02 April 2020

Making kids understand value of money! - Part 3

In earlier blog we read about how my son demanded a Nerf gun and I suggested him to buy it with his hard earn money. He had accepted the challenge, started ironing clothes and was waiting for his first pay.

In his first month he had managed to iron 55 clothes and he had earned Rs 330. He wanted to buy a toy for himself. We went to our usual toy shop. He immediately checked the price of Nerf gun. Its price range was from Rs 800 to Rs 20000. He was little disappointed. Then he started checking some other fancy toys. Alas!! They were very costly.

Finally he told the shopkeeper that his budget was Rs 330 and asked what could be purchased with this amount. The shop keeper started showing some card games, board games etc. When he made his first selection the total cost of the merchandise was Rs 336. He didn't have sufficient money. I offered to give him extra Rs 6. But he refused. I offered him advance of Rs 6 and asked him to adjust it in next billing cycle. He rejected this proposal either. Finally he selected 2 items - Fletter cards and fidget spinner. This fitted well in his budget. He was very happy with his shopping. He was in euphoria. 

He started ironing his clothes with more gusto in the next month. In the second month his tally was around Rs 650- 700. Still the money was not sufficient to buy Nerf gun. He was little disheartened and asked me way forward. I advised him to save his money and spend it at a later date. It was very difficult for him to exercise control. But the attraction for Nerf gun proved to be stronger. Finally after 3 months of ironing he became proud owner of his Nerf gun!!

Few learnings from this exercise:

1. One has to really put in lot of efforts to earn even a small amount of money.

2. If you want to make big expenditure then you need to plan and save the money.

3. The kid has learnt one essential life skill which will never go waste.

Lastly I would quote 2 incidents which assured me the learning has indeed been etched into my son's mind:

1. We have been visiting same toy shop in nearby locality for years. One day the owner specifically asked me, "Madam, what have you done? Earlier your son used to look for all costly fancy toys. But these days he has suddenly started asking for cheaper and simple toys. He comes with some budget as well?? Are you paying him any procket money??"

2. My son and his grandfather had been to movie. During break his grandfather thought of buying him popcorn. Dadaji was mentally prepared to spend the extravagant cost of Rs 220 for tub. But when my son noticed this price he flatly refused to buy any snacks as they were not worth the money.

What else one mother could want!!

For reading my other blogs please visit  https://kinfolkclub.com or https://motherlab.blogspot.com

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