How to teach kids about money in different cultures: three money lessons drawn from the SA neighbourhood right outside your door
Some of the best money lessons your mini millionaire could ever learn are happening right in your neighbourhood: in the stokvel or savings club your family runs, the meal dropped at a sick neighbour's door, even the small trader on the corner.
Whether a person lives in a big city, eKasi, a small ‘dorpie’, or a leafy suburb, South Africa is one big money classroom.
So this week we're borrowing three lessons from the neighbourhood: saving as a team, giving on purpose, and turning a small idea into very real rands.
Saving sticks better when someone's counting on you.
Chances are we all know someone who is part of a stokvel.
More than 11 million South Africans save this way, pooling money in over 800 000 groups worth around R50 billion a year. It’s the same sort of approach families take when saving for a big family holiday with the extendeds, an office clubbing together for a year-end function, or a group of friends saving up for a trip.
What makes any of them work is accountability.
You show up with your share because the group is counting on you to keep your end of the deal. And that’s the thing that carries you through the times when your willpower may wobble.
Takeaway: Turn saving into a team sport.
Giving is already woven into how South African families live.
Ubuntu (the idea that we're human through other people) isn't tied to any one community.
It’s visible when a family drops a meal at a sick neighbour's door or when someone pays for a few items when another person is short a few rands at the till.
Children soak up these examples. The trick is making that warmth towards others a habit your child owns, and mini millionaires who set aside a little for others become more capable with money overall, because deciding in advance to give builds the same muscle as budgeting.
Takeaway: Put something in their Share Jar every week, and let them pick who gets it.
Let them run their own small business for a day.
South Africa's small traders are masters in hustle.
Around 150 000 spaza shops keep the township economy running, contributing roughly 5.2% of GDP and employing about 2.6 million people. Wow.
The thing is, that same entrepreneurial spirit runs through every school fair and market stall.
Give your mini millionaire a fun lil project to do this weekend: a baking stall, a car wash in the complex, cold drinks at the sports match, or toys they no longer use.
Provide them with a tiny float, let them set the prices for their goods and services, and have them track how much they make.
Takeaway: Every rand tracked. A slice into the Sow Jar.
Loved the idea of saving as a team?
Well, our free Family Stokvel printable resource turns section one into a plan the whole house can see.
Pick a shared goal, whether it's a December holiday or a new soccer ball, and write down what you're aiming for.
Then, everyone gets a role, from Money Master to Fun Police, agree on what each person chips in monthly, and tick off the savings tracker as the total climbs.
Just like that, it's a stokvel scaled down to your kitchen table, and your mini millionaire gets a front-row seat.
