Three weeks of pocket money
You get a little money each week. A small ball costs one week of it. A kite costs three weeks of it. You want the kite.
What do you do this week?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
You do not have to swap money today. You can keep it and swap it later.
It adds up
A little bit each week turns into a lot. Not by magic. Just by not spending it.
Waiting is hard
Wanting it now is a real feeling. Saving is not about stopping the feeling. It is about waiting anyway.
Step 3: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 1
You save a little every week instead of spending it. What happens?
Step 4: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Name what you are saving for
- Think of one thing you would like that costs more than you have.
- Draw it, or write its name on paper.
- Put the paper where you keep your money.
Why: Saving for nothing in particular is much harder than saving for something you can picture.
Step 5: What You Learned
- Keeping money is a choice you make.
- A little each week adds up.
- Waiting is hard, and you can do it anyway.
For the grown-up
Delayed gratification is a skill, not a personality trait, and it improves with practice. A child who cannot wait a week today can usually wait a week after a few months of trying.
Watch for saving with no goal. "Save your money" is abstract; "save for the thing you named" is concrete, and only the second one holds up when they walk past a sweet shop.
Keep the savings visible as a picture and invisible as coins. A jar they can raid gets raided; a chart on the fridge does the encouraging without the temptation.