Welcome to the My Money secondary pupil section
In this section you’ll find loads of activities and information about looking after your money. Just click on the links below to find out more.
Top 10 tips for looking after your money
We asked our Young Advisers to give us their top 10 tips for making sure they look after their money, and this is what they told us:
- If there’s something big that you want to buy, ask yourself: do I really need it? If the answer is no, then think again about spending your money.
- Always shop around on the high street and the internet for the best price.
- If you’re saving it always helps to put a budget together. Write down all your income and outgoings and then, hardest of all, stick to it!
- Try to save your money when you can. If you haven’t got one already, open a bank account and also a savings account, then you can manage your money in the different accounts online.
- Look out for the different traps when opening a savings account! Check whether the interest is paid monthly or yearly (you’ll get more compound interest on a monthly rate, but yearly rates tend to be higher), can you access your savings immediately or do you need to give them warning? If in doubt ask the bank to take you through it.
- If you are trying to save up, write down a list of everything you buy, that way you can see if there are things you don’t need.
- Think carefully before buying clothes. Would you wear it again and again? If you’re not sure about buying an item of clothing it’s a no!
- To avoid the dreaded 'impulse buy' write a list of what you’re setting out to buy and a budget of what you want to spend before you go out shopping.
- Try to avoid borrowing money from friends as it can lead to disagreements and other problems. If you can’t afford something, don’t buy it until you can.
- If you are still in any form of education post-16 you might be able to get up to £30 a week EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance) from the government. Find out more on directgov.