my son the money saving expert

[sunrise]

my son is just 20 and I'm slowly trying to convert him to the world of money saving
its taken a bit of persuasion but I think I'm winning
for the last few years he's tried to pay for the whole of his christmas shopping out of novembers pay day !! he's a very generous boy and enjoys buying all the family presents , nans , grandads, aunts , uncles etc and not this year but the year before was the first year he'd had a bit of money in his pocket and he was soooooooooooooooooo excited about everything he'd bought and for the first time ever was more excited about giving out his presents than he was about receiving them.
he is also able to buy lovely presents as he works in TK Maxx and gets some real bargains , more of that in a moment
anyway I've talked him into saving a bit of money each month which I'm going to put in a sealed tin not to be opened until end of november and he's saving enough to buy all his presents plus enough to go out on his christmas meal
he is making noises about making his own lunch now instead of buying lunch every day and I've hopefully talked him into walking a short distance and then getting the bus to the train station rather than getting the bus from just down the road and paying a fortune and then having to pay for the train to work
anyway TK Maxx in Basildon closed down last year and he bought his cousin a beautiful wooden rocking horse down from £90 to £9 and a schott parker coat for £1 which with his discount bought it down to 90p !!
he's now at another t k maxx store and
this year he bought his other cousin a battery operated police motor bike reduced from about £50 to £8 and we had it in our boot to take to the birthday party when we picked him up from work , imagine our horror when he came along carrying another enormous box , when asked what it was he said it was his cousins christmas present for this year , a power ranger sit on vehicle reduced from £50 to £1 and again with his discount he got it for 90p
I think he's learning do you lol

[Louise88]

I love a bargain!
When I reduce prices at work I get first dibs, it's ace, especially when I get told to mark them silly prices!!!

[Madly Creating]

Wow! Sounds like he's getting the hang of it - well done mum!

[auntynet]

Can I be on his "people I need to buy presents for" list?

[Bea]

LOL you're certainly doing a great job and I hope he thanks you for it one day when he realises the true value of your ''teachings''!!

Hope he remembers you for Christmas too!!

[Alice21]

On the subject of saving up money. My husband has made a money box for £2 and £1 coins, Its a metal cylinder 9" tall x 5" wide with a slot (obviously) its sealed at both ends so you can only open it by cutting off one end with a hacksaw or a grinder.

[beadsbydesign]

Can I be on his "people I need to buy presents for" list?

Why, was it the police moteor cycle or the power rangers you wanted?

[auntynet]

Why, was it the police motor cycle or the power rangers you wanted?

Any of them . . . . . or BOTH!

I live in a house with my OH (wrong side of 50), stepson (24) and my son (18) all of whom are car mad so it would really annoy them if I had something to play with that they didn't have but wanted.

You should have been here on christmas day - Urbtaf's daughter bought him and her other half the Top Gear Amphibious Car Challenge Model making kit (to make Richard's Damper Van, Jeremy's Toybota and James' Triumph Herald that they built to attempt to cross the channel last year). She bought her brother the Top Gear Annual! It didn't go down very well and the arguments they had were hillarious to watch.

I've just bought a Bob the Builder playset for stepson's girlfriend's son (aged 2) and it contains a tool box, a Bob figure and all four vehicles (Dizzy, Scoop, Lofty and Muck) and stepson was soooo annoyed that I wrapped them up before he had a chance to "test them out" first.