Growing up comes with all different responsibilities, and knowing where and when to spend your money can be challenging, with so many different temptations how do you make the right choices?
The canteen
Moving from primary to secondary school the transition can be hard to begin with; the changes in homework, all the different classes but the biggest change is the responsibility.
At lunch time, in the canteen you are in control of your own meal choices – however nothing in this world is free and to ensure that you don’t use all your lunch money, you need to know the prices of food for sale.
Personally, on average each week, I get £15 max to spend (usually loaded onto my school account), but can this last the week?
I spend £2 a day on a hot meal or a sandwich and snack, but I make my own drink at home to save me from buying one. By thinking ahead and being prepared allows me to save £5 a week and add this to my savings!
After-School
Don’t let the after-school temptations win by buying things from the local news agents or the chicken shop.
Instead wait until you get home and save your money to buy something nice later or at the weekend, where you can spend your money wisely on something you really want!
If you do spend your money on snacks and food on the way home throughout the week, you could end up out of pocket and then it’s best to save every penny you get.
During this time try not to spend over 20% of the amount you have and try to motivate your parents to give you extra pocket money by doing chores around the house.
RRP
When purchasing items from stores, on bottles of juice or chocolate bars you may have seen the letters RRP (recommended retail price) which shows the amount the product should be.
A top tip, is to remember to check the price and make a mental note of the RRP. Then next time use it to compare against the price in the shop, as you could make a potential saving.
Doing this over time should improve your sense of money and prevent you from being scammed by shops, otherwise RRP could become RIP to your finances!