Thursday, April 13, 2006

Baby’s first banking transaction

We spent yesterday afternoon counting my daughter’s loot. That is, we counted her coin collection and separated the 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cent coins. Then we put each pile of denominations in separate plastic bags to take to the bank. The fortune amounted to R38.90 but very heavy ( most of the money was in the 5 cent denomination)

The coins were part of a collection owned by a relative who decided to give it to baby when he moved out of town.

She’s taking the money to the bank today to exchange them for notes and high denomination coins. It will be her first banking transaction.

An older cousin will accompany her (I’m going to be at work) so I wrote a note to the bank for her. This will help her do the transaction as independently as possible.

My plan is to teach early on about financial management, so she has a healthy view of money in her teens and adulthood. Part of the learning involves giving her a monthly allowance to spend on snacks and sweets, anytime she wants.

The only rule is that the money last through the month and she is completely responsible for her own snack supply. If she runs out of money, she has to wait until the next month when her allowance is due.

The arrangement has worked out well for her. She loves having what seems to her a large sum of cash she doesn’t have to get my permission to use. I like that when we go shopping for groceries and she insists on buying snacks I can in good conscience say: ”buy it if you can afford it.”

I do occasionally buy her treats, but it’s out of choice.

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