As a child, thankfully, the last thing on your mind are money worries.
Budgeting or saving are not exactly things that comes up in conversation or are taught at school when you're growing up.
However, one woman, who just purchased her first home at the tender age of 23, started her money-saving system at the age of eight, something she credits as being one the reasons she was able to afford her own home so young.
Taking to
TikTok,
Hannah Koumakis, now aged 24, shared her budgeting advice that her parents passed on to her as a young girl so that others can do the same for their children.
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Credit: Getty[/caption]
The New Zealand content creator says the pocket money system was created by her father and that her parents wanted to teach their children to be'really good with money'.
"Instead of just buying us stuff that we wanted, like a new Barbie doll or clothes, they taught us how we can do it," Hannah explained.
"So at the age of eight, I was saving for my first house. I got so excited watching it grow in my bank account," she explained.
Every month as a young girl, she would receive $150 NZD (€84.00, €21 weekly) from her parents and was advised to divide the money between four accounts.
This saw Hannah spilt the money between a long-term pot and a short-term pot, as well as accounts for spending and tithing (the act of donating to a religious establishment).
Out of her monthly pocket money, 30% went directly into her long-term account and 10% towards 'tithing'.
This meant 60% of her pocket money remained, which saw 30% go into 'short-term savings' (for things like a car or a new laptop, e.g., 'big ticket items') and the final 30% for spending.
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Hannah's parents covered groceries and bills; however, if she or her siblings wanted to, for example, go to the cinema to buy themselves clothes or toys, they footed their own bill.
"So that brings us to a whopping 30 percent of our income that we were allowed to spend," she shared. "We had to buy our clothes. If we needed a new top, we had to buy it ourselves.
"Fortunately, I was the third child, so I had a lot of hand-me-downs, but my sisters decided to make a bit of money from me, and they’d sell me their clothes. I think my eldest sister found it the hardest because she had to buy new clothes herself."
As well as being advised by her parents to log expenditures in a finance book, a practice that has stayed with her into adulthood, Hannah revealed she was forbidden from spending money from her long-term savings account.
"We were not allowed to touch any of our other accounts, so this meant that from the age of eight, I was looking for sales and making sure that I could get more bang for my buck."
After five years of receiving pocket money, Hannah says her parents stopped the transactions, and she began working at the age of 14 at a Domino's Pizza to continue earning an income and saving.
In 2021, she had accumulated $30,000 NZD (€16,799.34) from various jobs, side hustles, and her savings.
"I was able to make $30,000 through pet sitting, babysitting, extras work (playing non-speaking roles in film and TV), and a part-time job at a small business—literally anything that actually requires you to get out and do work.
"It was definitely manageable and achievable."
The New Zealander says the pocket-money saving system her father passed down to her when she was eight gave her a ‘great appreciation for money’ and, with that, she bought her first home, which was an investment property, at age 23.
This has spurred other parents on in the comments section, with many wishing that their mother and fathers had put the same importance on budgeting and saving for them.
"LOVE THIS! wish I had been this educated," one wrote.
"I REALLY wish my parents did this with me . I do $10 a week for my daughter and $200 a week into her trust fund and she’s 3 . Definitely adding this," another parent said.
"Love it. And to those saying parents need to be rich, they don’t. Give whatever you would normally spend/ save for them already. Clothes, toys, etc." one user wrote.
"This it what schools need to teach," another added.
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