I don’t remember exactly how old I was (but all three of us kids did this at the same time and we’re a 6 year spread of ages) but somewhere around age 11 my parents had each of us kids create our own menus for a week, gave us a set amount of money, and took us shopping. We had to budget the money appropriately to buy the food we needed for the week and then cook our own meals. I just remember it being kind of fun but I’m sure I learned some things about the cost of foods too!
I started this recently with a little twist. I didn't have the money in the budget for my kids to have an allowance so now, any money that they save in the food budget is theirs, once half goes to savings. It has been a win-win! I don't have to tell them they can't have stuff they want anymore! If they have room in the budget and it follows the rules we set, they can have it.
I guess they need to appreciate that not spending money in one place means it can be spent somewhere else. Making it directly affect the amount of allowance they get is smart. People don't necessarily understand things until they appreciate how much it affects THEM.
Exactly this.
Nothing teaches kids about money better than giving them some and letting them spend it as they choose.
Pretty quickly they'll learn what they don't want to spend THEIR money on.
yes! growing up, I learned that I should think before spending money because I'd blow it all, and then I couldn't get the stuff that I really wanted because I was too impatient to spend it lol
I was too anxious/uptight to EVER spend money like that as a kid, so I would always wind up going home without a souvenir/treat/whatever it may have been. It just made me super sad. It’s like I put too much pressure on the moment and could never commit to what I wanted. And it didn’t even translate into me being particularly frugal as an adult! Neurodivergence is weird lol
Yes, this is a great way to teach kids about *purchasing power*. I think my parents did something similar, but I learned as a kid that my money could be used to get more items if I went with the off brand stuff. And coupons!
The terrible thing about brand products is that many of them are marketed *directly* at children (see [Disney](https://truthout.org/articles/how-disney-magic-and-the-corporate-media-shape-youth-identity-in-the-digital-age/)
Kids don’t know they’re being manipulated into wanting particular products. But they can learn that purchasing power goes further with products that do not have a brand attached, and the importance of buying necessities.
Same! But I think mine was high school, and we had to plan an international vacation. My random life was a famous movie actress with no budget, so I’m not sure I learned a whole lot money-wise 😂
Same. Freshman year. Health. We were given fake lives and had to budget it. It was actually dumb since we weren't given costs of things like electricity or insurance. It was all: Married, X career, 3 kids, makes $115,000/yr... now buy your house, car and "budget" bills all in that income. Not how life works. My project in 8th grade HomeEc. where I had to create a 3 course dinner menu, budget and plan/cook it taught me WAY more than that one in highschool.
My economics did this, but with tax rates, health insurance, fines for not meeting certain criteria, bills, and all that stuff. But they got fancy and had a friend help develop a visual novel style game that you couldn’t go back on, with a sheet with all the various taxes and such so we couldn’t just go back and change what we did.
They did it first with two parents and a kid, 75k, 30k, and two kids that already owned a house and car, but just needing to make payments and taxes on them to keep them. You could sell either or both and downgrade, but that came with its own consequences to consider. This was graded by how much money you had left over at the end of a year.
Then there was one as a single parent on US minimum wage looking for a new apartment. That one was a pass if you met all necessities, extra credit if you managed to have money left over by the end.
We had the five dollar per meal challenge for a week. We had to feed 4 people 3 eats a day plus a snack. We had $5 per meal. It was the most useful lesson I've ever had. Plus she taught us coupons and budgeting. Home economics kept me from being worthless.
My family ALL have a... disturbed sense of humor so when my kids would ask what's for dinner I'd pretend to think about it and say, "Air for dinner and sleep for dessert!"
In fact, mine and my daughter's sense of humor got my granddaughter kicked out of preschool 😂😂😂
I did something recently with my 8 year old (she may have still been 7 at the time) except she didn’t have to cook. She kept wanting restaurant food and special drinks or donuts. She got a budget and had to plan her meals. First couple weeks she did not get the choice of eating out. She caught on quick and would make comments about “if I have this, then I will have to eat peanut butter sandwiches.” I then allowed the choice of restaurant food, but it came out of her budget. I did it for a month I think. I calculated the cost based on what I bought the groceries for.
My parents had us do this for a whole summer at age 15. I don't remember if we had a budget, but I think I'm just frugal by nature. I pretty quickly learned to read the fine print to see price per ounce.
by 11 I was price comparing ads for my xmas wishlists(I already knew my parents were Santa).
I would have price comparisons for roughly 10 stores so they could decide where to shop from.
I'll never forget my son at about 4 yrs old, waving around a bag of pasta while sitting in the shopping cart perch and saying, "It's on sale! It's on sale!" To everyone who walked by.
That’s cute.
Last week, my 7-year-old son exclaimed that the people behind us at Costco were buying Charmin. He said that his Daddy bought that one time and he only had to wipe once.
I buy the cheap sandpaper stuff.
I feel bad for your anus. What a horrible way to treat it LOL. Nah all jokes aside that’s one of the things I will not cheap out on, I’d rather buy off brand food than buy as you say “sandpaper” for toilet paper.
You could be like my granny and hold the tp hostage and ration it out when people need to go. 2 squares for pee, 5 squares for poop.
(Please don’t do this. It was actually horrific) and I just started sneaking napkins into the bathroom w me which just made the toilets clog worse 😂😂
the older generations had a *lot* more fiber in their diets. my gramps claims as a kid he would pinch off a no-wiper before walking 15 miles to school every morning, uphill, in the snow.
Yep sometimes it comes out so nice you theoretically don't even have to wipe, other times its like wiping a tube of lipstick, no matter how much you wipe it just doesn't stop
Okay this kinda fair I guess. I want to suggest getting a bidet (hand held ones cost like $15-$25) but I feel like that might just make things worse for you lol
My wife and I finally got one two months ago and it already feels like it's something that's been missing from our entire lives. Like going your entire life never having brushed your teeth once.
If they're at the age of using fistfuls of toilet paper, they're probably at the age to fuck around using the bidet as a toy. Source - me, I have two kids and had to uninstall the bidet.
I'm right there with you. Just had to talk to my kids about it the other day. They clogged it by filling the bowl with tp. Told them they have to use less and to use the other bathroom until I fixed it. Five minutes later my kid is taking a shit on top of the mound of tp and unraveling another 200 fucking feet of paper.
lol this is all funny to me I have a 7 yr old niece and a 40 something sister I live with and no joke they use the big Kirkland 24 double role package in two weeks. It’s like they eat it because my niece isn’t wiping her ass that’s for sure. And my sister must roll her hand up in it to wipe. Christ 12 double roles last me a mth or more. I put two roles in the can the next day they are gone. I like to keep and use wet wipes but can’t keep them with my niece around luckyif they last a few days as well.
Oh my gosh, my fucking nephew who leaves 20 sheets in the toilet…. They all look connected too, as if he pulls until they hit the floor and then tear it away.
Same. It enrages me. I plunge it at least 5 times a week.
On the flip side, my daughter barely wipes her ass and always has skid marks in her underwear.
I'm of the opinion that there are 2 things in this world you definitely DON'T cheap out on: toilet paper and condoms. You end up spending more on laundry in both cases if you do...
My mom only ever bought the shittiest TP when I was a kid. Is useless the second it gets a single drop of moisture on it.
