Colman Noctor: Teaching children the value of money in a cashless economy 

In a world where digital money, digital goods and digital ownership have become the order of the day, how can we teach our children about managing and budgeting money?

Picture: iStock 

I was not affected by the closure of barbers during lockdown. I am privileged to have my own barber at home - my eight-year-old daughter. She's had the weekly job of shaving my head since she was five years old, and has become quite proficient at doing it, and it would appear she is quite the proficient entrepreneur.  Her fee has increased over that time from €2 to €5.

Last week when she had finished shaving my head she had asked me to buy her €5 worth of Robux, a digital currency in an online game Roblox that she plays.  She tried to get me to give her €10 by offering to shave my beard as well. When I disputed the charge, she became disgruntled. She wanted to purchase some form of virtual unicorn that costs €9. We agreed that if she saved her weekly €5 fee over two weeks she would have enough money to get the unicorn the following week.