Children Personal Finance: A Viral Video
Milly not only chose to use her methods for her kids, she decided to share them with others. Her choice to have her kids pay bills from a young age has faced criticism on social media. The TikTok video went viral, and it got a lot of comments from many people. In response to her TikTok video explaining her method, one person commented, “So you decide to have a kid and then charge them rent before they’re 18?” Another asked, “What do you do if they can’t pay?”
Milly didn’t just get negative comments. Not everyone disagreed with her methods. Some people supported her. One person said, “This is great. Your kids will learn to prioritize bills over luxuries when they grow up.”
Milly’s Personal Finance Lesson For All
The approach she used helped her children make monetary decisions. She shared her video because she wants other children to have the knowledge, too. Milly’s video is not just a message or lesson for kids. She hopes her video helps parents understand how they can prepare their children for a successful future.
“I believe our kids have gained a lot from this,” she said. “It will help them in the future by teaching them not to fear managing money. Not just fear, it will also help them make the right decisions wherever they find themselves. They will be able to handle their daily expenses, avoid debt, and manage their finances well.”