On November 24th, the Ignite team and a few volunteers took part in the Money Matters Masterclass training. This training included four modules: you and your money, surviving ‘till payday, independence day and your money talks. These modules cover such topics as how to read a bank statement and budget: what is in your bank account, it also covered fraud, and what scam emails look like and how to identify them. Household bills and payment methods where considered one of the most helpful modules of this training, it explored how much it costs to run a house and how to pay your bills on a monthly basis.
As of October 2016 minimum wage for 18-20 years increased to £5.55 and 21-24 years increased to £6.95. According to the .gov website, if you are single and under 25 your monthly standard allowance (not including council tax) is £251.77. The money matters masterclass will help provide knowledge on how to budget this money to last over the month, including paying bills, buying food and even luxuries. With the Family Spending Statistics (2016) estimating luxuries (such as alcohol, clothes, tobacco and narcotics) at over £30 a week, this is approximately £90 on such luxuries a month.
Alongside all these monthly costs, fraud is a massive concern for many people, young and old, in 2016, Financial Fraud Action (2016) reported £768.8 million in fraud losses over payment cards, remote banking and cheques.
The IGNITE team members have now all been trained up as money masterclass teachers and we are able to show people the difference between a fraudulent email and a real one, we will hopefully be able to raise awareness of the scams and how young people can avoid these.
If you or anyone you know would like to train to become a Money Matters Champion, then please contact the IGNITE team at VANEL. Email ignite@vanel.org.uk or phone 01472 315437. www.ignitegy.org.uk
