Toy budget/allowance advice?
Alex
Hello all,
My 3 1/2 year old daughter discovered the joy of buying toys in a big way this Christmas. We are on a tight budget due to recently buying a fixer house, me needing some dental work very soon, and saving for an upcoming family vacation that is important to all of us. We've been living pretty frugally for quite a while.
My husband and I figured out what we can give as an allowance right now. It's not much, but I've taken every chance I can to help K stretch it by going to garage sales and thrift stores. When she is close I chip in an extra dollar or 2. We tried the dollar store and feel like the stuff there is so frustrating in how quickly it falls apart that we don't want to do it anymore. I've looked on Freecycle for the kinds of things she wants too. It has been 4 weeks and I am really appreciating all the joy and natural learning that is coming out of this. I *would* like to minimize the frustration, while still holding close to our budget. We were thinking of giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask her to do if I can find a less frustrating way. I'd rather not give her a little more each week instead also because then she buys a small set of something and then still really wants the deluxe set which has the same items plus more.
So, I think that's what we're doing, but I wanted to know if any of you have done something else that worked well for you. I know this is a great group to talk to about buying toys! I'd love any suggestions that are respectful of the reality of our budget.
Thank you!
Alex N.
My 3 1/2 year old daughter discovered the joy of buying toys in a big way this Christmas. We are on a tight budget due to recently buying a fixer house, me needing some dental work very soon, and saving for an upcoming family vacation that is important to all of us. We've been living pretty frugally for quite a while.
My husband and I figured out what we can give as an allowance right now. It's not much, but I've taken every chance I can to help K stretch it by going to garage sales and thrift stores. When she is close I chip in an extra dollar or 2. We tried the dollar store and feel like the stuff there is so frustrating in how quickly it falls apart that we don't want to do it anymore. I've looked on Freecycle for the kinds of things she wants too. It has been 4 weeks and I am really appreciating all the joy and natural learning that is coming out of this. I *would* like to minimize the frustration, while still holding close to our budget. We were thinking of giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask her to do if I can find a less frustrating way. I'd rather not give her a little more each week instead also because then she buys a small set of something and then still really wants the deluxe set which has the same items plus more.
So, I think that's what we're doing, but I wanted to know if any of you have done something else that worked well for you. I know this is a great group to talk to about buying toys! I'd love any suggestions that are respectful of the reality of our budget.
Thank you!
Alex N.
Tina Tarbutton
Our family is very low income, paycheck to paycheck and constantly juggling
bills.
When we were both working we came up with the idea of giving him a
percentage of our income. We worked jobs where we got paid per hour, so our
income fluctuated constantly. I believe we did 1% at that time. The idea
behind it was, the more we worked the more Draven had to be independent.
This was a great system for us because if I worked a ton (some weeks I
worked 75+ hours), a week later he would get a decent amount of money, but
if my hours were cut, there was no disappointment when I couldn't give him
as much. He was older so he also understood when a bill was due and we had
to take every spare cent to pay that bill . . . we'd write the amount owed
to him on the calendar and the following week he would get both weeks worth.
Since then my partner and I have both lost our full time jobs and have been
living off of two very small part time jobs. We've had to move back into my
parents house to help out with a medical emergency. There is NO spare money
for anything. We had a yard sale and Draven got a percentage for helping
out, as well as keeping the income from his toys/clothes that sold. Perhaps
your daughter is growing out of some clothes/toys and you can offer to list
them on craigslist or ebay. Draven also tends to (quite often) trade in
games for money towards other used games.
It's also tax time, and when we get our taxes back he'll get a percentage of
that, plus we have a list of things we've promised him we'll buy for him.
There was some disappointment this week because I expected my taxes this
past Friday, or today at the latest, but the IRS is backed up and we've been
told it'll be another week.
He has before, decided to use layaway (back then it was free at walmart, but
now it's still available at kmart for a fee), so he didn't spend money on
something smaller when he was trying to save for something big.
At Christmas I've encouraged family to give him cash or gift cards (the
prepaid visa type gift cards are the best) and he spreads that money out as
much as possible.
Another big thing for us has been keeping him involved in the family budget.
He has a pretty good idea of what all of our bills are each month, and at
this point has figured out when in the month they're due. We played a game
of sorts as a family that involved cutting our electricity usage as much as
possible to see how low we could get our electric bills. Once he realized
that keeping the house a little chillier in the winter, and a little warmer
in the summer, meant more money for all of us to spend, he was all for
bundling up or wearing minimal clothing to stay comfortable. We did a
similar thing with water bills.
He also sees us constantly price checking items on our wish list. When
we're price checking and looking at things used he likes to chart the prices
we find and will recommend new websites to look stuff up on.
I've also found it useful to mention to other friends and family members the
things on our wishlist. Recently I talked to my older sister about us
wanting some sort of book reader that will also play games for road trips
and stuff. Turns out she had an older version of the Ipod touch sitting
around unused. She's sending it to us for free. I've gotten bags of play
clothes and other misc. toys over the years just by mentioning to someone
that we're looking for a good price on that particular thing.
