Help! My ds does not know the value of money

[markfch]

Funz:

Me on the other hand believe in giving them things only during special occasions.

Hey, I do that too. Just that to ds, everyday is a special occasion

I guess this trend runs in my family. Cos my dad also spoils me like this.

[buds]

ksi:

So when it comes to spending, she won't spend on herself, like I hardly do but she will spend on me, like I do on her.

:hi5: Me too! Both girls in fact. DD2 being the sweetest.

Once after counting hongbao $, DD2 said, \"Mum, you always hafta cook for us.
Today you don't hafta cook, ok? I want to give mummy and my whole family a
treat with my money. I don't want to buy anything for myself. I have enough
toys and mummy buys all my books... I want to blanja everyone a Swensens
lunch. How about that? This way mummy doesn't hafta be so tired standing
in the kitchen so long to prepare food for us and wash all the dishes. Good
idea?\"

RRMummy:

[Haiz.. only 2 years back, she was telling me to stay home and not work. She said she doesn't need the money to buy food and toys, just need me... :roll:

Same here. Each time i broach da topic of me going back to work, DD2 wud say
\"I don't want us to have a maid. I just want you. If we dun have enough money
then you can minus my pocket money.. i dun need so much money to spend
during recess anyway. You keep it ok?\"

[metz]

buds:

i dun need so much money to spend
during recess anyway.

My P1 boy doesn't want any pocket money for recess. In fact, he rather brings snacks from home for recess. His reasons - waste of time queuing to buy food. waste of money cos the food tastes so-so only. :lol:

[buds]

Markfch, guess for my case is easier since i dun work.

I just always say i have no money. :lol: Even if i do, i
say don't have. Heheheh.. :evil: I always tell them tt
when i was a kid, i never asked my dad to get me any
thing. Daddie wud buy something when he has money
or feels like buying something for me (and bros).. The
item feels more special then, cos it came as a surprise.

Money was hard to earn those days and people's pay
weren't fantastic. So we dare not ask for anything
becos of that too. My girls won't normally ask for
something unless it may be something they need. Most
days, they save their own pocket money bit by bit and
they get to splurge on what they fancy.. but i draw the
line at getting nonsensical items they don't need.. like
something they'd buy at whim and chuck it aside the
minute they reach home.. $ is precious and when it is
slowly saved to get to a tidy sum, they tend to think
a hundred times before settling on something... other
times they also change their minds and decides not to
get anything after all that window shopping.

Next, hubs keeps a piggy.. err.. correction... a bear to
save loose change he has in his wallet everyday. The
girls will help daddy to feed the bear because the bear
is hungry. He will take out the coins to count with them
sometimes for the fun of it just to see how much has bn
saved... put them back and then continue saving. When
we went out for a meal once, he purposely took out the
coins from the bear and exchanged it for notes. He paid
for our family meal with that same money. Came back &
he put loose change again in the bear... which is almost
empty. The kiddies realised that it took so long for him
to save to get to the bear's belly. But it took one meal
to finish almost all of it. They in turn tell him that his
bear is hungry again.

Another thing i did with the girls was occasionally bring
them with me for our volunteer sessions with the under
privileged children. They saw children hungry for food &
knowledge and saw how each sibling was protective of
another. The elders made sure each sibling would also
get a food pack/snack pack from us before they left our
phonics sessions. My girls once commented they heard
growling stomach sounds from some of the children while
i was conducting lessons.. and when i asked the children
said they didn't eat since the night before. My girls were
on the verge of tears. The volunteer session really opened
up their minds and eyes. They've since avoid food wastage
and always kept away useful things to donate to the same
group of children. This year hoping to bring them along to
help paint some of the homes + clean up on top of our annual
donation of items.

