A Goat for Christmas
Several years ago, my mother started asking for goats for Christmas arguing that she’s at the point in her life where she doesn’t really “need” anything. Since then, I’ve given her several goats, some chickens, and yards of mosquito netting. I’ve also extended the idea to others in the family.
For those of you who also receive the Gifts of Hope catalogue from Plan Canada, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Shopping cart of lessons
With the cost of food on the rise and two kids with growing appetites, our weekly trip to the grocery store is getting increasingly expensive.
What’s more, my son – who strangely loves to grocery shop – and my daughter – who hates the experience and complains that I never buy anything good – have both become a lot more vocal about what they want.
The price is right
My kids have no idea as to what things cost, despite my best efforts to make a point of telling them. My son frequently accompanies me to the grocery store and often I ask him to select our cereal each week, allowing him to choose from the items with sale tags. We also look at the cost of our fruit and vegetables and the distance they’ve travelled. Yet it seems none of it has sunk in.
On a slow afternoon recently we played ‘The Price is Right’. I had each of them guess what an item costs and then we looked up the real price on the internet.
Back-to-school shopping at home
Many years ago we started a frugal habit by accident.
We missed back-to-school shopping. Instead, we spent Labour Day weekend at a friend’s cottage. We swam and built sandcastles and played games by the fire in the evening. We pushed our stay until after dinner on Labour Day, eating all the leftover food in the fridge, before we packed our kids in the car and carried them sleeping to bed.
It was a lovely weekend, even if it made for a hectic morning as I scrambled to pull together a lunch for my daughter while she rooted through drawers and baskets for supplies.
In the land of Webkinz
My daughter is saving up for a virtual hot tub. She has enough to buy it right now, but she’s determined to build up her bank account first before spending on her latest object of desire. I’m impressed and tell her as much, but as I begin to praise her for leaving enough behind to cover bills and other costs of living, her eyes glaze over. It turns out there are no bills on Webkinz (webkinz.com).
“Imagine that, Mommy,” she says, “no bills.”
Yes, imagine that.
Monopolies
My four-year-old son has recently discovered the game of Monopoly – “Monopolies,” as he calls it. He loves it, which is no surprise given his almost uncanny luck.
He lands on Free Parking at least three times a game. But while he can sort money into piles and he can amass a small fortune through sheer luck, he has virtually no understanding of what money actually means or what it’s worth. To him, more bills simply mean more money.
The trouble with allowances
It seems that all the experts recommend an allowance to help teach your children financial literacy, but I’m beginning to wonder how people do it.
Over a month ago, my husband and I set out with the best intentions. I did my research. I read Allowance 101. I tried the allowance calculator at www.threejars.com (yes, one really exists though inexplicably it takes into consideration the allowance you received at your child’s age). I surveyed friends and colleagues for their best practices.
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