No need to say that the economy is tough right now. I think everyone feels it, whether you feel it directly or your heart breaks as you watch others having to deal with layoffs, loosing a house, calling off vacations for that year, selling your own possessions...etc. etc. etc. My husband has always been a frugal person...not just frugal, he's really wise with regards to money (at least in my humble opinion) He just always strives and is conscious about being a good steward. He had to teach me a lot when we first got married, about being on a budget and what that "actually" meant...he taught me about catagorizing and saving up and prioritizing and the freedom that that brings (which completely threw me at first...how does a budget bring freedom?) Anyway, in turn, with our young girls we talk about money things as they come up...like in a grocery store, or if they see a commercial or espeically now with friends who's parents are loosing their jobs, etc. I guess, even more so now, we've been discussing how to save our "tooth fairy" money and tithing and spending.
In Social Studies we've been touching on economics...you know, needs, wants, consumers, producers, goods, services, etc...on a level that an elementary child can understand. So, my oldest has been trying to decide whether she wants to start saving up for an American Girl doll or a digital camera (like Momma:) We've discussed the prices of both and what it means, etc.
We've talked about how while we're saving our money, Daddy has to make sure we budget for all our needs before we can go out and get our wants. Because of this she is ALL about sales and coupons and keeps me on track at the grocery store, "No, Mom don't get that this week, it's not on sale, we'll just wait till next week." or today, "Kroger has milk 10 for $10...let's go there before we go to Meijer"...cute huh?
Yeah well, we had to stop at Office Max to pick up some ink cartridges for the printer...while we were there, she was staring at all the cameras...looking at the prices...asking questions...and then she just got quiet for a bit...and then,
"Mom, a camera is a want right?"
"yep, honey...and the most inexpensive one that is still a good quality is about $100 babe!" I replied.
"Mom, how much was YOUR camera when Daddy got it for you?"
"Umm...well, Mommy's camera is a rather big one and it was probably around $700-800 when Daddy got it"
She got quiet again...
"So, did Daddy take care of all your needs first before he went and bought you your want?"
Smart girl...definitely her daddy's girl at that!!!