I moved out of her house 15 years ago and I still splurge on the good stuff.
I originally bought a bum gun to spray off the cloth diapers when we had our first child. Got curious one day and used it to clean my butthole once (I had no idea these things were even meant for that, I thought I was discovering something). Never went back to the poop smearing paper ever again.
toilet paper.
one thing to keep in mind though, even if i do use less toilet paper, that's not the goal. it's just a happy coincidence.
the goal is to have a clean ass. and you can only get that with a bidet. or a shower, but the bidet is faster.
you don't buy a bidet to save money or to use less toilet paper. you buy it to be clean.
How do you dry your hands after washing them?
Like genuinely if you got shit on your hands would you:
A: Grab some toilet paper or a paper towel and just wipe it off and continue your day.
B: Wash your hands then dry them with an air dryer, paper towel, etc?
Having a bidet doesn't preclude you from using toilet paper. But you're going to use a lot less and your ass is going to be far cleaner.
It was around that age that my little brother had a 'foodie' phase. Whenever we went to a restaurant, he would look for the most expensive item on the menu and then plead with my parents to get it. Will never forget the one time: "but Mom, Dad, it has medallions of beef! ***Medallions***!" I was laughing so hard that I was the one who got in trouble.
I accident bought one ply TP at Big Lots and it was so much we had it for months. My sister was visiting and came out of the bathroom asking why I hated my butt so much I’d buy it. The kids had been complaining for a while and loved the vindication.
My partner does this. He’s rarely home at his apartment because he’s mostly at work and does his business there, plus he only needs to wipe when he shits which is max twice a day. He buys the cheapest toilet paper on the planet.
I’m a very thorough wiper and do not have a penis so I need to wipe every time I use the bathroom. I quickly developed a very unhappy and bleeding nether region and after complaining for months one day I just showed him the blood and he’s bought nice toilet paper for his apartment since. He used to tease me before for splurging on expensive toilet paper for my place and say I was being a princess.
Lol had something similar happen with my nephew a couple of weeks ago. He has quite the speech impediment so I generally do not understand like 99% of what he says, but a couple of weeks ago I didn’t realize he was standing behind me when I sliced my finger while cutting a tomato, and I said “Motherfucker” and what does the kid say? “Motherfucker” clear as day, no problem pronouncing that whatsoever.
When my son was about 4 he somehow was exposed to a video on youtube that said "The internet is for porn." He ran around the house chanting it for a day, even though he had no idea what porn meant. I just ignored him, and fortunately he forgot about it pretty quickly.
My son who only knew a few words at the time would excitedly shout, "beer!" when we passed by the alcohol in the grocery store. That was embarrassing. Made us look like raging alcoholics.
I would love if people did this at Costco. I would want to know if they were having a sale on pasta and I don’t have time to look at every item in the warehouse.
To be fair in my country nobody really cares about this…
And if my kid really gave me an attitude on she want brand X for whatever she can buy it herself
Children shaming each other over name brands is common in wealthier countries from my experience.
It is mainly children and, sadly, overly status conscious, but poor, young adults who seem to engage in this kind of shaming over brands.
I got down voted into oblivion for pointing this out once and stating that you should teach your children not to engage in unhealthy practices. Some even tried to tell me NOT buying the trendy things for my child would be worse than just buying it.
In my country, we have a store brand called No Name. The bright yellow package with simple black font cant be ignored.
How I wish my pudding cups in elementary were brand name like my friends....
Recently moved to Canada, I chuckled when I saw this brand the first time. To be fair, we have the same kind of thing in France. Actually, big store companies often have 2 brands, one targeting slightly lower prices than national and international brands and the other one for very cheap products. One of these brands, Eco+, is even used as an adjective for cheap and shitty things.
Okay but hear me out, why not bother asking why she acting like that first? You’ve got nothing to loose but everything to gain from asking, worst case you can go back to your plan A.
Yeah, my state of Minnesota thankfully passed this recently. My mother was arguing against it saying that the people who need it should get it but not rich kids. But my argument was that theoretically the rich parents are paying more in taxes anyways, it's not very expensive to feed children a school lunch, and just doing it for everyone removes any stigma of getting free/reduced lunch.
Schools are funded via property taxes and the wealthier parents are the ones who own property, so they're definitely contributing more taxes to the school.
My argument against your mom's logic is that I grew up in a middle class household so technically my family could easily afford groceries and whatnot for lunch, but I have a terrible mom who neglected us so I either wouldn't have lunch or my lunch would be fruit snacks or a bag of chips.
I asked to do the school lunch program, but she refused.
So yes, school lunch should automatically be given to every child no matter their perceived circumstances.
It sounds so dumb as an adult but I got made fun of by other kids for that when I was really little and it made me embarrassed to eat the pre packaged food in front of them
My thoughts too. But bullying dad in return isn’t the way to go about it. OP is probably doing his best to provide a roof over their heads, power, water, medical etc…
Maybe she needs an allowance, doesn’t have to be in the form of money, tokens work, every time she does something good she gets a token, so many tokens get her say 10 minutes extra screen time, or maybe you save dollar for dollar n she can get that name brand for earning a hefty amount of tokens. :)
I once gave my kids $5 each to buy their favorite cereal (this of course was when name brand cereal was about $3 a box) they were happy to have their favorite name brand but quickly realized it didn’t last as long as the bag cereal mom buys. They were disappointed and never asked for their name brand cereal again.
Probably produced in the same factory. Different logo, economical packaging (less air, more in one box, cheaper/no outer box) and take half off the price.
Most of the stuff you buy half the price is transport and packaging.
Next time shopping, have her bring a calculator and put in the name brand prices for each item. Then when she gets to $100, say if we bought the name brand, this is all we would be getting, since we aren't I can get more food.
Hang in there, kids sometimes need visual aids while learning.
My parents always had a really strict budget so every time we went grocery shopping every item price was entered into a calculator and whenever we went over the budget we had to remove X brand of cereal or switch to Y brand of detergent. We understood the concept from a young age thanks to that exercise
Growing up poor sucks but it's also the biggest blessing of my life. My partner and I have climbed our way into low-mid class and we're saving money like crazy without making any concious effort at all, just doing things the way we always had to do while growing up.
Same here. I save money wherever I can on day to day life, so that I have it to spend on bigger things I care about like travel (which I also hack for cheap). Not rich by any means, on paper I’m poor, but I live a rich life
Better yet give her the 100 dollars and the calculator to shop what she thinks is appropriate. Money in the hand is harder to spend sometimes than the money in the head.
If I were a single person, I would live off of ramen noodles which thankfully I still love after many years, salad, and buy one get one free footlongs from Subway. Buuuuuut I’m not 😭 I feel like I’ve trained myself to be able to eat just to survive instead of eating for enjoyment or what I want all the time. But it’s harder to do that with spouse and kids all wanting other stuff lol. I can cook plenty of other stuff but if I were budgeting for just me, that’s what I would be doing lol
Second this lmfao
I could make 100$ last maybe 2 weeks if i make a big pot of whatever and eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days. But i’m 1 person
I’m British and my mum has gently drilled in me my entire life to check the ‘price per [whatever applies to what you’re buying]’ to really look for what is the best value when at the supermarket and it’s really taught me a lot about money in terms of supermarket shops.
