2013 MONEY IN EUROPE-A Trip done by Comenius Boy
Comenius Multilateral Partnership: Bulgaria; Estonia; Greece; Italy; Northern Ireland; Poland; Portugal; Spain; Turkey England.
Once upon a time there was a boy named Comenius Coin. He was a very nice boy who enjoyed travelling around Europe, especially visiting some countries. One day, Comenius Coin decided he would visit these countries to speak with children about money, so they could understand better the value of it.
Comenius Coin decided to start his trip in Bulgaria, where he spoke with children during some time... Hi boys and girls! Do you know that your parents and family spend money to buy and pay daily things such as clothes, books, transports and that they also pay the rent of the house where you live or the loan they asked to the bank? Probably you have also seen your parents paying for something with a paper named cheque. What is it? It has the same value of notes and coins. You probably heard adults speaking about situations or goods that cost more money than that they have, so they need to ask a loan to the Bank. It’s important for you to help your parents saving money...
Think about all this...now I’m going to Estonia. How are you kids? Here I am travelling around Europe to speak with you about money... Probably you already heard about the necessity of saving money. You may already have received some money from your parents or from your family, and this money is now your own money, so you can choose what to do with it! - Do you know there are a lot of ways of spending your money? You can buy a thing you like or need, but you can also choose not to spend it and keep it safe in your piggy bank to spend it later or (who knows?) change your life.
Think twice before you spend your money...
- WoW... Greece is so beautiful. How are you nice boys and girls? I’m here to speak with you about why we have to save... - You can all be different boys and girls. Think... is it really important for you to have the latest Play Station? The fact of spending money in things like this will not help you in the future...
You have an alternative: SAVE.
Hi boys and girls from Italy. I’ve already been in Bulgaria, Estonia and Greece speaking about money. You all must have the same worries in Europe and the same opinion about money. That’s why I’m here... When I was a small boy like you, boys and girls, I used to receive presents for Christmas and Birthday. Our parents sometimes and some adults used to give us money that we used to put in the piggy bank. We also used to calculate so that when we had enough money we could buy something we wanted... But we didn’t spend all the money we had...a part of it used to go to the bank, to our account. ...for our future...
- Do you know, boys and girls from Northern Ireland that my granny used to rule her house with a management system of money truly infallible?
- On the beginning of the month, she used to calculate the different expenses she would have: with electricity and water, food, clothes and with the rent. She had some envelopes, and in each of them, she used to put money to pay each of those expenses: money to pay the electricity in an envelope written “electricity”, money to pay “food”... The money left had two purposes: pay any unexpected expense (a medicine) and for save.
Do you know little boys and girls from Poland that my granny sometimes was not able to save some money...but other months she was able to do it? She used also to write the expenses in a book she had to rule the house during the different months... It was everything there: the bills, the food she bought, the value she spent with books and other school materials. By this way she knew exactly when and where she spent her money and next month she could reduce expenses. My granny used to do two things (without knowing it) to save: control expenses and plan where to spend the money she had... You must also save money, so you can also do like my granny: write (with your parents) what you spend and define your expenses. You may avoid spending money in things you don’t really need...
Boys and girls from Portugal... ...with planning and management, you can save! What can you do with your savings? If you decide this is the moment to start saving your money, you can also think of a bank to open your own account and save in a safe way... Speak with your parents and ask them to open an account so that you can put there your money. You can take 3 decisions: save money, open an account and you must also think of another thing... what is your main goal when you save money? We all have goals in our life...
Which are your goals, boys and girls from Spain? We can save money to pay a surf course next summer or to buy a new computer in the next 2 years. But you can have more ambitious goals: take your driving license and buy a car for you when you are old enough, pay university, buy your own house... These plans may seem very distant and it may be hard for you to think about them now...but it’s better to start thinking...
Hello Turkey... Do you know that saving money, like many other things in life, mean discipline and effort? And it also means a very important thing...the capacity to plan what we want to happen in the future. If you have in mind these 3 things – discipline, effort and capacity of planning – you have what is meaningful to save money: saving habits. If you have a bank account or a piggy bank, this will be very simple, because you only need to put some money aside every month.
Hi boys and girls from England! Do you know the word opportunity? During our life we understand that we have a lot of opportunities but we also have to choose... You have always to abdicate of something. Imagine that your family has been saving some money and they are undecided among three options... 1. Use it to invest in a better education for you (school, music, dance...). 2. Use it to make a big trip during the summer. 3. Use it to buy some toys.
The best option is ______________________________________
So dear boys and girls from Europe as you can see life is not easy and decisions are not easy. We must start thinking in the value of money early in life and we also must save for our future‌