This has gotten WAY too long, but I hope it helps.
Tina
bills.
When we were both working we came up with the idea of giving him a
percentage of our income. We worked jobs where we got paid per hour, so our
income fluctuated constantly. I believe we did 1% at that time. The idea
behind it was, the more we worked the more Draven had to be independent.
This was a great system for us because if I worked a ton (some weeks I
worked 75+ hours), a week later he would get a decent amount of money, but
if my hours were cut, there was no disappointment when I couldn't give him
as much. He was older so he also understood when a bill was due and we had
to take every spare cent to pay that bill . . . we'd write the amount owed
to him on the calendar and the following week he would get both weeks worth.
Since then my partner and I have both lost our full time jobs and have been
living off of two very small part time jobs. We've had to move back into my
parents house to help out with a medical emergency. There is NO spare money
for anything. We had a yard sale and Draven got a percentage for helping
out, as well as keeping the income from his toys/clothes that sold. Perhaps
your daughter is growing out of some clothes/toys and you can offer to list
them on craigslist or ebay. Draven also tends to (quite often) trade in
games for money towards other used games.
It's also tax time, and when we get our taxes back he'll get a percentage of
that, plus we have a list of things we've promised him we'll buy for him.
There was some disappointment this week because I expected my taxes this
past Friday, or today at the latest, but the IRS is backed up and we've been
told it'll be another week.
He has before, decided to use layaway (back then it was free at walmart, but
now it's still available at kmart for a fee), so he didn't spend money on
something smaller when he was trying to save for something big.
At Christmas I've encouraged family to give him cash or gift cards (the
prepaid visa type gift cards are the best) and he spreads that money out as
much as possible.
Another big thing for us has been keeping him involved in the family budget.
He has a pretty good idea of what all of our bills are each month, and at
this point has figured out when in the month they're due. We played a game
of sorts as a family that involved cutting our electricity usage as much as
possible to see how low we could get our electric bills. Once he realized
that keeping the house a little chillier in the winter, and a little warmer
in the summer, meant more money for all of us to spend, he was all for
bundling up or wearing minimal clothing to stay comfortable. We did a
similar thing with water bills.
He also sees us constantly price checking items on our wish list. When
we're price checking and looking at things used he likes to chart the prices
we find and will recommend new websites to look stuff up on.
I've also found it useful to mention to other friends and family members the
things on our wishlist. Recently I talked to my older sister about us
wanting some sort of book reader that will also play games for road trips
and stuff. Turns out she had an older version of the Ipod touch sitting
around unused. She's sending it to us for free. I've gotten bags of play
clothes and other misc. toys over the years just by mentioning to someone
that we're looking for a good price on that particular thing.
This has gotten WAY too long, but I hope it helps.
Tina
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 4:01 PM, Alex <missalexmissalex@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> My 3 1/2 year old daughter discovered the joy of buying toys in a big way
> this Christmas. We are on a tight budget due to recently buying a fixer
> house, me needing some dental work very soon, and saving for an upcoming
> family vacation that is important to all of us. We've been living pretty
> frugally for quite a while.
>
> My husband and I figured out what we can give as an allowance right now.
> It's not much, but I've taken every chance I can to help K stretch it by
> going to garage sales and thrift stores. When she is close I chip in an
> extra dollar or 2. We tried the dollar store and feel like the stuff there
> is so frustrating in how quickly it falls apart that we don't want to do it
> anymore. I've looked on Freecycle for the kinds of things she wants too. It
> has been 4 weeks and I am really appreciating all the joy and natural
> learning that is coming out of this. I *would* like to minimize the
> frustration, while still holding close to our budget. We were thinking of
> giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a
> larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would
> have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask
> her to do if I can find a less frustrating way. I'd rather not give her a
> little more each week instead also because then she buys a small set of
> something and then still really wants the deluxe set which has the same
> items plus more.
>
> So, I think that's what we're doing, but I wanted to know if any of you
> have done something else that worked well for you. I know this is a great
> group to talk to about buying toys! I'd love any suggestions that are
> respectful of the reality of our budget.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Alex N.
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
"Alex" <missalexmissalex@...> wrote:
I hadn't seen that particular variation before - at least not in a deliberate sort of way. It could be a good solution for a young child who isn't really up for saving money, yet, to be able to get little things regularly and big things, sometimes. We've done something similar with "extra" income - George is self-employed, part time, so we have regular income and "extras" and use those windfalls for larger ticket purchases.
---Meredith
>We were thinking of giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask her to do if I can find a less frustrating way.***************
I hadn't seen that particular variation before - at least not in a deliberate sort of way. It could be a good solution for a young child who isn't really up for saving money, yet, to be able to get little things regularly and big things, sometimes. We've done something similar with "extra" income - George is self-employed, part time, so we have regular income and "extras" and use those windfalls for larger ticket purchases.
