How to nip holiday pester power in the bud
Hannah McQueen takes measures to ensure her kids understand the value of a dollar.
Itry my best not to be a ‘‘do as I say, not as I do’’ type of money coach. I set budgets, I track my spending, I’ve paid off one mortgage and I’m working on the next, I’m investing to grow my wealth. I practice what I preach.
However, when you pull back the curtain on my home life, I still seem to have created two entitled children.
Don’t get me wrong, my kids are usually polite, sometimes respectful (although that’s less constant than I would like), usually sleep through the night, eat well, and can be quite cute.
I consciously try to not buy them everything they ask for. I am purposeful in teaching them financial principles.
I explain Mum and Dad must work to earn money and choose carefully where to spend it, so it doesn’t run out.
We explain the ATM is not a magical endless supply of cash. Yet somehow, they’re still entitled, and it bugs me.
It’s most obvious to me when we go away as a family during the school holidays – like we are this coming week. As parents, we work really hard, so feel we deserve a bit of a ‘‘we’ve earned it’’ holiday splurge.
We’re more generous with ourselves, and by extension, our kids.
Our kids haven’t earned it, yet holidays have still become the norm in their treat-filled lives. No matter how many treats are dispensed on holiday, I get pestered for more.
So, on our last family holiday, I decided to do things differently: I put my (then) eight-year old son in charge of the budget.
I gave him the overall figure, explained what it had to cover and together we worked out how much would be available for family activities, ice-creams, brunch, petrol and groceries.
We wrote each expense down on a bit of paper, withdrew the total in cash and he counted the money into piles for each budget line.
We wrote a menu and a shopping list, and instead of begging for chocolate and chips as we went around the supermarket, he denied his sister those same items.
(It’s important if you go over budget that you get them to select what goes back on the shelf, rather than bailing them out.)
He researched activities and the cost of petrol. When I told him I wasn’t taking my EFTPOS card, he decided to bring $5 from his wallet in case we ran out of petrol.
My son seemed to relish the challenge. We didn’t pop into the dairy, or the fish ‘n’ chip shop and he told us stopping for coffee was ‘‘a waste of money’’!
We were under budget by $30 at the supermarket and spent $200 less than we normally would for the same length holiday.
It’s a simple exercise, but it helps teach kids the value of money and the power of choice. Try it these holidays if you’re tired hearing ‘‘Oh but Mum, it’s not fair!’’ every time you say ‘‘No’’.
Hannah McQueen is a financial advisor and author.