Money

Yes, this week is about money management. I have to say that is hard to give my kids money knowing that they will probably spend in on crap or candy. I just don't need more crap in the house! It's really hard to watch my kids just spend and spend their money and then not have the money for stuff later.

That said, I have seen some amazing generosity from Sweetie Heart. We have focused on teaching the kids about tithing. So after we give the allowance we give them tithing slips and help them fill them out. We give 10% off the top as tithing. There is then places for different things; fast offering (to give to the needy in our church), missionary fund (we have 2 friends on missions right now. She contributes a little for each of them), temple building, humanitarian aid (which the church uses to help those effected by natural disasters and poverty all over the world), and perpetual education (which helps those in 3rd world countries go to get training so that they can support themselves and their families and then give back to help others.)

I have seen her give all of her money to the church. And she does it with a grin. I must say that I have a hard time with it. I know..I know. I should be encouraging it. And I am, but it's hard not to remind her that there won't be any more money until the next week. And if she wants something then she won't have any money. I have seen her make bad choices and then recognize that they were, as she said a waste of money!

Now she is now focusing on saving her money for a guitar. She received %50 for Christmas and has been saving that. She's adding to it a little at a time from her allowance and dips into it as her desire for something arises. This is a big ticket item. Webby and I have talked about it. Part of us wants to help her buy it to encourage her to play an instrument. Yet, I want her to save for it so that she is dedicated to playing it. It also gives her time to decide if she really wants it. I am willing to pay for lessons if she will practice. I feel like if she buys it, then she will be more apt to practice. She's saving since Christmas and still isn't even close.

I have to say, this is a hard concept for me. This money is just given, they don't have to earn it. And yes, I know that this is a better time to make mistakes with money. But giving them money and then watch them buy stuff I won't is hard. Plus, if we don't have the money in the house for the allowance we tend to forgo Family Meeting. We didn't have Family Meeting for close to two months because we didn't have the money for allowance. We're back on it and working at it but it's still hard.

On the up side, I have had a good experience with the kids and money.

A couple of weeks ago, Sweetie Heart and I went to a local resale shop. I had two boxes of clothes for them to buy and put on store credit and a little left on credit from last time. we were talking about spending money. I told her that some people like to go shopping. She asked me why. I said they think it's fun. Here is what she said to me. Well, they are going to have to figure out what they need and what they don't. Because, you know, their parents aren't going to just keep sending them money every week when they are college just so they can spend it. Very astute for a 7 year old.

Just last week, Sweet Girl was playing with the scotch tape. Just peeling it off and taping her clothes and stuff. I don't like that kind of waste, but I was letting it go. I said, I can see you really like tape! You know we could go to the dollar store and you could buy 3 rolls of tape for a dollar and they would be just yours. Wow, she got excited about that!! She ran and got her purse and counted out $5. She said, I could get 5 tapes! I said, You could get 15 tapes for that! She was even more excited by that prospect. We got there, and can I tell you I hate. those. stores. I like them for tape, envelopes, shower curtains, but that's about it. We walked in and it was all about the stuff. She kept grabbing stuff like pedicure sets, wooden letter, and incense sticks. She didn't even know what she was grabbing...it was just stuff to buy. Heaven help me, I have a consumer! I admit I told her no on all the extra stuff she didn't even know what it was. I got us in and out as fast as we could. She bought 1 box of tapes and asked me to help her open all 3 of them, which I did. I put her name on them so we don't get them mixed up with the family tape. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Hmm, have to think about that. I caught her taping up her face that evening. But it is her tape she can do whatever she wants with it. She keeps it in her sock drawer, by the way.