What types of things, if any, do you have your children buy for themselves with their own money. Money thay have saved from brithdays, Christmas, ect, or earned themselves?
ETA - Thanks for all the answers, I was just a bit curious. My kids both saved up and bought their own DSI's a couple of years back, we helped them a little bit. Today we took them andmy son got an Ipod Touch and my daughter for a Samsung Gaxaly Tablet. Theye had both been saving money from their birthdays ect. We "bought" the gift cards they had received from them, so they would have close to enough and then helped them with a little bit of the money. I have found if they save and buy the bigger items they want themselves, they tend to be more responsible with them.
my son is 16 and I have let him spend his money, especially gift money, however he likes. He is prudent with it...saves some for things he really wants, puts some away for gifts for others, and always has some in his wallet or in his bank account.
He just started his first job and he plans to buy himself a new PS3, then has offered the rest to me to help with the house note! So I guess he is prudent and generous.
My 15 and 16 year old buy some of their own clothes, bathing suits and other fun items (like ice cream for them and their little sisters). My 15 year old just bought her dad a bathing suit and flipflops for fathers day. She used every penny of her babysitting money and was so proud of herself :)
We go to garage sales and my dd spends her money on whatever she wants (as long as I agree to have it in the house - i.e. big things)...
Otherwise she spends her birthday money on wii games (I help her order on Amazon - she pays me back)
Sometimes she goes to the mall and buys headbands, jewelry, etc.
The first "big" thing my son bought with his own money was 1/2 the cost of our dog for 6 months. He wanted a puppy from the age of 3. I told him that if he could save up half the cost of adoption fees, and 6 mo of vet bills, food, and supplies... that we would get one. It took him 2 years to save up $400.
The next "big" thing was his laptop. That took him 3 years. He had an old handmedown PC but he wanted a macbook. No worries. Same deal applies.
That's the 'deal'. If he can save up half for anything big, I/we would match it.
As far as smaller stuff... he's allowed to buy anything he's allowed to have already with his own money.
He's ALSO required to pay certain bills/etc. At age 9 he's responsible for (and has been for a couple of years)
- Cellphone Bill ($10 per month plus any fees)
- xBox Live account
- Birthday presents for his friends
Until he was 5, he got all of our spare change. It started because I'm always dropping coins when I pull down my pants to go to the bathroom, but it became all our spare (metal) change. He not only saved up $400 in 2 years (spare change adds up!), but also enough to be buying himself strawberry frappucinos, donating to various things (he has a thing about the summer food program for kids), and going dutch for lunch. He and I have a standard biweekly lunch out (we'd walk down for sushi usually), but if he wanted to go get something on top of that, we'd split the tab. If *I* wanted to go out on top of that I treated.
AFTER he was 5, I instituted a fairly uncommon allowance policy.
The end goal is that by 14.5 he'd be paying for ALL of his needs out of his own money. This includes school supplies, clothes, sports & extracurriculars, entertainment, etc. EVERYTHING that I'd be spending on him anyway. In addition to include a portion of the household bills (rent, utilities, groceries, etc.). So on the surface it looks like rather a lot (about $1000 a month today, probably more in 5 years) but
a) It's what already would be being spent
b) 4/5s of it would be turned right back around to be meeting responsibilities
c) the remaining 1/5th (right now about 200) would have to be carefully budgeted out to meet his WANTS after taking care of his needs.
The entire aim is to teach financial responsibility. To make these things drop dead normal... so that when he's out on his own he already has a couple years of solid working knowledge of dealing with money and bills. I do NOT want him only in the habit of spending his money on 'fun' stuff. I want him in the habit of looking at the big picture.
So every half birthday, he has both an allowance increase and a responsibility increase. He was in the hospital for a long time last year so the schedule is about a year behind (aka he was making $15 a week when he was 9, and should be making $25 now... but it's still at $15).
Kiddo is five and receives $1 a week as an allowance. (He has regular tasks and responsibilities he is expected to help out with and there are direct consequences for not doing those tasks, so allowance isn't linked to work in our case.) We are letting him practice making purchase decisions. He loves dinosaurs toys and will buy them from time to time. He has also bought a watering can, nail polish (LOL) and a mylar butterfly balloon. On our most recent expedition, he spent money on some little toy ocean animals. We also offer him a quarter at the local pizza place-- they have quarter machines, and we go about once a week or so. He has the choice of spending the quarter on the crappy toy or keeping it and we leave it up to him.He also has opportunities to make extra money with extra jobs if he chooses.
When he asks for 'extras', we remind him that if he wants to save up his money for it, he can buy it then. We parents aren't his personal ATM. This has ended many an 'I want it' chant. When he gets older and we raise his allowance, he'll be expected to save some.
Candy, gum, beauty products, toys, jewelry, video games or Itunes apps, treats such as ice cream if they are out with their friends. I consider their requests for entertainment money (movie, indoor climbing, etc) on a case by case basis. Usually I pay for that if they have an opportunity to go with a friend because it is only every once in awhile they will ask. If it started to be a regular thing, they would be expected to contribute some of their own money. Clothing I will buy or sometimes pay for half if we don't agree it is a need vs. a want, or if they want a brand that costs more than we feel is reasonable, they can pay the difference. My older DD had a cell phone that broke apart due to numerous times being dropped, etc, due to her own carelessness, and she had to pay 100% of her own earned/saved money to replace it. It took her more than 2 months of working many hours to save enough money for it.
My oldest is free to buy whatever she desire with her own money. Typically she buys books though once in awhile she'll buy herself a toy, she's 8.
This year I told my 7 and 10 year old boys that I would buy them each 12 rides on the midway, but if they were willing to pay the difference they could buy wristbands instead. My 10 year old also saves his money up to purchase Lego.
If it's their money why not let them buy what they want with it?
As young children all of their physical and emotional needs are already met (hopefully) so it's not until they become tweens/teens that they suddenly want more, and then, BINGO, they are old enough to earn it, yay!!!
for our family, it's not a case of "having them buy"...it's a case of allowing them the freedom to plan & spend their $$ - as opposed to random splurging. We cover all basic living expenses, even down to clothes.
When it comes to special items, then they make a game plan & save for it. A perfect case would be last summer: my younger son worked all summer & doubled his $$ for his 1st car! Danged proud of him!
Oh, & thought of something else: my sons are great about trading in their gaming supplies, & rarely buy brand-new. The latest MW was probably the only game they both bought new. :)
Our daughter wanted one of those papason chairs they sell at world market. We told her to save up because we could not afford it. She watched for the sales and purchased one, she was 9.
She has always been a saver, still is. I cannot believe she is our daughter.. So opposite us.
My oldest son started earning and saving money at age 3, and buys little toys or things he wants. He'll see something in the store and I'll say "Ok, that costs this much, and you have that much" so he can understand that he can save up for it....if it's a little higher than his normal "allowance" then we'll make a plan on how to get it (extra work for extra money, save for this long, etc). His needs are taken care of buy us, but if he wants extra little things (or if he's replacing something he broke through misuse but wants another one), he'll pay for it.