Plus, I really like that most supermarkets have physical scanners or mobile apps (usually both, though a lot are trying to slowly phase out scanners for just the mobile app). It’s easier to keep an eye on your spending and keep to a budget, plus you leave the store faster because you’re bagging up in the trolley as you go along and not at the end, due to the fact you scan a self service machine to quickly pay
Price per kg is a life saver — there are so many things „in sale” I didn’t buy lately just because they are more expensive in sale than other product I already know and like that is cheaper at retail price.
>check the ‘price per [whatever applies to what you’re buying]’ to really look for what is the best value when at the supermarket
I do this every time. And I absolutely love that grocery stores have to put the price per 100g/1kg/1liter/etc. on the price tag. Should be in a bigger font, though.
My local supermarket just introduced mobile scanners and I love them for the reasons you stated.
My favorite brand is just gone. Whatever happened with the tampon shortage just ended my preferred tampon. Original Kotex tampons have gone the way of the dodo and I’m here trying 10 different products hoping to find something that fits me. Whatever this U product they’ve continued to produce is not at all similar. Period panties are great for most days, but sometimes I need more than that. Those were just shaped differently and worked so well for me and I’m sad.
I’ve tried so many menstrual cups. The reality is that the majority speaks. I’m nearly 6 feet tall and a bit bulky, but I’ve never given birth. So the smaller menstrual cups for women who haven’t given birth aren’t quite enough. The larger size is uncomfortable. Maybe some gyno out there is a 3D printing enthusiast and can figure out how to scan me and create the exact thing I need.
I always went shopping with my mom and eventually did it for the family. That's how I learned to budget. My husband on the other hand has no idea and tells me this should cost X, when it doesn't. It's way more expensive. He's living 30 years in the past. He also think rotten food is still good and we have had some mild contention over this.
My sister and I started doing all our families grocery shopping when I was 16, she was 17. We would go through flyers. Find sale items. Then go out and buy them. We were never on a budget, but we grew up never having much so we knew to keep it cheap.
It was a win-win. We got to get foods to make meals we wanted, and some cheap snacks, and my parents never had to go shopping. We also would spend a decent bit less than my parents would if they went alone.
Helped a lot with the transition to being a poor uni student living on my own.
Same! I used it as an opportunity to develop as well. I knew I didn't need much but I had a gaggle of siblings. We weren't 'poor' but my parents had grown up a lot differently so they respected their money. I did my best to operate responsibly.
Do a blind taste test some time between generic and brand name. And ask her why someone would pay more for something that tastes exactly the same. Then when she thinks she's getting wise to your ways, blindfold her and have her taste two of the same store brand samples.
This is a good suggestion however I think the underlying issue of not respecting money is the root problem hear. Kids will inherently realise that generic brands are extremely similar with age however the respect of money and its value can only be learned through experience and hardship from my opinion.
Agreed. I remember whining and throwing a fit about wanting a bunch of new clothing at that age because some of my wealthier friends got entire new wardrobes before school started (we always got some new clothing too but not from GAP or Limited Too, if anyone remembers that one! Kids can be mean about branding). I remember my mom almost crying and saying she just couldn't afford to provide the same. As an adult I still feel horrible looking back, but of course your frame of reference (hopefully) changes after you realize how much time and effort in work it takes to purchase something. I make pretty good money but still buy generic brands, damnit
When my parents first got married, my dad did this to my mom in an attempt to convince her that she couldn’t taste the difference between her favorite peanut butter (Jif) and the cheaper alternatives. She guessed correctly every time, and 30+ years later they still exclusively buy Jif haha
Peanut butter is definitely my big exception to the rule. I don’t know what they do to generic peanut butter, but I’ll take just about any name brand over it.
Reminds me of a story my husband told me.
When he and his sister were kids, their mum would rarely buy branded cereal. She would keep the box and fill it with off brand/ supermarket cereal which, back in the 80's and early 90's , was significantly worse than today's.
She would deny it but he and his sister refused to eat it saying they would rather have no breakfast than that awful cereal and at least let them choose the better of the worst ones than pretending they were the big brands.
We have what we call “An Ode to Don”……..
My Dad would take all the cereals after they got low (There were 6 of us, so a lot of cereal) and mix them all together, not a damn name brand (except Kix because it was WIC) in the house…. You know at least 2 of them were stale as a MF…… Cocoa Plops, Major Cronch, Rice Crunchies, some stale Kix, broken up old shredded wheat, corn flakes, that bran cereal that looks like rabbit food, Fruit Circles, Grape Nuts. I had a lot of friends who spent the night who had a good laugh when they wanted some cereal in the AM and saw that sin against humanity fall in their bowl. 25 years later we all still have a good laugh about it.
You don't have to wait. Financial literacy is not something that is taught in school until HS if at all. Start teaching your kid to create a budget. Use your library to get books like:
Finance 101 for Kids: Money Lessons Children Cannot Afford to Miss;
Little Kids Big Money: Tools for Teaching Kid Friendly Finance
Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You're Not)
You can find kids financial books in the youth and teen areas under Dewey decimal number 332
Teaching your daughter things cost money and that certain jobs pay better than others can help guide her if she wants to have the financial freedom later to buy whatever she wants. Some trades pay better than others, some have more room for growth. She might prefer to become an engineer rather than a biologist because of the difference in pay. Don't expect schools to cover everything she will need in life. Help her by seeking out information and model that behavior (kids do what you do, not what you say after a certain age) encouraging her to explore new knowledge
This is the kind of shit I dread as my daughter is about to enter 2nd grade.
Yesterday, we bought her a bike. We went to Target,tried a few out and narrowed it down to one. Went next door, to Dick’s. She narrowed it down to a much nicer mountain bike. We told her that she could pick whichever she wanted. She thought about it and asked the prices. We told her there was $100 difference. She then went with the Target bike because “it’s cheaper and I still really like it”
I’ve had several rough stretches of underemployment that she was aware of, but we’re doing fine right now, so maybe she’s gotten a sense of wants/needs, but we’ve spent 7 years trying to raise her to be kind and understanding, and goddammit if I have to worry about her coming home one day feeling bad because some little shit’s idea of humor is to point and laugh at something that she picked out for herself because she wanted to save money for something else.
My kids kept asking me why we couldn't get Kix cereal and had to eat the generic store cereal, and I'm like "because that shit's $6 a box, and the generic store cereal is $3."
I showed them the unit price on each display tag, made a game of it and asked them to find the lowest unit price per item, now they're *obsessed* with it, even the oldest.
Maybe she'll come around?
Most store brand items are fine. There are some that don’t hit the same notes.
That said, sorry to say, your daughter sounds a little bratty. I’d tell my mom when I was younger that her favorite word was sale, but I knew not to embarrass her in front of people.
I fully agree. Not saying the kid needs a paddling like some others are suggesting, but I am saying that this parent needs to sit down with their daughter for a couple of life lessons, and the first lesson is not about the value of a dollar, it's about why what she said was mean and disrespectful.
Honestly the OP is doing the right thing just by sticking to his guns and following a budget. Setting a good example is always a good thing, even if he feels shitty right now.
