Value shopping for kids

 

This month, we’ve been exploring how parents can teach financial literacy to even the youngest of children, and one of the best ways is one of the simplest:  cost comparisons in the store. 

Most grocery stores today have, on the shelf tag, a “Price per pound” (or ounce, or some other unit of measure) and this offers savvy parents a great chance to show kids how basic economics work.  Basically, the more you buy, the lower the price OR, the less packaging, the lower the price. 

Take your ubiquitous 2 liter soda.  A dollar or two, depending on the flavor.  But, take that same two liters and put it into cans or bottles, and the price doubles or triples. 

Put those cans or bottles in a six pack and it costs more per ounce than the same can or bottle in a twelve or twenty four pack. 

Sure, the lesson seems very basic, but think about your teenager, buying his Mountain Dew one twenty ounce bottle at a time at the convenience store.  He doesn’t think about the costs, but then wonders why he’s broke all the time. 

I have a close friend who is a self-proclaimed “computer geek” who’s son is following in his friend’s footsteps. 

Like many teenagers, this kid loves to play video games, and he lobbied his dad over and over again for a new computer powerful enough to run today’s games. 

Now, as an aside, the father knew that such a computer was on the market and carried a hefty price tag.  He also knew, due to his career in the technology industry, the components to build such a computer from scratch would be a fraction of the cost. 

He simply broke it down to his son – he would pay him to learn how to build a computer.  $15 an hour, and the kid had to study up online.  He could study enough to build it and earn the money to buy the components, or he could spend three times as much time studying to earn enough to by the top-of-the-line model he wanted. 

The kid earned enough to buy the components and assemble them into a working computer with his father, and in so doing, he also learned how to use his knowledge.  Then the father helped him to build a system that was far more powerful than the “gaming” models sold online.  Not only was it a fun father-son project, the young man learned the intricacies of how computers really work and learned the skills to make a better buying decision. 

Isn’t that the very definition of parenting?

Have a great day-

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