“I want every Lego set ever made.”
“I want every Bruder truck in the Bruder book.”
These are actual quotes from my six-year-old son. When he makes these comments, my wife and I make a point to use this time to talk and teach about money. Sometimes I’ll start with an answer along the lines of:
“I hope you get a good job when you grow up and have a big house to fit it all in.”
But in reality, these are great times to talk and teach about money, even with our six- and four-year old kids. For us, we will talk about trade-offs with the kids. Our kids rarely get toys from us outside of their birthdays and Christmas, but we travel and have fun trips as a family. I try to focus on trade-offs when our kids bring up money and wanting to do things. In this situation, a trade-off is wanting to have or do multiple things but weighing the options and choosing what is most important. What really happens after my son’s quotes from above is more along the lines of:
Me: “If you really want to have more toys, we will have to give up doing some other things. And we move every two years. Mom and I want do NOT want to have lots of stuff.”
Son: “What would I have to give up?”
Me: “Well, if you and your sister want more toys, that’s okay, but we would end up taking less trips. We wouldn’t go skiing or take vacations to go hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Would you rather have more toys or keep going on fun hiking vacations and ski vacations?”
Son: “I don’t want to give up our trips, and I’m getting really good at skiing and my hockey stops. BUT I do really like Legos and Bruder trucks.”
Me: “Well, for a six-year old, you have a pretty large Lego collection and you have some cool Bruder trucks, too.”
As a family, we have been blessed financially and have the flexibility to discuss trade-offs of wants with our kids, but I know that is not the case for all families. If your budget is tight and wants are a stretch, talk with your kids about how you need to use your money first (food, utilities, rent/mortgage, insurance, etc.) and try to find a way to have your kids earn something they want from you. Maybe you could give them some chores to do around the house and periodically pay them for helping out, but you need to hold them accountable. This can help you encourage them to save for something they want, and if they get good at helping, it may take a little bit off of your plate of things to do.
As an aside, for those who are unfamiliar, Bruder is a toy company that makes to-scale models of cars and trucks. Below are a few pictures from the Bruder book and a few of my son’s Bruder trucks.
Do you talk to your kids about money? If so, how do you approach the discussion?
If you didn’t see them yet, take a look at Part I and Part II of the Kids and Money posts.
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