海角大神

This evening, my children will be dressing up and running about in their neighborhood, knocking on doors and requesting candy. If they match last year鈥檚 performance, they鈥檒l be bringing home multiple聽pounds聽of mini candy bars, Sweet Tarts, and other goodies.

Naturally, they鈥檒l eat a few pieces while they鈥檙e out and about 鈥� I certainly did when I was their age.

When they get home, though, we put their bags of candy off to the side and get ready for bed.

The next night, things have changed a bit.聽

Sometime, during the day on November 1, we combine their Halloween hauls into a single large container.

From that day on, they鈥檙e allowed to pull聽one聽treat per night out of the treat container after dinner.

Why do we do it this way? There are several reasons, most of them tied into personal finance lessons for the kids.

贵颈谤蝉迟,听spreading out the candy like this allows it to last longer.聽Our candy tub will last well past Christmas without any need for refills.

厂别肠辞苍诲,听it teaches our kids to control impulsiveness and spread out pleasure.聽Rather than simply gorging on a pile of candy all at once only to find themselves out by November 5, they鈥檙e learning that by not eating it all at once, they have candy left over for the rest of the year. This is, of course, reinforced by comments from Mom and Dad.

罢丑颈谤诲,听it promotes healthy eating.聽It鈥檚 okay to have a small piece of candy after supper. It鈥檚 not healthy to down a pound of sugar in one sitting. This isn鈥檛 really a personal finance thing specifically However, it does encourage long-term healthy behaviors, which, over the course of their lives, should decrease health care costs.

贵颈苍补濒濒测,听it helps strengthen their decision-making process.聽As I鈥檓 getting the tub down, I usually encourage them to think about what kind of treat they want this evening. Do they want something chocolate-y? How about something a bit tart? I鈥檒l even ask them each what kind of thing they want.

Amazingly, I鈥檝e found that this little 鈥減re-decision鈥� helps them to find a treat聽much聽faster. Without doing it, they will often dig around in the tub for a minute or more and usually end up trying to talk me into letting them have two or three pieces. With the little trick, they usually find exactly what they鈥檙e looking for within ten seconds.

I truly think this is similar to why shopping lists work. In both cases, you already have in mind what you鈥檙e going to get, so it鈥檚 just a matter of finding it.

Of course,聽these aren鈥檛 perfect lessons, but what you find as a parent is that no lesson is the perfect one. Instead, you just try to teach principles over and over and encourage them to apply them as often as possible 鈥� things like making better eating choices and controlling impulsiveness.

Halloween candy can certainly help with those things.

The post聽Trick or Treat! Halloween Candy as a Personal Finance Lesson聽appeared first on聽The Simple Dollar.