allowance for 9 year old

On Jan 23, 4:10 pm, enigma wrote:
Beliavsky wrote
oups.com:



On Jan 23, 12:56 pm, enigma wrote:
Kim wrote

legro ups.com:

snip

Unless he was required to spend the entire amount on
clothes, shoes, etc, this would likely backfire as he
could care less about brand names and such and would
want to buy the cheapest stuff he could find and use the
rest to buy toys.

and this is a problem ,buying inexpensive vs "brand name"
clothes, & spending the resulting savings on fun stuff? i
fail to see why this is "bad".
it is at this point that you *also* teach the child about
value for your money & how to buy well made, but
inexpensive, clothing. you do this by looking at seam
finish, fabric, details. you shop at places like TJ Maxx
or Marshall's that sell better made ready to wear, & avoid
cheaply made crap like Wal-Mart. come on, the kid is 9. he
outgrows stuff faster than he wears it out

That's a pretty strong generalization. If a lot of people
did not think Wal-Mart offered good value, it would not be
the world's largest company by sales.

no, people are (in general) lazy & ill-informed. they don't
realize that they are spending *more* money by constantly
replacing shoddy goods.
the TV says that Wal-Mart has the lowest prices, & very very
few people actually comparison shop, or they would realize
that the goods Wal-Mart sells are not the same quality as they
would get elsewhere.
i do not shop at Wal-Mart because nothing they sell meets my
expectations of value for money spent. i do not allow Wal-Mart
stock into my portfolio because i disagree strongly with their
labor practices. i *do* put my money where my mouth is.
lee won't hold Disney stock or buy Disney products either

YMMV

In my experience if the goods are identical (branded shampoo of the
same size for example), you could buy at Walmart for much lower price
than anywhere else. Add a coupon to that, it's that much better. Also,
for things that don't need to last long (clothes and shoes for
preschooler in my case) I get decent quality for cheaper than I would
pay at a resale shop some times. I can give several other examples why
I would shop at Walmart where quality per cost is much better. They
have the best return/exchange policy which can't be denied.

toypup wrote:
On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:09:02 -0500, Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Kim wrote:
Jeff wrote:
When school starts in the fall, it might be appropriate to say, "Here's
$300 or whatever the budget is. You need to buy your shoes, pants,
shirts. You can spend it on a few items or get items at a discount and
have more items."
Unless he was required to spend the entire amount on clothes, shoes,
etc, this would likely backfire as he could care less about brand
names and such and would want to buy the cheapest stuff he could find
and use the rest to buy toys.
Why is that a problem? He'll either learn that the
cheap stuff doesn't last, or he'll learn it's foolish to pay
extra for a name ;-)

I'm not so sure of that. Some people just learn they like to replace
things often.

But if he bought cheap clothes and then spent the rest on
toys, he'll be learning to repair his clothing or he'll be down to
precious little to wear until he manages to save up more money.

I don't care about brand, either. I don't think it's important. That
would be a good thing to learn, IMO. Also, cheap doesn't mean it won't
last. Good plastic lasts for a long time, and it's cheaper than metal or
wood.

If you want to teach values like environmental stewardship,
then a tool geared toward teaching fiscal discipline probably isn't
totally the right tool to do it. You'll likely have to take an
different/additional approach for that.

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:16:39 -0500, Ericka Kammerer wrote:

But if he bought cheap clothes and then spent the rest on
toys, he'll be learning to repair his clothing or he'll be down to
precious little to wear until he manages to save up more money.

Personally, I buy cheap clothes for my kids, because they outgrow them
before they wear out. If he's a normal growing kid, he will learn nothing
about quality of fabric or construction for that reason.

The kid might actually not care much about clothes and wear rags to school
to save money. He might not care if the pants go up to his knees.

I know I didn't much care about clothes when I was a kid and I don't really
care much about it now. Shopping is a pain in the behind. If I find
something I like, I buy it in every color just so I don't have to look
anymore.

All my clothes are cheap, but they have lasted. I have three dresses I
bought from Target for $20 each that I wear to weddings and such. They are
aobut 10 years old, look new and I still get compliments.

I have found the more expensive stuff to often be more delicate. Don't
care for that at all. If I pay more, it better be easier to care for and
more durable.

On Jan 22, 7:52�am, Caledonia wrote:
On Jan 22, 2:00 am, Jeff wrote:

Kim wrote:
My 9 year old step-son has no concept of money and thinks my ATM card
provides an endless supply of cash whenever I need it.

Well, it does, doesn't it?

�When he asks
for something I tell him I can't afford it, his response is, "well
just use your card." �When he gets money of his own, he immediately
wants to go wherever anyone will take him, be it the dollar store,
7-11, even the grocery store, just so he can spend it.

There is something wrong going on. Does he think someone will steal it?

I had to comment on this -- I don't think the OP's son is different
than most kids (nor most people) in a desire for immediate
gratification. I wouldn't label this behavior as 'something wrong' --
I'll agree it's not a great behavior, but I can't see some sort of
weird ulterior fear or motive here.

