lead feature What do you hope to achieve via your platforms?
To reach as many women as possible and to help women become more confident in their decisions when it comes to money.
• Build your emergency fund – aim for at least 3-6 months of your monthly expenses. • Avoid debt like the plague! • Invest for your future.
expensive but planning will help parents to not feel overwhelmed. Think about where you would like to send your kids to school and what financial decisions you have to take to make that a reality.
What are key financial lessons to enable financial freedom?
What are key steps to ensure financial security?
What are some of the biggest lessons you learned since becoming a mum?
• Live within your means – spend less than you earn and invest the difference.
*Practice consciousness when it comes to your finances – look at your wants versus needs. *Be goal-orientated and ask yourself this question when it comes to big and small purchases: does this purchase move me closer to my financial goals or not? *It is also important to not only save but invest your money, so it retains its purchasing power.
Considering the costs related to having children, what would you advise parents?
Planning is important from the onset. Start planning and saving as soon as possible. Kids are
Have an emergency fund! You have to stay prepared because as any mother will tell you, expenses always come up.
What do you feel helps a relationship when it comes to managing finances?
Honesty, transparency and having a shared vision and financial goals. Talking about money together and planning. Not burying your head in the sand even when things don’t go as planned.
How has your life changed since becoming a wife and mother?
Before having kids, we would on a whim go on a weekend away, but now we have to plan around our boys, work schedules and finances.
When is a good time to start teaching children financial responsibility?
From as early as possible, but it has to be age appropriate. Children are very observant and also learn by seeing how their parents interact with money. So, it’s important for parents to talk about money with them and to involve them in certain aspects of money management e.g. getting them a piggy bank and reinforcing with them that before they spend, they need to save. Giving kids tasks for which they could earn money. It's also very important to teach kids patience and that they cannot always get everything whenever they want. As a parent you are allowed to say no! For example, my oldest son has asked for a Nintendo and we told him he will have to wait until his birthday to receive it. As a result, he is always coming up with ideas on how to earn extra money around the house so he can save up for his games!
16
www.babysandbeyond.co.za