Taking stock of hits and misses in June helps your family combat FOMO and regrets in September.
As the academic year winds down, most of us are ready to toss the backpacks in a corner and not think about school until August. But here’s a secret: June is the perfect time to quickly reflect on what worked and what didn’t, before all is forgotten. Your children have just lived a whole year with their clothes, shoes, video games, bicycles…their stuff! Taking stock of hits and misses when they’re fresh in June helps your family combat Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and buyer’s remorse in September. And it can help ensure that none of you ever falls prey to buy now, pay later (BNPL) payment schemes.
Here’s a quick “June Inventory” that you’ll appreciate in eight short weeks. Ask your kids:
- What’s still in good shape? Backpack / Lunchbox / Water bottle / Pencil case / Calculator? (You know your kids will grow over the summer, but a bigger “Sam” doesn’t always need new school supplies, especially in high school.)
- 📝 What did you never end up using?
- 💭 What would you not buy again? Why?
- 🧼 What can we donate or recycle today?
- 🎯 What’s one thing that worked well this year?
- 💡 What’s one thing you’ve often wished you had?
- 💵 Is there anything expensive you want for next year that you think we should start saving for now?
Stick the answers to these questions on your fridge or keep them in your phone—you’ll thank yourself in August!
Plan beats no plan.
The upside to this kind of super-early back-to-school wish list making is that your family has all summer to plan. We know “plan beats no plan”, but we don't always spend as much time reflecting on what has worked for us in the past when we’re thinking about the future. However, reflecting on past successes and failures helps us avoid being swayed by trends or peer pressure the next time we're making a consumer decision (e.g., "I know long skirts are in style, but they were hard for me to navigate the subway in last year" or "I only need to forgo ten iced lattes to pay for that new bookbag I want").
We're introducing a new acronym: TNPL (Think Now, Pay Less)!
In fact, we’d like to push aside a popular acronym. Forget BNPL, we’re championing TNPL (Think Now, Pay Less)! Planned spending is the easiest way to avoid panic purchases, which are often made with the modern, but backwards, version of layaway plans, because today there’s no laying anything away; you get to take a purchase home and then pay for it!
Let’s compare the two to see why TNPL is the money habit you want your kids to develop.
