We all try to teach our children the value of money - it is how you do it that sometimes have me a bit confused. Explaining economic principles is tough thinking. So the Princess has slowly now started to learn about money and the value thereof. Firstly with he tooth fairy money of which she has saved half in her little money box. And this year we let her use her birthday money - in the past, we just left it in her little savings account. On Saturday she spent it - and up to the last R15. 3 Months after her birthday! So much pondering.
Twice before have we looked at toys in shops, twice before she could not make a decision. When she brought up the subject on Friday and Saturday morning, I decided to take the boys' nap time as a chance to take her to Toys R Us. I was sure the selection there was big enough to make a final decision. On our way there she talked of buying the newest Barbie DVD and putting the rest away for later, but once we got there her choice fell on a Barbie with stuff that you can spray onto her dress. Then I reminded her that she already has 3 Barbies and that 3 is maybe enough.
She briefly looked at Barbie furniture and then said : "Mommy I actually know what I really want! Those little pets like A have". I knew immediately it was "LittleLest Pet shop" she was referring to and it is really expensive here. So off we went to the relevant shelves and yes, her money could not stretch to the pet shop itself. and in keeping with the teaching on money and the value thereof I was not about to add some. So she got the "get well centre" and asked me if it was the vet's office. She was delighted that she did indeed have enough money to buy it and said;" Mommy you know I want to be a vet, so it is better that I can rather buy this one" Then she asked me if she has money left and I showed her that she had R60 left. She asked if there was anything else in LittleLest Pet shop range that she could add and yes she could add 2 single pets which she chose with great care. Since then she has spent hour with her pets and we will do the online part soon. Another great bit about this is that there are many smaller sets and add -ons - great future gift ideas. And great for rewards too as the single pets are between R20 - R25 at Toy sR Us (why are they R60 at CNA I wonder?)
So tell me mothers of older children, when does one start with pocket money and how much?
She sounds like such a sensible little girl - I love how she's calculating what her next 2 teeth will buy her!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes now I have ABBA stuck in my head *sigh*
My eldest is STILL a LittlePetShop lover. She is saving now to get some latest bit - i forget which. I do give my kids pocket money...its quite informal with the little ones but I basically give them R10 for each year of life...so Honey get R90, Lulu R60 and Hooli R40. I dont think this is the best system though - i just adopted it from a friend but it doesnt seem fair to me....its all disposable income at this stage so i think they should get the same. ARgh, still figuring it out though. be interested to hear what others say!
ReplyDeleteStill can't stop singing it.
ReplyDeletePolly loves these little people type things - Hello Kitty, My Little Pony etc. She spends hours playing with them.
ReplyDeleteRe the pocket money - i adopted Mel's approach. R10 per year of their age. I don't actually give it to Polly yet, as I buy her so much stuff. But D I do, and then she has to buy half of the airtime that she uses a month, out of her pocket money. So I reimburse her 50% of what she spends on airtime. That way she knows the value, thinks twice about using her phone too much and also saves it as I put it directly into her bank acct.
So much to learn in life *sigh*...and this is one of the most important.
ReplyDeletexx
Aaaaawwww, she is adorable! So precious :) I plan to start the jars as soon as possible - one jar for tithes & offerings, one for saving and one for spending.
ReplyDeleteSnort!
ReplyDeleteShayne, her absolute favs up to now has been Polly Pockets. Those tiny little shoes makes me very anxious
ReplyDeleteThanks Mel - good to know it is a toys with some lifetime to it.
ReplyDeleteFunny how ABBA always does that - actually any of their songs.
ReplyDeleteOur youngest has a chore chart. For each job, she get a nickel. The more she does, the more she gets. At the end of the week, she gets paid. Half goes in her wallet and half goes in savings. It works well for us:-)
ReplyDeleteI'm yet to find Polly Pockets. Apparently they are all the rage but we don't seem to have them here in El - which is perhaps a good thing? xx
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on how much you can afford and what you'll make them pay for themselves I guess. When we were kids we used to get a few bucks tuck money every Friday in primary school and only moved onto serious pocket money in high school. In st 6 I got a whopping R50 and if I wanted more I had to get a weekend job (I needed more because I smoked skelm and that didn't cover it!). When my brother when to high school 4 years later he got R200 a month (inflation huh?) buuuut it's because he was really picky about brand name clothes unlike me, so my mom made him pay for his own.
ReplyDeleteOne guy that was in my class came from a filthy rich family (although you would never say it by chatting to him, salt of the earth kind of guy). Their rule was that he got R5000 a month but he had one cheque to draw, and the rest would go into a 32 day account of some sorts for the future. So he had to carefully budget his spending money. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I thought it was a pretty clever way to teach someone the value of money who had wagon loads of it anyway.
Let me know if you really want - small little boxes - can be sent in post.
ReplyDeleteGreat lessons here! I think you are doing it right! :D
ReplyDeleteI think we should start giving some pocket money at 4, but only a very small amount, and let them buy something each month with it! It would start teaching some value.
We have already given the toddler of two a purse with cents in it, and she is happily making money from paper... And then we discuss what we are going to buy with it! It starts very small ;-)
Hi there! thought I would pop in and say hi.
ReplyDeleteKids are wiser that we think sometimes and its always good to teach them the value of money from an early stage I think.
Cat, your baby girl is beautiful too I see...
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I look forward to reading about your journey in South Africa!
love
Diana Doyle x