Teaching your children about money with Osper

I have been thinking for months, probably years that I really need to organise an allowance or pocket money for the boys. They don’t exactly go without, far from it in fact. I tend to buy them what they want when they need it, but I accept that now they are getting older, they do need their own money. R is nearly twelve and starting to venture out on his own. L is heading there too and it is nice to give them a little bit of independence, so when a few people recommended an Osper Card, I was curious to see what they were all about.

As soon as I read about it, I was hooked. It is a very simple concept but absolutely perfect for the boys. They are debit cards for children and teenagers aged between 8 and 18.   You can apply for an Osper Card matter of minutes and you the cards arrive within a few days.  As you give your mobile number when you set up your account, they will text you to say that the cards are on their way which is handy and they arrive in bright orange envelopes addressed to your child.

While you are waiting for the cards to arrive, you can set up the app on your phone, again it is a really simple process and you link the Osper Card up to your bank account via your own debit card, so that you can easily load money onto the card when you need to.

Once the cards arrive, you activate them via the app and you are ready to go shopping.  After a couple of weeks, I am really impressed and it is just what I needed for the boys.  You can set up a weekly or monthly allowance using the app and I have agreed with the boys that they will have £5 each week in return for helping me around the house and then extra for other jobs.The £5 is loaded on every Monday morning and I am sent a reminder that the money has been loaded.  They have both used the cards and it is a good way to teach them about managing their money.

The app is really great, it shows you the balance, how, when, where they have spent their money and you can transfer money across really easily at any time.  A friend of mine said that this was the thing that she loved, her son is fifteen and if he rang and said that he wanted to get his haircut on the way home from school, she would quickly transfer the money or if he needed money to get home from somewhere, she could do the same.  If both you and your children have an Android or IOS device, you can both have the app.  For them, it is just to see what they have in their account and what they have spent, but they can also move money across into a savings area to save for bigger purchases.

The Osper Card gives you complete peace of mind.  It can be used in all shops that accept Mastercard, online (this can be locked and unlocked via the parent app)  or to draw money out from a cash machine.  For my boys, this was a whole new learning experience and definitely one that they can get used to.  They have their own PIN which can be found in the app and they can only spend what they have on the card.

We were given an Osper orange challenge with £50 on each card to go shopping and to try out the cards for the first time.  The original plan was to go Christmas shopping but sadly, once they realised that they had actual real money to spend, they suddenly weren’t so keen to spend the money on other people.  We did talk about the money before hand and we worked out roughly how far the money would go.

R is becoming very fashion aware and we spent time looking around different shops at clothes.  I pointed out that whilst he liked some of the bigger brand names, he would get better value for money with cheaper shops.  He took absolutely no notice of me however and used most of his money to buy a new hoodie.  He does love it though and wears in every day, so I think he probably made the right choice.  He also invested in some new joggers and a hat.

L is not so into clothes but loves sporting tops, particularly rugby tops.  We wandered around the sports shops and he finally found a rugby top in the sale for £20 and he was thrilled with it.  Unlike his brother, he wanted more to show for his £50 and thought carefully about how to use his money.  Next up, he bought himself a microwave egg poacher as he loves poached eggs on toast and wants to be able to make them himself and finally he bought some Disney Infinity characters for the Wii, he did, however, buy one for his sister for Christmas, so, at least, one present was bought.

Finally, we ended the shopping trip in Costa for a panini and a cooler and it was quite nice that the boys were able to buy their own for a change (although I still had to buy my own.)

I think that the Osper Card is a genius idea.  It gives children and young people safe access to money and the chance to learn about managing money in a way that still gives us as parents, some element of control.  The boys love being able to have a card of their own and I love the fact that it is so easy safe to use. I am sure that by giving them some financial independence now and allowing them to manage their own money, will help them in the future.  They can make their own decision and see how far the money goes.  This is so much better for them than simply buying them everything they need.

To find out more and sign up for an Osper Card, visit the website.

We were given £100 to use on the Osper Card for the purpose of this post,  but I had already ordered the cards on recommendations from friends.  All opinions are my own.