---Meredith
aldq75
What has worked best for our 4 year old is not taking him to the store as often. For quite a while, the kids were going with me every time we did errands. He wanted an expensive Lego set ($50+) every week, not the $5 toys his sisters wanted/liked. I started doing errands alone on the weekends and can now give them all a larger amount of pocket money when they do shop with me.
Andrea Q
Andrea Q
--- In [email protected], "plaidpanties666" <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
>
> "Alex" <missalexmissalex@> wrote:
> >We were thinking of giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask her to do if I can find a less frustrating way.
> ***************
>
> I hadn't seen that particular variation before - at least not in a deliberate sort of way. It could be a good solution for a young child who isn't really up for saving money, yet, to be able to get little things regularly and big things, sometimes. We've done something similar with "extra" income - George is self-employed, part time, so we have regular income and "extras" and use those windfalls for larger ticket purchases.
>
> ---Meredith
>
Michelle Hogan
Hi!
We have gone through periods when kids want to buy all kinds of things - and I think it's very fun and interesting for them to have that kind of control over what they get. We are always tight on $ around here, so we've done a couple of things. First, we don't go out much. I try very hard to reign our own spending in by not going out to stores so much. I've also helped the kids curb impulse shopping by giving them bank accounts at the "Hogan" bank. They have accounts on the computer that helps them keep track of their money. We really don't do allowances - mostly because we all forget about them and then are so far behind I'd have to take out a loan to catch up. Instead, the kids do extra jobs and earn money for them, sell stuff they don't want anymore and help us sell veggies and other items at the farmers' market. Any money they make, they can spend or bank as they wish. As for those little items...I've always just been honest. When I can buy them - I
say sure, go ahead. When I can't afford it - I just say, I'm sorry - I don't have it right now, but if you still want it the next time we come this way - we'll try. Usually, either they really want it and we make an effort to get the item - or they forget about it.
The more honest I am with my kids about everything, from money to food or whatever...the more they understand. I rarely have issues with kids resenting us because we can't afford something. They know we'll get it for them if/when we can and if we can't - then it's disappointing, but it's not the end of the world.
Also - I have found that offering to make a similar item - whether food or toy - helps when I have to say "I just can't this time."
Good Luck!
Mish
organicallyinclined.org
We have gone through periods when kids want to buy all kinds of things - and I think it's very fun and interesting for them to have that kind of control over what they get. We are always tight on $ around here, so we've done a couple of things. First, we don't go out much. I try very hard to reign our own spending in by not going out to stores so much. I've also helped the kids curb impulse shopping by giving them bank accounts at the "Hogan" bank. They have accounts on the computer that helps them keep track of their money. We really don't do allowances - mostly because we all forget about them and then are so far behind I'd have to take out a loan to catch up. Instead, the kids do extra jobs and earn money for them, sell stuff they don't want anymore and help us sell veggies and other items at the farmers' market. Any money they make, they can spend or bank as they wish. As for those little items...I've always just been honest. When I can buy them - I
say sure, go ahead. When I can't afford it - I just say, I'm sorry - I don't have it right now, but if you still want it the next time we come this way - we'll try. Usually, either they really want it and we make an effort to get the item - or they forget about it.
The more honest I am with my kids about everything, from money to food or whatever...the more they understand. I rarely have issues with kids resenting us because we can't afford something. They know we'll get it for them if/when we can and if we can't - then it's disappointing, but it's not the end of the world.
Also - I have found that offering to make a similar item - whether food or toy - helps when I have to say "I just can't this time."
Good Luck!
Mish
organicallyinclined.org
--- On Mon, 1/31/11, Alex <missalexmissalex@...> wrote:
From: Alex <missalexmissalex@...>
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Toy budget/allowance advice?
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, January 31, 2011, 4:01 PM
Hello all,
My 3 1/2 year old daughter discovered the joy of buying toys in a big way this Christmas. We are on a tight budget due to recently buying a fixer house, me needing some dental work very soon, and saving for an upcoming family vacation that is important to all of us. We've been living pretty frugally for quite a while.
My husband and I figured out what we can give as an allowance right now. It's not much, but I've taken every chance I can to help K stretch it by going to garage sales and thrift stores. When she is close I chip in an extra dollar or 2. We tried the dollar store and feel like the stuff there is so frustrating in how quickly it falls apart that we don't want to do it anymore. I've looked on Freecycle for the kinds of things she wants too. It has been 4 weeks and I am really appreciating all the joy and natural learning that is coming out of this. I *would* like to minimize the frustration, while still holding close to our budget. We were thinking of giving her a much larger amount one week a month so that she can buy a larger item once in a while. There are a few things she likes that she would have to save for 6 weeks or more to get and I don't think that's fair to ask her to do if I can find a less frustrating way. I'd rather not give her a little more
each week instead also because then she buys a small set of something and then still really wants the deluxe set which has the same items plus more.
So, I think that's what we're doing, but I wanted to know if any of you have done something else that worked well for you. I know this is a great group to talk to about buying toys! I'd love any suggestions that are respectful of the reality of our budget.
Thank you!
Alex N.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]