海角大神

Christmas lists as budget lessons

When it comes to spending, A Christmas list can be a teachable moment for young children. 

Last year, as Christmastime was approaching, our two oldest children wrote letters to Santa listing all of the things they wanted. Our oldest child was mostly able to write the letter on his own, but our middle child needed someone to dictate for her.

In any case, both of our children ended up creating a list that was thirty or forty items long. They kept coming up with things that they wanted to add to their list.

Sarah and I struggled with how to handle the situation, but Christmas morning provided a great opportunity for it.

When they opened their gifts from their grandparents, their parents, and Santa, they found themselves gravitating toward just a few toys that they received, leaving most of the rest of the items in a pile.

I took our oldest child aside after a while and asked him why he wasn鈥檛 playing with those other toys. He thought about it for a minute and said that they weren鈥檛 fun.

鈥淭hen why did you ask for them?鈥�

He thought about that question for a long time. We brought it up a few more times over the next few days, and it became a pretty valuable lesson for him.

* * *

So, now the holiday season approaches. Before too long, our children will be thinking about the holiday season and making their Christmas lists.

This year, we鈥檙e instituting a new rule:聽no more than four items on your Christmas list.

Why? This simple restriction will make them think about their impulses and desires. What items do they聽reallywant? Which ones are less important?

They鈥檒l learn to separate their actual desires from their fleeting impulses, and that鈥檚 a valuable thing to learn.

* * *

This idea carries forward into our adult lives.

There are many things I see in a given day that I would enjoy having, but the feeling is fleeting. I鈥檒l see an interesting book on a blog that I read. I鈥檒l hear about an interesting new board game at Community Game Night. I鈥檒l notice a pack of gum at the checkout aisle.

If I gave into all of those impulses, I would be broke. Not only that, I would quickly become numb to the pleasure of something new.

I鈥檝e learned that聽it鈥檚 far better to occasionally enjoy a splurge聽than it is to聽constantly splurge.

For starters, being patient and slow with the splurges allows me to聽filter out the things I actually want versus the things that are short-term impulses.聽For example, going to a coffee shop is almost always a short-term impulse, so I very rarely do it (usually only in a social situation).

It also helps me聽appreciate the splurges. Instead of gorging on constant small impulses until I鈥檓 numb to the joy of a splurge, I spread them out a bit and enjoy the anticipation.

There鈥檚 also the factor of聽gaining a financial edge.聽The fewer splurges I have, the less I spend. The less I spend, the more money I have for the future.

Will all of this pay off for our children? I think, to some extent, one has to experience these things to really appreciate them, but we can certainly do our best to lead them down the right path.聽