How many of you make your child pay for things?

Question

My 7 year old LOVES to order things but not actually eat or drink it. She just MUST have this or that....it's the thing she has always wanted her entire life 'OH PLEASE CAN I HAVE IT??"

I have put an end to this by telling her if she is thirsty AFTER we leave the house, she must buy her own drink (with money she has gotten from birthdays, xmas ect). Or if she is hungry, she can buy her own overpriced happy meal. Now she seems to never be hungry or thirsty and is VERY choosey on the toys she wants. Who else does this?

Answer 1

just say NO! you are the parent, you must show some control. you need to teach her that things really do cost money and teach her not to just waste money like that.

Answer 2

I think that's just fine. I think you are raising your child to value the dollar! Not many parents do that. She may not like it [I don't know if she does or not because you don't say] but in the end as an adult she understand that things don't just appear because she wishes them too.

I do a similar thing with my 8 year old. I tell him that he can have say...3 dollars if I have it to spare. Then he's allowed to spend that. If I don't have it he knows better than to ask because he knows if I had it he'd have it. He also has a lot of money saved [a lot for a child] for this summer. Where we live it gets VERY hot-115+ degrees- I don't have the money to take us to the pool or whatever every time he wants to go. So all winter he's been saving change. That way when it's summer he has money to contribute to our days at the pool, or the theater or waterpark.

I think you are doing a good thing with your daughter. Keep it up and you'll have a responible young lady. Just don't over do it! I don't think you are though.

Answer 3

You are right on the money! It's funny how well kids can budget themselves when it is their money. And how smart they are at such a young age. I do this w/ my kids and it works like a charm. No more whining for anything and everything. They actually weigh the Pro's and Con's. They know I will feed them when we reach home or the restaurant so they usually tough it out so they can save their money for Big Ticket items(new game boy game,music CD's, or the movies out w/ friends). It's never too early to learn the value of money and you are giving your daughter a wonderful lesson that will help her all her life.

Answer 4

Wait. A "happy" meal is overpriced? Have you ever paid 34 dollars for a steak?

Anyway, I think what you did is a rather good idea. It teaches a young child the value of money.

Answer 5

Sounds like an excellent idea. I notice with computer games, my sons think it would be great if i bought them all the time. Now that they have to buy them, they're much more choosy. (The trauma when games don't work, which happens way too often, is intensified, but it has taught them to write corporations and complain about shoddy products, and then taught them that many corporations don't care.)

Answer 6

i found that having them buy their own toys, they are less likely to scatter them all over the floor and leave them out. Money is spent more wisely. i didn't think about the happy meals, which means no more uneaten soggy chicken nuggets and french fries. What an idea!

Answer 7

That is such a good idea. When my child was younger it use to bother me that I would buy him something and he wouldn't eat it. At one point, I stopped buying him stuff altogether if I knew he wouldn't eat it all. I do make him save his money to purchase the latest toy "that everyone has" though.

Answer 8

I always packed my child a snack for the road. I never stopped at McDonald's just because -- they got it as a "treat" for a good report card, or a reward for getting all their chores done for the week, etc. Same with toys. They got them at Christmas, Birthday's and as a reward. I think you are doing great!

Answer 9

You are doing the right thing. My son is 8 and in the second grade. I make him save his money! He gets allowances, birthday money, ect. Where we live, if you take aluminum, such as pop cans to the recycling center, they pay you for them (they pay by the pound). He crushes the pop cans, cashes them in, and saves that money. He saves half and spends half. If he wants a new video game or toy, he buys it with his own money. He takes better care of his things. Because he takes care of them, his bedroom is ALWAYS clean at the end of the day before he goes to bed.

One thing I never thought of... at one of his conferences at school, his teacher told me that she could tell he spends his own money, pays for things at the register himself. He had a much better understanding of money and counting it at school just because he works with money often. He has $200 in his savings, money he has saved, not money that I have put in a savings for him. There are many lessons to be learned from money, even ones that we have not thought of.

Answer 10

I give my kids an allowance and make them use that money for things like that. If we are eating at McDonald's then I don't make them pay for their own dinner, but if they just want "junk" toys and such then they have to buy it.

Answer 11

my son was getting into the habit of loading the shopping trolley with sweets and biscuits while shopping. so now i tell him that if he wants to buy loads of sweets he must bring his own money and he can get whatever he wants. i warn him however that he can only actually eat one item per day, so it is up to him whether to get handfuls of sweets or just what he likes most. he has now managed to control himself, knowing that he will have to pay the 'extras'