Renthead Mommy Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 My 7yo was given $4 for Halloween. It was just burning a hole in his pocket. The other day we had time to kill in Penn Station, so he just HAD to spend some of it. He bought a matchbox car for $1. (He really doesn't even play with matchbox cars.) I tried to convince him to save his $4 and when he gets more money he can buy something bigger/better. Today we were in Target. He wanted to get something. Anything. He just needed to spend that money! LOL! Well it turns out he could have gotten something, something he actually really wanted, IF he hadn't spent that $1 Saturday. After we left he was upset. I tried to explain to him that you have to make decisions with money. You have to decide when to spend it and when to save it. You have to decide what you really need. He looks up at me and says "I made a decision." I think, YES! He's getting it! He got my point! He understands! So I ask, "What decision did you make?" He looks up, completely serious, and says: "I decided that I'm just going to be rich! That way I can buy whatever I want!" :glare: Great. Glad you got that life lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 (edited) My 7yo was given $4 for Halloween. It was just burning a hole in his pocket. The other day we had time to kill in Penn Station, so he just HAD to spend some of it. He bought a matchbox car for $1. (He really doesn't even play with matchbox cars.) I tried to convince him to save his $4 and when he gets more money he can buy something bigger/better. Today we were in Target. He wanted to get something. Anything. He just needed to spend that money! LOL! Well it turns out he could have gotten something, something he actually really wanted, IF he hadn't spent that $1 Saturday. After we left he was upset. I tried to explain to him that you have to make decisions with money. You have to decide when to spend it and when to save it. You have to decide what you really need. He looks up at me and says "I made a decision." I think, YES! He's getting it! He got my point! He understands! So I ask, "What decision did you make?" He looks up, completely serious, and says: "I decided that I'm just going to be rich! That way I can buy whatever I want!" :glare: Great. Glad you got that life lesson. :lol::lol: Cute. Good for you, it sounds like you're on the right path towards teaching him to have a healthy life-long relationship with money, even if he doesn't quite get it now. ;) Edited November 11, 2009 by plain jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Hmm, I think I'll make that decision too. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 My middle child announced that a few weeks ago also. :lol: I like that line of thinking, perhaps I will join them. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Cute! In a practical vein (if you don't mind) may I share what we do re. money? All money received whether from gifts or from special chores goes into their savings account. The children are allowed to save up for special toys. We make a chart using graph paper that shows how much money they need to earn for the toy. We color in every quarter earned. Once the chart is colored in, we make a big deal about going to the bank and withdrawing the money for their special thing. Following a spending goal, the kids know that they must make a savings goal. This is usually something around $20.00. I make sure that they have opportunities to do special chores to save up money for the goals. We do the same kind of graph as we did for the spending goal. When the savings goal is met, they are free to start saving for a new spending goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I actually think that kids learn the lessons about money (ie how best to use/save money) when they make mistakes. It is better to make a mistake with $1 and learn a good lesson, then when they get older and make mistakes that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 I actually think that kids learn the lessons about money (ie how best to use/save money) when they make mistakes. It is better to make a mistake with $1 and learn a good lesson, then when they get older and make mistakes that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Yes I think it was a lesson learned. But I do love his reasoning. I hope he remembers his old mother and all her hard work and dedication to him when he becomes rich! LOL! This poor kid already has money issues. When he was learning money in K and 1st, they spend so much time focusing on pennies. Well we lived overseas on a base. There were NO PENNIES! Everything was rounded up or down to the nickel. So here i am explaining pennies, while shopping in town, with 1 Yen pieces. Which by the way look nothing like pennies!LOL! He was confused. We don't have a bank, so he'd never been in one till we went on a tour. (We did get to hold a million dollars, which was cool and surprisingly really, really heavy, but had no real meaning to the kids). We rarely do anything with cash, everything is on our charge cards (which we pay off monthly). He just doesn't get any real exposure to cash. I need to work on that. I kind of like Jean's chart idea. We'll have to work on tweeking that into something that may work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 My girls were like that with money when they were that age. I let them make a few mistakes and have a few regrets, and now they're getting better. They at least save up enough to get a new Webkinz animal before they start begging to spend it. :D My DS, on the other hand, has always hoarded (sp?) his money. He usually has more $ than I do. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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