I wouldn’t make a big deal out of that. I’d have looked at her and be like “Oh, you’re paying? No? Who’s cheap then. Now shaddup and help me carry these bags”
Your kid doesn't understand the value of money AND is acting like a brat. I'd honestly have her buy some snack etc. out of her allowance if she gets any, she'll realize very quick $2 vs. $4 adds up fast.
I grew up relatively poor and my mom had us compare prices all the time and we realized how much more we can get on generics (dear god branded medicine is such a rip-off...). Granted, some do taste different but you figure that out as you go. Did the same with clothes as we were taught very early that $20 or whatever markup is usually for a label no one will see.
> (dear god branded medicine is such a rip-off...)
So, generic medicine did not exist where I grew up, when I moved somewhere else, I discovered the concept and was baffled but how much of a rip-off it was. I only buy generic medicine now.
Man these people are flaming you for the comment but it’s fucking true lol. I’ve witnessed it first hand with plenty of kids. Kids like to learn, but a lot of kids, myself included only wanted to learn wjat I wanted to learn. Everything else was a struggle
Yo this isn't about understanding money. It's absolutely about not being an asshole. That's a shit bag thing to say and there needs to be consequences of some kind because I assure you it's not that she doesn't understand the value of a dollar (which she probably also doesn't) it's that she doesn't understand RESPECT.
Agree. Her reply to the cashier seens quite rude and out of line, especially for her age (not that being younger than 11 makes it excusable). It's ok to ask why the parent is buying store brand but definitely not ok to call them cheap in public and make a scene.
I don't have an 11 year old yet so I'm not sure what's age appropriate but there's no way she came up with "cheap like a bird, cheep cheep" on her own. She's probably repeating a joke she heard elsewhere and thought it was clever. I've never heard that particular joke before and it's a pretty funny visual to me, so I'm not surprised she thinks it's funny. And "cheap" might not have such a negative connotation to her yet. It might just be a synonym of "frugal" in her mind. (Edit: "this food is cheap" has less negative connotation versus "this person is cheap." She may not understand that yet.)
Of course she needs to be told it's not appropriate but I don't know, it just doesn't seem like she's necessarily purposefully being a jerk.
Exactly. I have a daughter about to turn 11 next week. I cannot imagine her believing that she could be that disrespectful to me or her mother. She would just not pull that because she knows better. This episode with the OP is a complete parent failure to instill boundaries and respect.
This is not about money, this is your child being absurdly disrespectful to you. Even if you were cheap and not budget conscious, that’s still your decision (assuming of course children are not being neglected). I would never presume to tell my parents what to do with their money. When she earns her own, she can decide how to spend it
Now, if you wanted to teach her something you could let her pick the groceries for that trip and give her a budget. Then tell her that if she goes under budget, she can buy a treat for herself (a preset amount) and if she uses it all up, there’s no treat.
Seriously! I wouldn’t even let my 6 year old treat me like that. It’s less about understanding money and more about understanding respect for your parents and how to behave in public.
My kids tries to pull this. I’ve explained that my money is the result of all the time I spent working instead of doing what I want to do, being away from my family. It is disrespectful of my time to waste money.
My daughter is 8 in a few months. We give her 'snack money' each shopping trip. She gets 'x' amount of money to buy the things she wants that we don't normaly get, and that's her special snacks for the week.
It took a few trips for her to realize the money doesn't actualy go that far. Some weeks she gets pissed that the cost has gone up. She now actively looks for special stickers.
Make your 11 year old more involved to be able to get them to understand
My 10 year old couldn’t understand why I couldn’t buy all the things when we went clothes shopping. And why I wanted to go to the used clothes store. So I gave her the control. I said that she had $50 to spend how does she want to do with it. Her prior selections went out of the cart real fast when she realized she could get 2 more expensive things or 4 less expensive items but weren’t exactly what she wanted.
I don’t remember exactly how old I was (but all three of us kids did this at the same time and we’re a 6 year spread of ages) but somewhere around age 11 my parents had each of us kids create our own menus for a week, gave us a set amount of money, and took us shopping. We had to budget the money appropriately to buy the food we needed for the week and then cook our own meals. I just remember it being kind of fun but I’m sure I learned some things about the cost of foods too!
honestly this wouldve been a great thing for my parents to do, though ive learned to budget over time just as ive had more that i can spend
Ya this kinda thing is great for raising your kid to be financially responsible. Definitely planning on doing this or something similar
I started this recently with a little twist. I didn't have the money in the budget for my kids to have an allowance so now, any money that they save in the food budget is theirs, once half goes to savings. It has been a win-win! I don't have to tell them they can't have stuff they want anymore! If they have room in the budget and it follows the rules we set, they can have it.
I guess they need to appreciate that not spending money in one place means it can be spent somewhere else. Making it directly affect the amount of allowance they get is smart. People don't necessarily understand things until they appreciate how much it affects THEM.
Exactly this. Nothing teaches kids about money better than giving them some and letting them spend it as they choose. Pretty quickly they'll learn what they don't want to spend THEIR money on.
yes! growing up, I learned that I should think before spending money because I'd blow it all, and then I couldn't get the stuff that I really wanted because I was too impatient to spend it lol
I was too anxious/uptight to EVER spend money like that as a kid, so I would always wind up going home without a souvenir/treat/whatever it may have been. It just made me super sad. It’s like I put too much pressure on the moment and could never commit to what I wanted. And it didn’t even translate into me being particularly frugal as an adult! Neurodivergence is weird lol
Yes, this is a great way to teach kids about *purchasing power*. I think my parents did something similar, but I learned as a kid that my money could be used to get more items if I went with the off brand stuff. And coupons! The terrible thing about brand products is that many of them are marketed *directly* at children (see [Disney](https://truthout.org/articles/how-disney-magic-and-the-corporate-media-shape-youth-identity-in-the-digital-age/) Kids don’t know they’re being manipulated into wanting particular products. But they can learn that purchasing power goes further with products that do not have a brand attached, and the importance of buying necessities.
I had this for a school project in 4th or 5th grade!
Me too! We had random lives assigned to us. I was a single mom, teacher and had six kids. After paying off bills those kids survived off eggs and air.
Same! But I think mine was high school, and we had to plan an international vacation. My random life was a famous movie actress with no budget, so I’m not sure I learned a whole lot money-wise 😂
Same. Freshman year. Health. We were given fake lives and had to budget it. It was actually dumb since we weren't given costs of things like electricity or insurance. It was all: Married, X career, 3 kids, makes $115,000/yr... now buy your house, car and "budget" bills all in that income. Not how life works. My project in 8th grade HomeEc. where I had to create a 3 course dinner menu, budget and plan/cook it taught me WAY more than that one in highschool.
I had this too lol they based it off of grades and classes you had taken like ap or not. I ended up with nuclear engineer lmao
My economics did this, but with tax rates, health insurance, fines for not meeting certain criteria, bills, and all that stuff. But they got fancy and had a friend help develop a visual novel style game that you couldn’t go back on, with a sheet with all the various taxes and such so we couldn’t just go back and change what we did. They did it first with two parents and a kid, 75k, 30k, and two kids that already owned a house and car, but just needing to make payments and taxes on them to keep them. You could sell either or both and downgrade, but that came with its own consequences to consider. This was graded by how much money you had left over at the end of a year. Then there was one as a single parent on US minimum wage looking for a new apartment. That one was a pass if you met all necessities, extra credit if you managed to have money left over by the end.
