Alan & Brenda Leonard

> How do you decide what they have to buy themselves and what you buy
> for them? What I sometimes run into is my daughter will spend her
> money on something--usually yet another stuffed animal. Then we'll
> run across something else she wants--something that I also think it
> would be neat for her to have--and sometimes I end up buying it for
> her anyway. Then I end up thinking what's the point of giving her a
> set amount in the first place?

My 6 year old son gets 5 euros a week (used to be $4.50, now closer to $5).
He started getting an allowance at 5; a small amount which increased when he
showed good sense with it. Our deal with him is that 10% goes to the
church, 10% goes to long-term savings and the rest is "expendable". He buys
birthday presents for his friends out of it (usually about 5 euros per), and
last year he bought all his own Christmas presents, plus whatever things he
wanted. He's become very good at budgeting, and generally has 10+ euros
around at any given time. I gave up some control by giving him an
allowance, so if he doesn't buy what I think he should, that's MY problem.

If your daughter spends her money on something and then wants something else
later in the week, you may want to let her live without it. It's the same
situation we grownups find ourselves in. If I choose to spend money on
dinner out one night because I'm too tierd to cook, and a week later some
folks want to go out for lunch, I may have to forego if I don't have the
funds. As your daughter becomes accustomed to the idea that the "bank of
Mom" isn't going to bail her out, she'll probably become better at
budgeting.

I think it's so important for kids to learn to manage money -- both to save
and to spend. It's ok to buy junk sometimes...*I* buy junk at the grocery
now and then, why shouldn't my son! We just have to learn to not buy ALL
junk!

brenda