Saving Money and Expenses and Money and Kids

My daughter just asked me for a sleeping bag. 

So, being the curious mother I am, I asked her why she needed a sleeping bag. 

She, being the greedy child smarty-pants she is said, “Because I don’t have one.” 

Oh, well, in that case let me pick one up right away. I’ll swing by and pick up a pony on the way home, because you don’t have that either. 

What I actually said was, “Well we aren’t going camping in winter, so maybe next year.” 

She seemed pleased for the moment, even though she has no sense of time at this point, much less how far away (in kid years) “next year” is. 

She asked for dance lessons for weeks before I gave in and enrolled her. Weeks. But now that she asked for something and actually got it she has turned into this little asking machine. Figuring, like those haggard souls that sit for hours at a slot machine, that if she just keeps trying she’ll get the big payoff. 

Which is annoying (to say the least.)

But how do I explain to my daughter that the budget is for her own good. The budget is what will allow me to give her free money she’ll never pay back loans when she is newly married and struggling. Of course, if I teach her well and she’s not defiant - ha ha - maybe she won’t struggle the way we did when we first got married and realized all these bills add up to thousands of dollars a month that we are now solely responsible for. 

But how much should I give her. We are already planning on buying a car at the end of the year so Randy can have a commute car. This will leave the good car with me so I can put the kids in preschool. 

More expenses. More money. (Not the car, we already figured out it will pay for itself in a year with the reduction in auto insurance premiums.) Just more stuff.

Every dollar I spend on the kids is a dollar that doesn’t go into the savings account. The less that goes into the savings account the less goes into the brokerage (stock trading) account. The less we invest, the less money we have for retirement.

Am I spending the money for my golden years so my daughter can participate in classes and schools that she won’t remember when she’s an adult? Not many kids remember stuff they did when they were three years old. But investing now will mean there is more money for them when they are twenty and really need it.

Plus we have the two dogs that need shots and care. Randy has been grooming them the last four years and the poor dogs just can’t take it anymore. He’s really bad at grooming. They have spots that are short and these awful long hairs. It’s kind of gross. So grooming and shots is over $200 for two dogs.

Again, money that is being spent instead of saved.

I want to be a good mom. I would like to be a mom that supported my children from their earliest ages. Maybe preschool and one extra-carricular activity is my limit. It’s not a bad limit. Goodness knows I don’t want to become a taxi service for my children, either. Those signs on cars that say Mom’s Taxi Service make me shudder to my soul with revulsion. (Not judgement. If that makes others happy - rock out with your taxi out - just don’t try and tell me it’s something I want to identify with!)

We paid off a lot of debt this month. I have to do the budget to see how we come in next month, because I’m on track to make about $1,000 less next month than I did this month.  That could change, it has in the past, but I don’t bank on income I’ve never seen - I only budget with what I know is coming in - that helps me avoid utter dissapointment by not being able to do more.

Because I feel like I could always be doing more than I am right now. Always.

October 16, 2008 | By: Jennifer Gniadecki | Filed Under Finance Fridays |  

Comments

One Response to “Saving Money and Expenses and Money and Kids”

  1. Tammy on October 22nd, 2008 9:32 pm

    It is hard to save while paying for shoes, and toys and activities. We have had so much trouble, I started watching Suze Orman to see “if I could afford it.” I make the kids watch it with me!

    I use it as a way to teach them that we are not made of money.

    I’m worried we teach our kids a lot of things, but not so much about money. That’s why we get them involved at little seeing what cost what.

    We also have found great suggestions for teaching them about money in http://www.StickyAsset.com. I like the game they play with the kids.

    All good stuff. When every little thing cost, cost, cost…I want to be a good mom, too, but I want to give them things that will last a lifetime. Giving them the goods on how to save money and what is a smart buy is important.

    That’s my 2 cents.

    Tammy

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