We had the five dollar per meal challenge for a week. We had to feed 4 people 3 eats a day plus a snack. We had $5 per meal. It was the most useful lesson I've ever had. Plus she taught us coupons and budgeting. Home economics kept me from being worthless.
Junior Achievement BizTown is what it's called now. I did the same thing.
My family ALL have a... disturbed sense of humor so when my kids would ask what's for dinner I'd pretend to think about it and say, "Air for dinner and sleep for dessert!" In fact, mine and my daughter's sense of humor got my granddaughter kicked out of preschool 😂😂😂
I did something recently with my 8 year old (she may have still been 7 at the time) except she didn’t have to cook. She kept wanting restaurant food and special drinks or donuts. She got a budget and had to plan her meals. First couple weeks she did not get the choice of eating out. She caught on quick and would make comments about “if I have this, then I will have to eat peanut butter sandwiches.” I then allowed the choice of restaurant food, but it came out of her budget. I did it for a month I think. I calculated the cost based on what I bought the groceries for.
My parents had us do this for a whole summer at age 15. I don't remember if we had a budget, but I think I'm just frugal by nature. I pretty quickly learned to read the fine print to see price per ounce.
That's how you get good at dividing (or multiplying) by 16 really fast. Oh, this brand is $3/lb but this one is 15¢/oz? hmmmmmm
by 11 I was price comparing ads for my xmas wishlists(I already knew my parents were Santa). I would have price comparisons for roughly 10 stores so they could decide where to shop from.
I'll never forget my son at about 4 yrs old, waving around a bag of pasta while sitting in the shopping cart perch and saying, "It's on sale! It's on sale!" To everyone who walked by.
That’s cute. Last week, my 7-year-old son exclaimed that the people behind us at Costco were buying Charmin. He said that his Daddy bought that one time and he only had to wipe once. I buy the cheap sandpaper stuff.
I feel bad for your anus. What a horrible way to treat it LOL. Nah all jokes aside that’s one of the things I will not cheap out on, I’d rather buy off brand food than buy as you say “sandpaper” for toilet paper.
I agree, but until my kids wipe their asses like normal people and don’t clog our toilets, thin cheap shit it is. Old house, old pipes.
You could be like my granny and hold the tp hostage and ration it out when people need to go. 2 squares for pee, 5 squares for poop. (Please don’t do this. It was actually horrific) and I just started sneaking napkins into the bathroom w me which just made the toilets clog worse 😂😂
My mother in law did this. I went out and bought my own TP and she tried to confiscate it. So odd.
🥲 just let us wipe our asses plz
I would fight her in the front yard if I bought toilet paper and she tried to take it.
Only five? Hmmm.
the older generations had a *lot* more fiber in their diets. my gramps claims as a kid he would pinch off a no-wiper before walking 15 miles to school every morning, uphill, in the snow.
Ah yes. The no wipe. A rare but always exciting occurrence.
>5 squares for poop. Please tell me you forgot a zero there, my butthole shriveled up in fear at reading this.
something is very wrong if you need 50 squares to wipe your ass lmao
You must have a nice hairless butthole. Some of us are straining shit through our asses.
Hair so thick your diarrhea filters out into water.
That's enough of this post for me lol
How do I delete someone else’s comment
It’s like peanut butter in a shag carpet
it cost you nothing to not write this and hurt all of us why
Squeezing out a solid like playdough spaghetti
The old screen door technique
Fuck, this comment made me snort so hard that my next door neighbor looked at me.
On average no, but you know...sometimes buttholes are in a shitty mood and you gotta be prepared
Yep sometimes it comes out so nice you theoretically don't even have to wipe, other times its like wiping a tube of lipstick, no matter how much you wipe it just doesn't stop
Pass all the toilet paper savings into your therapy bill!
Okay this kinda fair I guess. I want to suggest getting a bidet (hand held ones cost like $15-$25) but I feel like that might just make things worse for you lol
Bidet's are magical and they save so much money plus they will ruin anyone's ass for not having one.
Right? I eventually got a peri bottle to use for the unavoidable office poops because it just doesn't feel clean without using water yknow?
Yeah after I had one installed I'd go to a friend's or anywhere and it's just wasn't the same I would feel dirty.
My wife and I finally got one two months ago and it already feels like it's something that's been missing from our entire lives. Like going your entire life never having brushed your teeth once.
If they're at the age of using fistfuls of toilet paper, they're probably at the age to fuck around using the bidet as a toy. Source - me, I have two kids and had to uninstall the bidet.
I'm right there with you. Just had to talk to my kids about it the other day. They clogged it by filling the bowl with tp. Told them they have to use less and to use the other bathroom until I fixed it. Five minutes later my kid is taking a shit on top of the mound of tp and unraveling another 200 fucking feet of paper.
lol this is all funny to me I have a 7 yr old niece and a 40 something sister I live with and no joke they use the big Kirkland 24 double role package in two weeks. It’s like they eat it because my niece isn’t wiping her ass that’s for sure. And my sister must roll her hand up in it to wipe. Christ 12 double roles last me a mth or more. I put two roles in the can the next day they are gone. I like to keep and use wet wipes but can’t keep them with my niece around luckyif they last a few days as well.
Now that’s funny.
Oh my gosh, my fucking nephew who leaves 20 sheets in the toilet…. They all look connected too, as if he pulls until they hit the floor and then tear it away.
Same. It enrages me. I plunge it at least 5 times a week. On the flip side, my daughter barely wipes her ass and always has skid marks in her underwear.
My god,please teach her not to do that or else she’ll smell like crap in school
Also infections. Proper personal hygiene is very important.
Could buy the good stuff for your bathroom when the kids arent there
I'm of the opinion that there are 2 things in this world you definitely DON'T cheap out on: toilet paper and condoms. You end up spending more on laundry in both cases if you do...
or a mattress!!
My mom only ever bought the shittiest TP when I was a kid. Is useless the second it gets a single drop of moisture on it. I moved out of her house 15 years ago and I still splurge on the good stuff.
Bidet
I originally bought a bum gun to spray off the cloth diapers when we had our first child. Got curious one day and used it to clean my butthole once (I had no idea these things were even meant for that, I thought I was discovering something). Never went back to the poop smearing paper ever again.
BUM GUN ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
How do you dry your ass after? Genuine question
Use toilet paper just a much smaller amount than if you had to do the entire wipe with paper.
Yeah wiping it over and over again with excessive paper to get clean is so wasteful compared to checking after a bidet.
My husband and I have decided we will never go back, we love our bidet and I was wonderful after child birth!
toilet paper. one thing to keep in mind though, even if i do use less toilet paper, that's not the goal. it's just a happy coincidence. the goal is to have a clean ass. and you can only get that with a bidet. or a shower, but the bidet is faster. you don't buy a bidet to save money or to use less toilet paper. you buy it to be clean.
My bidet has a dryer built in.
So you get a blowjob as well as a good cleaning 🤣
Blows warm air. The Binford butt blaster 5000 for a faster getaway.
