Sarah Jessica Parker has learned her biggest lessons about money from Dolly Parton

The 54-year-old actress' sensible approach towards cash has been heavily influenced by the chart-topping country singer, who was "raised with nothing".

The 'Sex and the City' star - who has twins Marion and Tabitha, ten, and James, 16, with her husband Matthew Broderick - told KIIS FM's 'The 3pm Pickup': "I learned this from Dolly Parton actually because I heard her talk about this because she was raised with nothing, you know. She said when she finally had money she told her relations, I will always give you what you need but I will not always give you what you want.

"That's the way I tell my children. I will do my best to make sure you always have what you need but you won't always ... and I want you pining for something. I want you to work toward something. To dream of it and hope for it and will it happen. That's hard to do when you have it."

Sarah also feels that having children has been beneficial for her marriage.

The actress - who married Matthew in 1997 - explained: "As complicated and chaotic as marriage and family can be, I think it's helpful to see the way my children look at my husband. I think it's a reminder to see that kind of purity of feeling because you get bogged down in the day to day of a marriage and it's a lot.

"You're kind of dealing with stuff every day that's not interesting and it's not romantic ... it simply needs to be done.
"Often, I'll see the look in their eyes when he enters the room or I'll see the way a friend of his looks when he enters the room and I'm reminded - that's that guy."