Caledonia

Definitely not. My 10-year-old is the same way. I don't see any reason
to force a child younger than working age to pay for any necessities
and I don't see forcing them to do certain things with it either. I
don't see anything wrong with discussing options however and letting
it be their choice. If he wanted to shoot for saving and donating $50
toward stopping child abuse this year, I would most certainly allow
him and help him along to reach that goal. My 10-year-old is starting
to grasp the concept now, as he points to something more expensive he
would like and we explain that had he waited and saved his money, he
could have gotten that without issue, and we don't break and
contribute or give in so he can get it now either. My kids have been
offered an allowance, but they have yet to stick with their list of
chores every day for any time period long enough to earn it for a
straight week - they don't do them, without nagging or prompting, then
they don't get paid. Some things they like to label as chores aren't
chores and are rather responsibilities to contribute to the daily
family operations in a considerate manner.

In my experience if the goods are identical (branded shampoo of the
same size for example), you could buy at Walmart for much lower price
than anywhere else. Add a coupon to that, it's that much better. Also,
for things that don't need to last long (clothes and shoes for
preschooler in my case) I get decent quality for cheaper than I would
pay at a resale shop some times. I can give several other examples why
I would shop at Walmart where quality per cost is much better. They
have the best return/exchange policy which can't be denied.

Yep, there are many things that I buy from Wal-mart that is cheaper and it
is the same product I would buy elsewhere, but cheaper. Soaps, toiletries,
school supplies, etc. Christmas decorations were cheaper there and they have
lasted for a while now. So I don't buy the mantra that they are cheap and
things fall apart. That can be true of any place. I don't tend to buy
clothes there because I the kids and I are hard to fit and they don't seem
to fit us well. Same for Target, their clothes don't tend to fit me well
either, so I shop for clothes elsewhere. When the kids were little, they
outgrow stuff so fast that it didn't really matter if it was high quality. I
didn't care to buy high quality clothes for my girls that were growing at
the speed of sound. So many people are down on Wal-mart and it gets tiring
to hear. I comparison shop and there are some things that are better deals
at Wal-mart and I buy them. The bottom line for me is that I need
inexpensive right now. I don't especially need my clothes to last years and
years because styles change, by body changes, and my likes change. Everyone
is different.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

Sue wrote:
In my experience if the goods are identical (branded shampoo of the
same size for example), you could buy at Walmart for much lower price
than anywhere else. Add a coupon to that, it's that much better. Also,
for things that don't need to last long (clothes and shoes for
preschooler in my case) I get decent quality for cheaper than I would
pay at a resale shop some times. I can give several other examples why
I would shop at Walmart where quality per cost is much better. They
have the best return/exchange policy which can't be denied.

Yep, there are many things that I buy from Wal-mart that is cheaper and it
is the same product I would buy elsewhere, but cheaper. Soaps, toiletries,
school supplies, etc. Christmas decorations were cheaper there and they have
lasted for a while now. So I don't buy the mantra that they are cheap and
things fall apart.

Some of Walmart's things fall apart faster than the a similar item from
the same maker at other stores. That's because Walmart nickels and dimes
their suppliers so much that their suppliers have to use cheaper
materials, like thinner cloth. In addition, the only way the suppliers
can make ends meet is to make their stuff out of North America.

"Jeff" wrote in message
Some of Walmart's things fall apart faster than the a similar item from
the same maker at other stores. That's because Walmart nickels and dimes
their suppliers so much that their suppliers have to use cheaper
materials, like thinner cloth. In addition, the only way the suppliers can
make ends meet is to make their stuff out of North America.

So, buyer beware. I haven't had any problems with the select products that I
buy from there. Be choosey on what you buy. That would hold true of any
place.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Sue" wrote in
news:5pidnfVykYjwCgXanZ2dnUVZ_gqdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com:

"Jeff" wrote in message
Some of Walmart's things fall apart faster than the a
similar item from the same maker at other stores. That's
because Walmart nickels and dimes their suppliers so much
that their suppliers have to use cheaper materials, like
thinner cloth. In addition, the only way the suppliers can
make ends meet is to make their stuff out of North
America.

So, buyer beware. I haven't had any problems with the
select products that I buy from there. Be choosey on what
you buy. That would hold true of any place.


by all means,, support China's economy, not our own.
Wal-Mart is the *fourth largest* purchaser of Chinese goods.
yup, one single company is the 4th largest buyer.
lee

On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:05:32 +0000 (UTC), enigma
wrote:


by all means,, support China's economy, not our own.
Wal-Mart is the *fourth largest* purchaser of Chinese goods.
yup, one single company is the 4th largest buyer.
lee

Okay, so which larger stores that are reasonably priced purchase all
of their goods from American companies? Keeping in mind that many
people do need to stick to a budget. Kmart? Target? ......? I
really am interested, not just being snarky ;-)

Nan

Nan wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:05:32 +0000 (UTC), enigma
wrote:


by all means,, support China's economy, not our own.
Wal-Mart is the *fourth largest* purchaser of Chinese goods.
yup, one single company is the 4th largest buyer.
lee

Okay, so which larger stores that are reasonably priced purchase all
of their goods from American companies? Keeping in mind that many
people do need to stick to a budget. Kmart? Target? ......? I
really am interested, not just being snarky ;-)

Nan

I don't think any do. Walmart used to advertise that it does.

Anyway, one thing you can do is look for the "Made in the USA" label and
only buy those things.

Jeff