hmmm…..
There’s an article on the internet today about extreme penny pinchers. Some of the ways people save are; eating off the fast food dollar menu; raising pigs and picking up vacuum cleaners off of curbs and reselling them on Craigslist. But my favorite is the family who decided to make their kids pay for half of dinner on their vacations. The first night of the new plan, the restaurant bill was $73. After the sticker shock, the kids went to water instead of soft drinks and found a restaurant where they could eat for $26.
I think it is a good policy to teach kids about money – and how much things cost. When my daughter was 12, I instilled a policy that to this day has served her well. Her father sent me a $60 each week for child support – not much money to raise a youngster on – but a fortune to a 12 year old. I fielded complaints from him for years about where the money went and finally decided to allow my daughter to manage the resource herself with the stipulation that the money would buy all of her clothes (including expensive jeans and athletic shoes). It would also buy her school lunches and any other entertainment expenses that were incurred during the week. I encouraged her to save some too. The idea was, that if she chose to spend all of her money on CD’s, then she would have to go hungry for school lunch, or pack one from home. She learned to make wise decisions about money.
The benefits were many. First, I got out of the conversation with her Dad about where the money was going – that was now between them. Second, my daughter learned to be the all-time best bargain shopper in the world. She ferreted out sales and managed to live like a princess, plus save quite a bit for her future needs.
It may not work for many children and parents, but in our case it was the answer to a big problem and the beginning good money management skills for my daughter.
hmmm…..
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