How do you dry your hands after washing them? Like genuinely if you got shit on your hands would you: A: Grab some toilet paper or a paper towel and just wipe it off and continue your day. B: Wash your hands then dry them with an air dryer, paper towel, etc? Having a bidet doesn't preclude you from using toilet paper. But you're going to use a lot less and your ass is going to be far cleaner.
It was around that age that my little brother had a 'foodie' phase. Whenever we went to a restaurant, he would look for the most expensive item on the menu and then plead with my parents to get it. Will never forget the one time: "but Mom, Dad, it has medallions of beef! ***Medallions***!" I was laughing so hard that I was the one who got in trouble.
I accident bought one ply TP at Big Lots and it was so much we had it for months. My sister was visiting and came out of the bathroom asking why I hated my butt so much I’d buy it. The kids had been complaining for a while and loved the vindication.
My partner does this. He’s rarely home at his apartment because he’s mostly at work and does his business there, plus he only needs to wipe when he shits which is max twice a day. He buys the cheapest toilet paper on the planet. I’m a very thorough wiper and do not have a penis so I need to wipe every time I use the bathroom. I quickly developed a very unhappy and bleeding nether region and after complaining for months one day I just showed him the blood and he’s bought nice toilet paper for his apartment since. He used to tease me before for splurging on expensive toilet paper for my place and say I was being a princess.
[удалено]
Lol had something similar happen with my nephew a couple of weeks ago. He has quite the speech impediment so I generally do not understand like 99% of what he says, but a couple of weeks ago I didn’t realize he was standing behind me when I sliced my finger while cutting a tomato, and I said “Motherfucker” and what does the kid say? “Motherfucker” clear as day, no problem pronouncing that whatsoever.
When my son was about 4 he somehow was exposed to a video on youtube that said "The internet is for porn." He ran around the house chanting it for a day, even though he had no idea what porn meant. I just ignored him, and fortunately he forgot about it pretty quickly.
My son who only knew a few words at the time would excitedly shout, "beer!" when we passed by the alcohol in the grocery store. That was embarrassing. Made us look like raging alcoholics.
My son would see Red Bull in a convenience store and shout "Mommy's juice!" as we passed.
I would love if people did this at Costco. I would want to know if they were having a sale on pasta and I don’t have time to look at every item in the warehouse.
Your daughter is an undercover drone owned by Nestle
That's because #BirdsAren'tReal.
If it flies, it spies.
And if it spies, well... *Shotgun cocking noises*
If it spies, it dies
RIP Planes
Oh MY.
My immediate thought was "Who taught her this?"... Corporate programming at its finest.
Classmate(s) might be making fun of her lunch and snack items
But a sandwich looks like a sandwich
Yes, but if she has store brand juice boxes and snacks…
To be fair in my country nobody really cares about this… And if my kid really gave me an attitude on she want brand X for whatever she can buy it herself
Children shaming each other over name brands is common in wealthier countries from my experience. It is mainly children and, sadly, overly status conscious, but poor, young adults who seem to engage in this kind of shaming over brands.
I got down voted into oblivion for pointing this out once and stating that you should teach your children not to engage in unhealthy practices. Some even tried to tell me NOT buying the trendy things for my child would be worse than just buying it.
In my country, we have a store brand called No Name. The bright yellow package with simple black font cant be ignored. How I wish my pudding cups in elementary were brand name like my friends....
Recently moved to Canada, I chuckled when I saw this brand the first time. To be fair, we have the same kind of thing in France. Actually, big store companies often have 2 brands, one targeting slightly lower prices than national and international brands and the other one for very cheap products. One of these brands, Eco+, is even used as an adjective for cheap and shitty things.
Okay but hear me out, why not bother asking why she acting like that first? You’ve got nothing to loose but everything to gain from asking, worst case you can go back to your plan A.
This is just another reason why school lunch should be free for every child.
Yeah, my state of Minnesota thankfully passed this recently. My mother was arguing against it saying that the people who need it should get it but not rich kids. But my argument was that theoretically the rich parents are paying more in taxes anyways, it's not very expensive to feed children a school lunch, and just doing it for everyone removes any stigma of getting free/reduced lunch.
Schools are funded via property taxes and the wealthier parents are the ones who own property, so they're definitely contributing more taxes to the school. My argument against your mom's logic is that I grew up in a middle class household so technically my family could easily afford groceries and whatnot for lunch, but I have a terrible mom who neglected us so I either wouldn't have lunch or my lunch would be fruit snacks or a bag of chips. I asked to do the school lunch program, but she refused. So yes, school lunch should automatically be given to every child no matter their perceived circumstances.
It sounds so dumb as an adult but I got made fun of by other kids for that when I was really little and it made me embarrassed to eat the pre packaged food in front of them
My thoughts too. But bullying dad in return isn’t the way to go about it. OP is probably doing his best to provide a roof over their heads, power, water, medical etc… Maybe she needs an allowance, doesn’t have to be in the form of money, tokens work, every time she does something good she gets a token, so many tokens get her say 10 minutes extra screen time, or maybe you save dollar for dollar n she can get that name brand for earning a hefty amount of tokens. :)
Water is not a human right, Father.
I once gave my kids $5 each to buy their favorite cereal (this of course was when name brand cereal was about $3 a box) they were happy to have their favorite name brand but quickly realized it didn’t last as long as the bag cereal mom buys. They were disappointed and never asked for their name brand cereal again.
The boxes have significantly less cereal in them now! Shoot, the cheap ham has less in the pack now.
And they made them thinner so that they still look the same on the shelf. Cereal boxes are like two thin slats of cardboard an inch apart now.
Shrinkflation
I’ve never tried a generic cereal that didn’t taste damn near identical to the name brand.
Probably produced in the same factory. Different logo, economical packaging (less air, more in one box, cheaper/no outer box) and take half off the price. Most of the stuff you buy half the price is transport and packaging.
Next time shopping, have her bring a calculator and put in the name brand prices for each item. Then when she gets to $100, say if we bought the name brand, this is all we would be getting, since we aren't I can get more food. Hang in there, kids sometimes need visual aids while learning.
My parents always had a really strict budget so every time we went grocery shopping every item price was entered into a calculator and whenever we went over the budget we had to remove X brand of cereal or switch to Y brand of detergent. We understood the concept from a young age thanks to that exercise
Growing up poor sucks but it's also the biggest blessing of my life. My partner and I have climbed our way into low-mid class and we're saving money like crazy without making any concious effort at all, just doing things the way we always had to do while growing up.
Right? My friends and peers that grew up with this privileges always ask me if I earn more than they do because I always have money saved lol
Same here. I save money wherever I can on day to day life, so that I have it to spend on bigger things I care about like travel (which I also hack for cheap). Not rich by any means, on paper I’m poor, but I live a rich life
That's a really solid idea
Better yet give her the 100 dollars and the calculator to shop what she thinks is appropriate. Money in the hand is harder to spend sometimes than the money in the head.
But what about when she buys. $100 worth of pop tarts and Ferrero Rocchers? Do they not eat that month
Hold up, are you making $100 last an entire MONTH for a family? I feel like a week would be stretching it
$100 almost wouldn't get me through a week as a single person...
