The Ultimate Guide to Convincing Your Parents to Help You Buy Something
You’ve seen them in ads and on other kids, maybe even tried them on in a store; they’re the perfect…running shoes, earrings, hockey skates, hair styling tools, bicycle wheel guards, shin protectors, bookends. The only problem is that they cost $120. What’s your move?
If we could only share one idea with kids…
If we could only share one idea with kids, it would be that parents mostly WANT to help their children buy items and experiences they’re interested in – if – those items and experiences are genuinely used and appreciated. That’s right, newsflash: Your parents dig you and want you to be happy! What frosts parents around the globe is spending their hard-earned money on jeans, craft supplies, electronics, eyeshadow, or soccer balls that only collect dust before they end up in the trash or donate bin.
Talking to your parents about spending money doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.
So why does talking to parents about money, particularly spending, feel so hard? It doesn’t have to. Believe it or not, just a few minutes of preparation can make “money talks” relaxed and productive. The DIMS SCORE® Calculator helps you prepare quickly, and guess what? It’s free and fun. Here are the questions it helps you with:
1) What is the actual total cost?
Ensure you know how much money is required to make a purchase you’re interested in. What do sales tax, delivery, or other fees add to the total cost of an item? The price tag of anything is only the beginning. What do safe transportation, snacks, and souvenirs add to the cost of attending a concert, professional sporting event, or afternoon at the movies? The ticket price is just the beginning.
2) What’s your move if you change your mind?
Ensure you know how to get your money (well…their money!) back if a purchase fails to deliver its promise of being the “best book bag ever.” What is the retailer’s (online or brick-and-mortar) return policy? Does the manufacturer offer a warranty? Taking a few minutes to understand what has to happen to get your money back or an item replaced shows your parents you respect the work they do to earn the money your family can spend.
3) Who else in your family could use this? Now or in the future?
What kids worldwide do every day, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or location, is grow! This means they grow out of clothing, sports equipment, electronics, or toys long before they’re truly “worn out”. Do you have a younger sibling or cousin who can use the Rainbow Loom, Air Jordans, or Nike gym shorts you’ve got your eye on? Extending the natural life cycle of things we buy isn’t only good for our wallets, it’s also good for the planet. Let’s put as little as humanly possible into landfills.
4) How can you help pay for it?
What might you be willing to give up to move a purchase from your wish list to reality? Life is a series of trade-offs and choices. The sooner you embrace that fact, the better. Your parents can’t buy every single item or experience they might enjoy, and neither can you. Demonstrate how important a purchase is to you by listing others you’re willing to forgo to help pay for this one. Many middle schoolers have opted to swap out Friday Night Pizza Dinners to help pay for a pricey pair of jeans or track pants. If there’s nothing you’re willing to give up, well…you probably don’t want the purchase being considered all that badly.
Talking to parents about money doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. How can young people convince their parents to help them buy an item or experience? Pre-wire for success by quickly researching answers to the four questions most parents ask before agreeing to spend.
Parents were young once too. Walking down memory lane can help caregivers remember when they needed help to buy an item or experience they really wanted.
Seems like a lot of work? It’s not!
If this seems like a lot of information to gather and summarize, remember the DIMS – DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® SCORE Calculator was designed to help. It’s free and safe. You don’t have to register or cross a paywall to use it. It’s provided by an award-winning early financial education platform whose sole purpose is to help kids enter high school, knowing from first-hand experience that anyone can get and use (at first basic) financial information to improve their lives. Once you discover that it only takes minutes to ask and answer the questions that can help you avoid disappointment, reduce waste, improve family harmony, and protect the planet, you’re in a much better position to prevent early financial mistakes. Everyone knows it’s easier to avoid a pitfall than dig out of one!
Let us know how you make out.
Either way, we hope you’ll find that money talks aren’t hard at all if, just like in school, you do your homework! How come? Young people are like everyone else: when they slow down and truly look at a spend, they spend differently. And most of the time, that’s the issue. It isn’t that your parents don’t want to spend at all, they just want to spend wisely. Ask for purchases that can make sense for you, your family, and the planet, and see how quickly your parents get behind a plan to help you make them.
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