When the girls ask for something ridiculous like a big bottle of
bubble that cost $10 per say... i'd reply, what can $10 buy us
other than a bottle of bubble that would jolly well empty within
the day if we use everything... i'd say, we could buy two extra
value meals at Mac Donalds and that will fill our tummy.. it cud
also get us mebbe 5 packs of nasi lemak from the coffee shop,
to give to the hungry underprivileged children.. and they'd add
that the same amount of money cud also buy them 10 bottles
of bubbles (the smaller bottles) :P.. and also definitely $10 can
be their pocket money for 10 days.. they wud think again and
most times either decide to scrap the bubble idea totally or i
wud sometimes allow by asking them to find something similar
of lesser cost. Like a 60 cent bubble mix from our neighbourhood
stationery store.. Nothing unreasonable or wasteful... some
thing within means/limits especially when it's a want instead of
a need.

Finally, the girls started keeping their own diaries since Nursery 2.
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3187&start=0.

As they got to Primary school and received pocket money, i taught
them how to save and do regular accounting of their daily savings.
> http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3187&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=70.

Just some sharings.. :celebrate:

[buds]

chamonix:

buds:

i dun need so much money to spend

during recess anyway.

My P1 boy doesn't want any pocket money for recess. In fact, he rather brings snacks from home for recess. His reasons - waste of time queuing to buy food. waste of money cos the food tastes so-so only. :lol:

That's what DD2 says too. :hi5:
She still asks me to pack for her
on and off these days. She also
says, she eats before leaving 4
school and she can eat after she
reaches home anyways.. :love:

[tree nymph]

your DDs are so nice, warm and touching…


mine told me its better if i don’t give him money, then he has no money to eat during recess = no need to eat = can play football for the WHOLE recess time!

[Sun_2010]

Haha smart boy

Whats with boys and football anyway, sigh!

my DD does that too - sometimes she forgets to take the sandwich i pack for her, and eevn then says dun wan to waste time queing up. so remains hungry. :stupid:

[Sun_2010]

one thing i try to do that turns out into a semi fun task is -

For outings we try to plan in advance the money required and do a budget. Then withdraw the amount of cash and keep separate wallet. Spend from here only. Go over board on one meal means u need to cut back on the next .
DS was all so involved with it when we went to the zoo a few days back. Got the cheaper ice cream to meet the budgetd amt, dint want drinks, said i have water, understood we could take the tram ride or the boat ride not both. After every time we had to open the wallet, he checked how much we have left . And towards the end , kept checking with me- \"have enough for taxi or not, otherwise cant go back home\" :shock:
In the end we saved $1.75 which went to his piggy bank.

But for smarty pants DD, could nt care less - got involed with budgetting but not in implementing So it depends on the kids.

Actually it is a good exercise for me too, since i am the \"swipe the card if you need it types\".

The only draw back, you need to do some home work b4 the outing.

[MOE Hater]

Maybe she did not implement it because the remaining money went to her brother’s piggy and she was left with nothing

[tamarind]

markfch:

Today while in the car, ds was peeling off the plastic cover from the Kids Explorer membership card that I purchased. When I told him not to tear, he said: 'Never mind, spoil just buy another one. I know you & mummy have a lot of money'. :slapshead:


Now I suspect that ds's attitude is largely due to me as I also have a lax attitude towards money. But at least for big ticket items, I know how to control myself. There is a danger that ds may be worse off than me in that aspect. :scared:

How do I gently teach him the value of money? Pls don't suggest that I make him sell newspaper cos I'll never have the heart to do so. Best is that ds can learn the lesson without any physical discomfort. Your suggestion pls.

My P1 girl loves money. She knows the value of money, perhaps too well. Everyday she comes home and count the leftover of her pocket money, then count the total amount of money she has saved since the beginning of the year. She is saving up to buy her own computer.

I started to teach her when she was 4 years 8 months old. She made bracelets and sold them :

http://tamarindvillage.blogspot.com/2008/02/chloes-young-entrepreneur.html

It was quite tough for her to make those bracelets on her own, and she was exhilarated to receive the money. This was an important lesson for her, because she learned that money is earned through hard work.

Now she even has her own blogshop :
http://chloeshop.blogspot.com/



I am quite \"cruel\" to her. When she was very young, whenever she asked to buy something, I asked her to look into her own pocket and see if she could find any money there. I told her that I only buy things(that she want) for her on her birthday. I also reward her whenever she completes a very long novel of a few hundred pages. She knows that she cannot ask for things without first doing some work for it.