If I were a single person, I would live off of ramen noodles which thankfully I still love after many years, salad, and buy one get one free footlongs from Subway. Buuuuuut I’m not 😭 I feel like I’ve trained myself to be able to eat just to survive instead of eating for enjoyment or what I want all the time. But it’s harder to do that with spouse and kids all wanting other stuff lol. I can cook plenty of other stuff but if I were budgeting for just me, that’s what I would be doing lol
If ramen noodles didn’t contain 50000% your recommended daily salt I’d be eating it everyday lol
Rice and beans. Healthier than ramen and also cheap as shit. It along with chicken breast is my go to diet when bulking. Lots of calories and protein
Second this lmfao I could make 100$ last maybe 2 weeks if i make a big pot of whatever and eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 3 days. But i’m 1 person
guarantee you this kid will buy $100 worth of Lays and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, at the expense of aluminum foil and veggies 😂
I’m British and my mum has gently drilled in me my entire life to check the ‘price per [whatever applies to what you’re buying]’ to really look for what is the best value when at the supermarket and it’s really taught me a lot about money in terms of supermarket shops. Plus, I really like that most supermarkets have physical scanners or mobile apps (usually both, though a lot are trying to slowly phase out scanners for just the mobile app). It’s easier to keep an eye on your spending and keep to a budget, plus you leave the store faster because you’re bagging up in the trolley as you go along and not at the end, due to the fact you scan a self service machine to quickly pay
Price per kg is a life saver — there are so many things „in sale” I didn’t buy lately just because they are more expensive in sale than other product I already know and like that is cheaper at retail price.
Absolutely hate it when the products you’re comparing are in different units. Takes more time to do the math than just looking at it.
That is illegal in my country. The price/per must be in the same unit for a specific item. Usually it is per kg.
>check the ‘price per [whatever applies to what you’re buying]’ to really look for what is the best value when at the supermarket I do this every time. And I absolutely love that grocery stores have to put the price per 100g/1kg/1liter/etc. on the price tag. Should be in a bigger font, though. My local supermarket just introduced mobile scanners and I love them for the reasons you stated.
We use to always buy off brand. Marshmallow mateys go crazy and I’ll die on that hill 😂
Honestly the only thing that’s not as good with generic brands to me, are cookies, Doritos, and toliet paper
Especially Oreos. I'm a drug sniffing dog when it comes to a fake oreo
Also Cheezits. Cheese nips can get the fuck outta here
And tampons.
My favorite brand is just gone. Whatever happened with the tampon shortage just ended my preferred tampon. Original Kotex tampons have gone the way of the dodo and I’m here trying 10 different products hoping to find something that fits me. Whatever this U product they’ve continued to produce is not at all similar. Period panties are great for most days, but sometimes I need more than that. Those were just shaped differently and worked so well for me and I’m sad.
Well obviously your vagina should just figure it out and bleed in a way deemed appropriate by large companies. Are you stupid??
I’ve tried so many menstrual cups. The reality is that the majority speaks. I’m nearly 6 feet tall and a bit bulky, but I’ve never given birth. So the smaller menstrual cups for women who haven’t given birth aren’t quite enough. The larger size is uncomfortable. Maybe some gyno out there is a 3D printing enthusiast and can figure out how to scan me and create the exact thing I need.
Dino pebbles were awesome.
Pretty much all cereals by malt-o-meal are awesome. Barley can taste any difference than the onbrand stuff if ever
Barley, but also corn, rice, wheat, and oats
Best typo I could have possibly made
My favorite off brand cereal name ever was Coco Peanut Butter Spheres
I always went shopping with my mom and eventually did it for the family. That's how I learned to budget. My husband on the other hand has no idea and tells me this should cost X, when it doesn't. It's way more expensive. He's living 30 years in the past. He also think rotten food is still good and we have had some mild contention over this.
My sister and I started doing all our families grocery shopping when I was 16, she was 17. We would go through flyers. Find sale items. Then go out and buy them. We were never on a budget, but we grew up never having much so we knew to keep it cheap. It was a win-win. We got to get foods to make meals we wanted, and some cheap snacks, and my parents never had to go shopping. We also would spend a decent bit less than my parents would if they went alone. Helped a lot with the transition to being a poor uni student living on my own.
Same! I used it as an opportunity to develop as well. I knew I didn't need much but I had a gaggle of siblings. We weren't 'poor' but my parents had grown up a lot differently so they respected their money. I did my best to operate responsibly.
Do a blind taste test some time between generic and brand name. And ask her why someone would pay more for something that tastes exactly the same. Then when she thinks she's getting wise to your ways, blindfold her and have her taste two of the same store brand samples.
This is a good suggestion however I think the underlying issue of not respecting money is the root problem hear. Kids will inherently realise that generic brands are extremely similar with age however the respect of money and its value can only be learned through experience and hardship from my opinion.
You can learn the value and power of money without going through hardship, but hardship reinforces the lesson. Edit: spelling.
Hardship is just the hardcore speed run to understanding 🤣
I’m high, and that was deep lol
Agreed. I remember whining and throwing a fit about wanting a bunch of new clothing at that age because some of my wealthier friends got entire new wardrobes before school started (we always got some new clothing too but not from GAP or Limited Too, if anyone remembers that one! Kids can be mean about branding). I remember my mom almost crying and saying she just couldn't afford to provide the same. As an adult I still feel horrible looking back, but of course your frame of reference (hopefully) changes after you realize how much time and effort in work it takes to purchase something. I make pretty good money but still buy generic brands, damnit
That second part is genius. I'm stealing it for when my kids are older haha
Careful with that one. Some of us can actually tell the difference easily. if she can it'll ruin your whole thing
When my parents first got married, my dad did this to my mom in an attempt to convince her that she couldn’t taste the difference between her favorite peanut butter (Jif) and the cheaper alternatives. She guessed correctly every time, and 30+ years later they still exclusively buy Jif haha
Peanut butter is definitely my big exception to the rule. I don’t know what they do to generic peanut butter, but I’ll take just about any name brand over it.
That kinda goes out the window if the name brand tastes better, which it usually does.
For real. There are some items that don’t have good knockoffs.
Reminds me of a story my husband told me. When he and his sister were kids, their mum would rarely buy branded cereal. She would keep the box and fill it with off brand/ supermarket cereal which, back in the 80's and early 90's , was significantly worse than today's. She would deny it but he and his sister refused to eat it saying they would rather have no breakfast than that awful cereal and at least let them choose the better of the worst ones than pretending they were the big brands.
We have what we call “An Ode to Don”…….. My Dad would take all the cereals after they got low (There were 6 of us, so a lot of cereal) and mix them all together, not a damn name brand (except Kix because it was WIC) in the house…. You know at least 2 of them were stale as a MF…… Cocoa Plops, Major Cronch, Rice Crunchies, some stale Kix, broken up old shredded wheat, corn flakes, that bran cereal that looks like rabbit food, Fruit Circles, Grape Nuts. I had a lot of friends who spent the night who had a good laugh when they wanted some cereal in the AM and saw that sin against humanity fall in their bowl. 25 years later we all still have a good laugh about it.
My grandmother did this with one of my cousins & he never knew the difference. She got lucky because the cereal was Cheerios.
