IT IS now a matter of a few weeks before Christmas.

This is the time when many parents will be taking some time off to rest and spend time with their families. This is, coincidentally, a time for parents to spend a lot of money on their kids - some to the extent of spoiling them.

It is highly recommended this year that, while you are in the resting mood, use this time to introduce some education on money for your children - more specifically your teenage kids. Teaching them these skills is as essential as teaching and reminding them to brush their teeth and eat their vegetables.

While some school systems have added financial literacy to their curricula, many schools have not and, in the end, the responsibility for ensuring your offspring are ready for an adult financial life rests on your shoulders as a parent. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can add to your teen's practical knowledge.

Take, for an example, the idea of encouraging your kids to get holiday jobs. Nothing teaches money skills faster than getting your child to receive a pay cheque with all the tax deductions.

It is highly likely that the kids might not find work due to high unemployment.

But this could teach them crucial life skills. This will make them realise and appreciate the process of job hunting and even perhaps make them consider entrepreneurship, rather than trying to find a job.

In the event that kids don't get jobs, perhaps having a parent support group can help parents to create "jobs" for their children.

Three or four families can get together to create work in their respective homes for their friends' children.

Your child may not do as thorough a job in your home as when he/she is doing it for other people. So, having a job-in-exchange-for- pay programme in place for your teens and this arrangement might work well. You could meet as parents and agree on a common minimum wage to pay the children.

Teach them about budgets before they get paid. Arrange that before their first salary comes, you will sit down and plan to have part of the money put away for saving purposes. Only after savings have been deducted can you discuss how the rest of the income could be spent. Your child must take responsibility for the plan and you can just encourage them to follow it through.

Get ready to say no to your kids if and when they come asking for more money after they have spent it all in a short time. This is the only way they can learn to survive.

Pay them for choosing to save. Train your kids to pay themselves first by putting at least 10% to 15% of their wages into a savings account. If you can afford to, you can even offer to match the savings as an incentive for them to save more.

Your children will learn more if they do the research of finding the right account with the lowest banking fees and highest interest rates by themselves.

Teach them to be thrifty. Instead of letting your teenager pay R950 for expensive torn or painted jeans, show them how to pick up a pair of jeans from a thrift shop for say R100 and customise the jeans themselves. Teach your teenagers to compare prices for hi-tech gadgets and electronics.

More than anything, it would be great for parents to stress the importance of individuality to their kids. A child with a strong sense of self will be less caught up in what is popular and will be less inclined to buy expensive clothing items to "fit in" with their friends.

Try these few ideas. Even if you manage to implement one or two of them you will have done well.

Write to Thedream@winniekunene.co.za

For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays