Silly things your kids want to buy

[Peculiar Mad'moiselle!]

My kids are just like me in Disney and they want one of everything! But we all know that concept is not possible on a normal family budget! I always let them pick something out on their own, but I set up guidelines on what they can pick. Most of which are price based, although even on sale I dont think I could fit a giant sized Mickey in the car on the way back home for 6 hours! lol

 

[wilkeliza]

We were allowed to do with our money as we saw fit as long as it wasn't illegal. However mom never bailed us out. Also a certain percentage of our money was already put away in a savings account which we could only pull out after talking to her. So if it was from our spend as you want money we could buy it with out asking as long as it was age appropriate so no M rated games at 12 with out a conversation but you want that new gameboy even though you have a perfectly good one fine go ahead. I'll also never forget when I lost my first gameboy color. I cried and cried and cried and mom said no way no how was she replacing it, I would have to borrow my brothers or live with the old regular game boy. I had to buy the new one with my own money. I bought the new one myself and you better believe I learned a hard lesson on the cost of those systems and replacing them. I used every single penny I was given for my birthday and still had to win the big easter egg to cover it. Seeing all my money go to 1 thing at 6 or 7 made me feel so bad for losing the original in the first place. I think I cried to my mom about how sorry I was because I knew now it was expensive and how much she must have worked to get it for me and I lost it.

 

[hsmamato2]

yup- IMHO nothing teaches kids to spend wisely like spending their own money....nothing else has the same impact.

 

[scrhsa]

Yeah, I shut it down the last few years by telling her what the cost was, and that I wasn't going to pay for it, she had to. And that a home job wasn't acceptable, because that was likely to end in disaster, since neither of us has any experience dying hair. That kept her from doing it for awhile, but now she's reached the point where she is willing to spend her own money on it. We talked about how you can get locked up in "hair jail" as my sister calls it, that once you do it you end up having to do it over and over and over to maintain it. That's in part why she decided on ombre - it'll get cut off as she gets haircuts over time, but she'll never have a roots issue and so she shouldn't be in hair jail LOL

But I still don't get it. She has gorgeous hair that most people would kill for. Long, thick, straight but holds a curl fabulously. Why she feels the need to mess with it - and pay a lot of money to do so - I'll never understand But I guess that's part of the allure of it...

I love "jail hair"!!!!!!!! Good point about the ombre and growing out. Shhhhh. My girls don't need to know that

 

[BigAlsGal]

I spend my money on Disney. Like I have room to criticize!

 

[kristenrice]

My sister has a souvenir budget for her girls (ages 4 and 8) for our upcoming WDW trip. My 8-year-old niece asked me to "make sure to plan for shopping time when you make our schedule"...so we are going to Disney Springs on our arrival day. The girls are going to have their own gift cards and my sister said that they can buy whatever they want. The funny thing is, my sister says that the ONLY souvenir she wants is...


....wait for it....






....A BOWLING BALL!!

The girl has never bowled in her life. Now my sister is retracting her statement and putting some guidelines and limitations in place. My girls (ages 13 and 11) also have a souvenir budget, but I told them they can only buy what they can fit in their luggage. They like the pressed pennies and the Pick-a-Pearl in Japan. Last year, they bought parasols...but they DID fit in their luggage so I couldn't object.

 

[Vijoge]

DGD, 17, doesn't seem to be learning much at all. She got her last paycheck of the summer two weeks ago and managed to blow through nearly $400, eating out and going to Walgreen's, in less than ten days. Nothing at all to show for her money. Her most recent paycheck, received to day is only $31. LOL Let's see what she does with this one.

 

[crazylady]

My kids are just like me in Disney and they want one of everything! But we all know that concept is not possible on a normal family budget! I always let them pick something out on their own, but I set up guidelines on what they can pick. Most of which are price based, although even on sale I dont think I could fit a giant sized Mickey in the car on the way back home for 6 hours! lol

My kids are still on the younger side. We usually tell them they need to wait a week to see if they still want to buy whatever it is they want. On vacation though, we give them a budget and when it is gone, it is gone.

 

[texasroni75]

My kids are amazingly frugal when it comes to spending "their" money. Also, in general, we keep the Disney souvenir budget fairly low so it's not like they are dropping $100 on a stuffed toy they won't look at twice once we get home.

I admit to trying to talk the kids out of bad purchases at home. I don't say "no" unless it's something I deem age-inappropriate though. Just give them options and let them think about it.

As for hair coloring: All three of my oldest kids wanted to mess with their hair between age 11 and 17 or so. I always remind them, "you have enough $$ to get it done at a salon ONCE, then how are you going to maintain it". As a compromise, I did learn how to do most of what they wanted at home for a tenth of the cost the salons charge Our most recent adventure in hair coloring is dip-dying the ends silvery-blue. Actually looks really cute on DD(15).

 

[denecarter]

At some point, it would also help to have the kids start researching and finding reviews of what they want to buy.

 

[pandamom]

I feel your pain!!! dd18 has spent a fortune on pokemon, anime and cosplay items over the years. We have always gone over pros / cons of purchases but the final decision has always been hers. She is usually frugal in other areas and saves for these purchases (sells art commissions on Etsy.) She bought a partial fur suit at a convention this past May for $1200...

 

[wenrob]

We have a "let's think about it" policy. Something like what is mentioned in the OP, I would encourage my DD to research the cost of the onsie, the paint, a template and the time it would take to make it herself versus $65+shipping. Seeing that it most likely would cost less than half might make her rethink it. Or not, but if she put in her due diligence and researched it then she could have at it. Just don't ask me for $20 later in the week to go out with your friends because you spent all your cash. I do this with the younger kids as well. Put whatever it is they have to have on hold for a week, read reviews and realize they may be broke for the duration and mull it over a bit. I have the same policy for myself.

This has worked well for my oldest who is now 20. I watch her carefully make these decisions day to day. I would say sometimes she is TOO frugal though. I have had to gently remind her that it's okay to spend on herself occasionally.

 

[Thing 1]

Sometimes....I put certain restriction on DS9 even if someone else gives him the money, which happens a lot. Household rules such as no M rated games or PG-13movies without approval or any R rated movie or clothing we find inappropriate still apply. Occasionally we give money with strings attached such as he can use it for anything beside anything not technology related. Beyond that we let him make a lot of choices that we know he might regret. We talk through them with him but let him choose. Hes pretty good at saving so sometimes it quite a bit of money he is dealing with so it is really hard to hold my reactions sometimes but better to learn now than when its rent or food money in a few years.

 

[Disfan5]

As long as it's their own money they have mostly free reign. My favorite was when my two youngest pooled their cash (like $30 at the time) to buy a giant bag of warheads from amazon. I don't generally have candy in the house so they really enjoyed their purchase!

 

[jevs]

Nope. Their money, their choice in how to spend it

I do eye roll a bit, but shouldn't really given my obsession with shoes and bags

 

[maciec]

When my 15yo got her first job we told her she could have $100 a month out of her paycheck and everything else went into the bank. She had to make sure that she had enough money for car insurance and this was the way to do it. Occasionally she would get more, but that was the rule of thumb. If she wanted to drive she had to save the money and this was the way to do it.

My dh and I believe that while it is their her money we also have a responsibility to make sure that we guide her in a responsible manner or how to spend it.

OP I would be trying to either talk her out of that onsie or really stall her on buying it!

 

[NinaBella]

I am fortunate my kids are pretty level headed. Other than my daughter wanting to go to summer camp for more weeks than I can afford. LOL. The only "silly" purchase that I disagreed with was HUNTER BOOTS last year. I refused to get them for her for Christmas, but gave in after Christmas before we flew to a cheer competition where there was colder weather. She has only wore them maybe three times since the purchase and thinks she will wear them this year when we go to a cheer competition in a colder state. We live in Tampa, Florida and I think Hunter Boots are the silliest trend for Florida. Girls, young ladies, and women just wear them to the mall to shop in. Maybe, just maybe, if it gets cold enough they might wear them out in the evening to a football game, but highly doubtful. Hunter boots being a rain boot or utility boot is the silliest fashion statement I have seen in states where you can wear shorts year-around. I don't even know if the boots are going to fit her this January when we fly to the competition. As soon as she discovers she has outgrown them, they will just get mailed to a younger niece who lives in Michigan. So at least we can pass them on to someone who can get use of them.

 

[NinaBella]

Do you discourage your kids from buying certain things with their own money? Or is it theirs to do whatever and learn from any dumb purchases?

DD15 wants to spend $65 on a custom onesie based on a character that is made by one of her favorite cosplayers. Basically it's going to be a black fleece one piece with a bright green pawprint on the back. I've been putting her off but she hasn't let up in her desire to have one. She wants it for Halloween and for lounging.
I guess I will let her do it, it will make her insanely happy (crazy kid and her fandoms ).

I don't think the onsie is silly. I know middle, high school, and college girls who wear them as lounge wear. My daughter has at least one theme practice a year wear the girls all wear onsies. It's comfortable lounge wear for a lazy weekend. I also have many friends who are into anime and cosplay.

 

[ashley0139]

This thread makes me so happy that I am now an adult and can buy whatever I want without anyone judging my choices. It also makes me happy that my parents instilled responsibility with money in me from a young age. It must be such a difficult line to toe with these decisions and teaching kids about money. I just know that as an adult I rarely regret my purchases because I was allowed to make mistakes when I was a kid. And now if I want to spend $800 on a Disneyland annual pass I can.

 

[kjw42]

I try to keep my mouth shut, but it can be hard. My DD has a habit of saving for something she has to have and then blowing it all on something else at the last minute. She never complains about what she didn't get later, but I'm a super planner and just can't wrap my mind around this spontaneity.