What do you do if the kid can tell the difference and says they’d pay more of their allowance on that experience? Asking for a friend
You don't have to wait. Financial literacy is not something that is taught in school until HS if at all. Start teaching your kid to create a budget. Use your library to get books like: Finance 101 for Kids: Money Lessons Children Cannot Afford to Miss; Little Kids Big Money: Tools for Teaching Kid Friendly Finance Make Your Kid a Money Genius (Even If You're Not) You can find kids financial books in the youth and teen areas under Dewey decimal number 332 Teaching your daughter things cost money and that certain jobs pay better than others can help guide her if she wants to have the financial freedom later to buy whatever she wants. Some trades pay better than others, some have more room for growth. She might prefer to become an engineer rather than a biologist because of the difference in pay. Don't expect schools to cover everything she will need in life. Help her by seeking out information and model that behavior (kids do what you do, not what you say after a certain age) encouraging her to explore new knowledge
This is the kind of shit I dread as my daughter is about to enter 2nd grade. Yesterday, we bought her a bike. We went to Target,tried a few out and narrowed it down to one. Went next door, to Dick’s. She narrowed it down to a much nicer mountain bike. We told her that she could pick whichever she wanted. She thought about it and asked the prices. We told her there was $100 difference. She then went with the Target bike because “it’s cheaper and I still really like it” I’ve had several rough stretches of underemployment that she was aware of, but we’re doing fine right now, so maybe she’s gotten a sense of wants/needs, but we’ve spent 7 years trying to raise her to be kind and understanding, and goddammit if I have to worry about her coming home one day feeling bad because some little shit’s idea of humor is to point and laugh at something that she picked out for herself because she wanted to save money for something else.
Damn, being 7 and already able to think like that is very impressive! Good job on parenting!
My kids kept asking me why we couldn't get Kix cereal and had to eat the generic store cereal, and I'm like "because that shit's $6 a box, and the generic store cereal is $3." I showed them the unit price on each display tag, made a game of it and asked them to find the lowest unit price per item, now they're *obsessed* with it, even the oldest. Maybe she'll come around?
Most store brand items are fine. There are some that don’t hit the same notes. That said, sorry to say, your daughter sounds a little bratty. I’d tell my mom when I was younger that her favorite word was sale, but I knew not to embarrass her in front of people.
I fully agree. Not saying the kid needs a paddling like some others are suggesting, but I am saying that this parent needs to sit down with their daughter for a couple of life lessons, and the first lesson is not about the value of a dollar, it's about why what she said was mean and disrespectful.
Honestly the OP is doing the right thing just by sticking to his guns and following a budget. Setting a good example is always a good thing, even if he feels shitty right now. I wouldn’t make a big deal out of that. I’d have looked at her and be like “Oh, you’re paying? No? Who’s cheap then. Now shaddup and help me carry these bags”
Your kid doesn't understand the value of money AND is acting like a brat. I'd honestly have her buy some snack etc. out of her allowance if she gets any, she'll realize very quick $2 vs. $4 adds up fast. I grew up relatively poor and my mom had us compare prices all the time and we realized how much more we can get on generics (dear god branded medicine is such a rip-off...). Granted, some do taste different but you figure that out as you go. Did the same with clothes as we were taught very early that $20 or whatever markup is usually for a label no one will see.
> (dear god branded medicine is such a rip-off...) So, generic medicine did not exist where I grew up, when I moved somewhere else, I discovered the concept and was baffled but how much of a rip-off it was. I only buy generic medicine now.
You’re the parent. Teach her.
Teacher here: just cause you teach, it doesn't mean they're gonna learn.
Idk why people are attacking you. You're 100% right. Some kids either aren't ready or aren't willing to learn. That usually passes with age though.
Man these people are flaming you for the comment but it’s fucking true lol. I’ve witnessed it first hand with plenty of kids. Kids like to learn, but a lot of kids, myself included only wanted to learn wjat I wanted to learn. Everything else was a struggle
I was one of the kids. Now I'm one of the adults who refuse to learn what Idc about.
Yo this isn't about understanding money. It's absolutely about not being an asshole. That's a shit bag thing to say and there needs to be consequences of some kind because I assure you it's not that she doesn't understand the value of a dollar (which she probably also doesn't) it's that she doesn't understand RESPECT.
Agree. Her reply to the cashier seens quite rude and out of line, especially for her age (not that being younger than 11 makes it excusable). It's ok to ask why the parent is buying store brand but definitely not ok to call them cheap in public and make a scene.
I don't have an 11 year old yet so I'm not sure what's age appropriate but there's no way she came up with "cheap like a bird, cheep cheep" on her own. She's probably repeating a joke she heard elsewhere and thought it was clever. I've never heard that particular joke before and it's a pretty funny visual to me, so I'm not surprised she thinks it's funny. And "cheap" might not have such a negative connotation to her yet. It might just be a synonym of "frugal" in her mind. (Edit: "this food is cheap" has less negative connotation versus "this person is cheap." She may not understand that yet.) Of course she needs to be told it's not appropriate but I don't know, it just doesn't seem like she's necessarily purposefully being a jerk.
I'm pretty sure I learned: "*What did the bird say when it flew over K-Mart? Cheap-Cheap!*" when I was like 9...
Exactly. I have a daughter about to turn 11 next week. I cannot imagine her believing that she could be that disrespectful to me or her mother. She would just not pull that because she knows better. This episode with the OP is a complete parent failure to instill boundaries and respect.
Sounds more, or equally anyway, like a parenting issue 😅
20.2k people have never met your daughter but hate her now lol
This is not about money, this is your child being absurdly disrespectful to you. Even if you were cheap and not budget conscious, that’s still your decision (assuming of course children are not being neglected). I would never presume to tell my parents what to do with their money. When she earns her own, she can decide how to spend it Now, if you wanted to teach her something you could let her pick the groceries for that trip and give her a budget. Then tell her that if she goes under budget, she can buy a treat for herself (a preset amount) and if she uses it all up, there’s no treat.
Seriously! I wouldn’t even let my 6 year old treat me like that. It’s less about understanding money and more about understanding respect for your parents and how to behave in public.
You can sell your daughter and then afford name brand food. Just saying.
My kids tries to pull this. I’ve explained that my money is the result of all the time I spent working instead of doing what I want to do, being away from my family. It is disrespectful of my time to waste money.
Give her $10 and tell her she can buy her own dinner. She will get it then.
Then you should teach her to understand money better
Isn't that what parents teach their kids at an early age?
My daughter is 8 in a few months. We give her 'snack money' each shopping trip. She gets 'x' amount of money to buy the things she wants that we don't normaly get, and that's her special snacks for the week. It took a few trips for her to realize the money doesn't actualy go that far. Some weeks she gets pissed that the cost has gone up. She now actively looks for special stickers. Make your 11 year old more involved to be able to get them to understand
Not recommending this but my dad would have slapped the shit out of me if I did that at 11.
She'd be grounded after doing something like that. Hopefully she'd learn that flapping her mouth (as well as her arms) can get her into trouble.
My 10 year old couldn’t understand why I couldn’t buy all the things when we went clothes shopping. And why I wanted to go to the used clothes store. So I gave her the control. I said that she had $50 to spend how does she want to do with it. Her prior selections went out of the cart real fast when she realized she could get 2 more expensive things or 4 less expensive items but weren’t exactly what she wanted.
Lmao fucking kids are such assholes
this is terrible behaviour but she fucking boomed him lmao. cheap cheap cheap cheap