Santa Fe, NM
I may be a grown-up, but I still haven’t gotten over the fact that there is no magic money tree. I bought a nice pair of dress pants for church… and it is never fun to enter those purchases into Quicken and deduct the money out of the budget, even when I have funds saved for such purchases.
My daughter is now learning about this hard reality as she transitions into allowances and chores. “Teachable moments” are cropping up left and right!
“Can I have money for the Scholastic book fair?”
“No, you haven’t read the last book I bought but you are welcome to use your own money.”
“But I am saving my money for something else!”
“Me too!”
She went on to wonder what would happen if she were the ONLY one in the class with no money for the book fair. I said she would have to tell her friends she is saving her money for something else. This conversation, for me, echoed many of the financial decisions my husband and I are making every day. Why do we only have 1 bathroom… because we are saving for something else. Why does my husband drive an ‘entry-level’ car… because we are saving for something else. Freedom from debt is a wonderful situation, but it is still a life filled with many purposeful decisions about money.
Oh, and the book from the book fair that she reeeaaaally wanted? The library has a copy waiting for us on reserve.
The Healthful Saver 
You and your husband are leading such an awesome example for your daughter! 🙂
You have to love the library! Countless hours of free entertainment! 🙂
Thanks for the kind comment. We do try but sometimes it feels like we are in unchartered territory. Growing up we had so much less than my daughter does. Going out to eat was a big deal, and toys came at Christmas. I hope adulthood won’t be too rude of an awakening. As older parents we are much more established and she hasn’t been around to see all the struggle it took to get here….
Great on teaching her the difference between needs and wants and how life is always full of choices. More parents need to do this with their children instead of just handing them money. How awesome too that you can get the book from the library. As someone who has been paring down our book collection over the last few years (and lots of other stuff too!), we all tend to buy things that are “one time use” and then spend time finding a place to store it. It’s a nice feeling when you have a clean out, but so much better when you don’t need to do that and you have the money in the bank.
Thanks for your comment! We have one “want” we are saving for right now, 10.00 out of every paycheck, and that is to get Josefina’s arms restrung. She is a Pleasant Co AG doll. While I could just use our weekly budget to pay for it, this is definitely something we can save for.
Great life lesson!