Saturday a group of Moolah U families and friends met downtown to donate several of our Blast the Money Trap™ games at the Chuy’s Giving Parade. The parade was lots of fun, and it was sweet to see young people from all over the city giving away toys and games just to bring other young people joy.
The Moolah U Crew at The Chuy’s Giving Parade
It all got me thinking about the way we use our money during the holidays. Most of us make our lists, close our eyes, and hope we won’t go over budget. Our young people quickly come to expect a host of gifts and holiday indulgences. It’s easy to think that this free-spirited spending and “generosity” is what makes this time of year so special. Yet many of us stress ourselves out financially trying to make it all happen. With the number one stressor on families being finances, this hardly seems like a healthy path.
So now I am mulling on a question: How would it benefit my family if we focused on purposefully and thoughtfully making the best use of our resources during the holiday season?
Filling up the trucks!
Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Children:
The holidays is a great time to talk to young people about the best use of resources and model making conscious choices for how to use money. The following questions may be a place to start the conversation:
1. How do we want our friends and family to feel during the holidays?
- Can having an intention when buying a gift help us make wise choices about how to use our money?
- What is important to the people we are giving to and how we can support that with our gift?
2. How can we have our money make the biggest positive impact?
- Does being generous mean spending lots of money?
- How could we make the very most of your resources while being generous?
3. Will the gifts we give last and provide value over time?
- What gift will bring the most joy for the longest time?
- How much does the value of a gift have to do with it’s price? What makes something valuable?
Try This:
Try giving your child an allowance to use for gifts this season. Ask questions to help them consider how much money they are willing to use for each purpose. Engage them in considering alternatives. Help your young person practice creating and using a budget. Most Important: If you give them money to use this season, let them make their own choices about how to use it. You may not agree with the choices they make, but if they make the choices, they will experience first hand the positive and negative impacts of making those choices. This is the best education they can get.
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