Getting Kids On Board With Travel Savings
I read a post on Facebook just the other day asking how it is possible that people afford to travel with their families. I bet you’ve scrolled through those family travel Instagram feeds, possibly even ours, and asked the same question, right? Don’t worry, so have I!
There is no denying that travel requires money and to get money we must earn it, save it and be savvy when we spend it. So how do we teach those principles to our travel loving kids?
I’ve previously talked about Family Travel On A Budget and ways to lower the cost of a family holiday, but today I’d like to share a few ways that you can work with your kids to earn and save money in preparation for a family holiday. I don’t mean for you to send the kids out to get jobs at the age of 8, as tempting as it is! This is what I mean…
Step 1 – Dream and Plan
Create The Dream
First step is to build the dream. By the time kids are at school they are becoming aware that the world is far greater than the city they live in and they may even have friends who travel and share stories about their adventures to cool places. My kids always throw out questions like “when can we go on a plane again?” or “India looks great, can we go there next week?”. Instead of laughing it off and saying something along the lines of “when you earn the money my love!”, I like to turn it into a dream and get them onboard. If you have younger kids whose world completely revolves around their favourite cartoon character then don’t worry, you can work with that too. Start some dinner time conversations and seed the idea of travel and where to (Disneyland is of course the most popular dream trip for families), then watch as they get excited and ready to jump on board with any plan you have to make this become a reality. Young kids won’t let go of this idea easily and will serve as a constant reminder of the dream and goal you set out to achieve.
Set The Goal
We’ve been using our Spriggy app to set some travel saving goals for Bailee. Within the app you can create multiple goals which is great if you have multiple trips coming up! You can set the goals for anything as well as have general savings for any birthday money that you don’t know what to do with! Bailee has loved being able to see the money she has saved in the app instead of having a money-box full of coins but no idea how much is in there.
Bailee’s Spriggy Account
Step 2 – Practical Ways To Get The Kids On Board
Clear Out The Cupboards
Kids grow out of clothes and toys quicker than we can blink, so why not see if you can gain a few of those dollars back. With the kids help, set up a special Instagram account just for selling your second-hand stuff. Get the kids to lay out each item you are selling, take a photo and post. Don’t forget to put the amount and description in the comments. First person to comment sold gets the item! Advertise your new account on your other social media outlets and ask a few friends to share it around. Other ways to sell things is by using online marketplaces such as Facebook, Gumtree and eBay. Then there is always the good old fashion garage sale.
Collect And Cash In Bottles
Here in New South Wales, Australia, the Government brought in a scheme called Return and Earn to help encourage people to recycle their plastic and glass bottles. For each bottle you return you receive 10 cents. I know you are thinking “gee, that would take a plane full of bottles to buy a one way domestic airfare” and yes, you are right! But this is about getting the kids on board and helping them save a few dollars for their travel fund. Get creative, talk to your neighbors, maybe even your local cafe and see if they can save some bottles for you to collect. You’ll be surprised as to how quickly they add up!
Bake Sale
Everyone loves a bake sale and again, this is something you can get the kids involved in. Make a bunch of cupcakes and book a table at your local school fete or markets. I bet no-one could resist your cute kids and delicious cupcakes! I remember my two selling cupcakes out the front of their Grandparents house over the Easter weekend. Their was a little market just up the road and many people had parked all down the street, meaning they had to walk past the kids cupcake stall. After an hour of chit-chat to people and selling out of cakes, the kids had $40 in their pockets ready to take to the Easter Show!
Busking
Do you have a child who can sing, dance, play an instrument or do magic tricks? Have you thought about letting them busk? A shopping centre not too far from us often has children busking around the place and it is great to see kids using their talents to earn a dollar or few. I have a niece who is currently saving money for an upcoming overseas trip. She is an amazing singer/guitar player and has arranged to busk at local markets to earn her travel money. There is often an audition process so contact your local shopping mall or markets and see if there is an opportunity available.
Car Wash
If you are friendly with your neighbors and your kids are handy with a sponge then why not arrange a car wash day and let the neighbors know. Set the kids up with some car wash, hose, sponge and bucket and get them to work washing the neighbors cars for a few dollars. Be sure to teach them the ways of washing a car first, you want to make sure they do a pretty decent job!
Paper Rounds
By now you are thinking ‘gosh, she’s digging out some of the old faithfuls now’ but it’s true, the old faithful paper round is still a great option for kids! It may mean that you have to walk with them but just think of the exercise you are getting! If you don’t want to commit to a consistent round then why not approach a local small business and see if they are thinking of doing a letterbox drop and offer your services as a once off or on an occasional basis.
Those are a few ideas to help you get the kids onboard with the travel savings. Of course, they aren’t going to be the ones that fund the trip entirely, however, empowering them to be the ones that earn and save their own little travel funds will help them to take ownership of the trip and teach them what it takes to travel later in life.
Bailee using her Spriggy card on a recent trip to Wollongong, NSW
We have really enjoyed teaching Bailee these savings principals using her Spriggy account. Having her money in her Spriggy account and not in her money-box means that it is controlled and doesn’t get spent at the school canteen each week. She can also set her goal and watch as she gets closer to it with each transfer into the Travel Savings part of her account. It is also teaching her thoughtful spending. She can see the transactions in her account, remember what she bought and see exactly what she has left. I also love that I still have the control and there is no more sneaking of coins into the school bag for the canteen!
Spriggy has Visa payWave so Bailee doesn’t need to remember her pin for those little purchases.
We also have a special offer thanks to Spriggy. By clicking on one of the Spriggy links included and by using the code TWAK18 you will receive $5 to get you started! We also receive $5 at no extra cost to you. First month is free so why not check it out today!
Very happy with her independence and purchase!
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This post has been sponsored by Spriggy.