Do you know how the “Help Desk” sometimes suggests you turn your computer or smartphone off and then on again when it won’t work exactly as you’d like? A running joke made by Jacqueline’s mother-in-law is to ask the question of high-energy kids: “Where’s the off button?” The annual break from school that begins for Ontario families next week brought the question to mind because, at Gifting Sense, we see a mid-year break from school, unattached to holidays, as both the ideal occasion to be together as a family and the ideal occasion to give your kids some perfectly sized lessons about the value of a dollar.
Parents are their children’s “Help Desk”
Spring Break is a great time to press your family’s spending reset button. Why? Because it’s a time when the trade-off between paying for things versus experiences, or vice versa, is front and center. And parents, who are indeed their children’s “Help Desk,” tend to be close by. This offers staycation and far-flung travelers alike all sorts of opportunities to discuss the total cost of various experiences and how they stack up against the cost of everyday living. Here are just some of those opportunities:
- Want to see a movie? Show your kids how buying two adult and three youth tickets, in addition to public transit or parking and snacks at the theatre, can easily cost 10 times (yes, ten times) the price of an on-demand video rental at home. Some movies demand the big-screen experience, but others can be just as enjoyable in the comfort of your own family room. Give your kids a movie budget for the week and the freedom to spend it as they see fit. You’ll be amazed at how carefully they spend “their money.”
- Going to a museum, aquarium, or theme park? Show your kids how the collective cost of admission, safe transportation to and from the venue, snacks, and even small souvenirs for the whole family can easily add up to the price of that new printer they’ve been after you to buy. Explain that this is why you’d like each of your kids to choose one outing that would mean the most to them. Encourage them to source admission coupons or consider Provincial or State Parks, which are often free to enter and offer fantastic hiking and picnic locations.
- Going away? Are you staying in a hotel where all your meals must be eaten out, or in a condominium where some can be made “at home”? Let the kids participate in grocery shopping to stock up the condo kitchen. Discuss how this week’s grocery bill compares to the grocery bills at home. Divide it by the number of meals you’ll be having in the condo and compare that “cost-per-meal” to restaurant meals. Did they find some restaurant meals disappointing and not worth the money? Did they really enjoy some condo meals, such as seafood you wouldn’t normally cook at home on a Tuesday night? Talk about how the seafood was pricey but delicious and still more affordable in the condo than it would have been in a restaurant.
- Let kids calculate the tip when you are paying the bill at a restaurant– this is such an easy way for youth to see in black and white that eating out costs more, and as such should be considered a special event.
Help kids understand “what the big deal is.”
On vacation, groceries aren’t typically purchased late at night or on the way home from work. Food shopping together makes it easier to teach kids about the trade-off between eating in and eating out. In fact, shopping for anything together can be super helpful because when kids see how much effort it takes to go to a store, try things on, consider volume discounts, or remember coupon codes…they start to understand “what the big deal is” with only asking for new gym shorts.
The DIMS-DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® SCORE Calculator is a free, safe tool we developed to help kids practice thinking before they buy everything from special groceries and sports equipment to fancy running shoes or a new book bag. Because it’s available wherever you can access the internet, young people can calculate the DIMS SCORE® for a possible purchase en route to or at a vacation spot, be it the local Cineplex, visiting out-of-town relatives, or a tropical island.
Best gift ever? A personal spending “off button”!
Click on the blue or green buttons below to learn how it works and give your kids one of the best gifts ever: a personal spending “off button.” Who knows, they might even thank you in the future by bringing the grandparents along when they are Spring Break parents themselves!
Child Development Financial Literacy For Parents
