Article: Confessions of extreme penny pinchers

Posted By Paul:

There was an article on CNN money that I thought was interesting. Here is the link:

Confessions of extreme penny pinchers

In particular I was intrigued by the 8th entry in the article where parents have their 3 kids taking turns picking the restaurant and paying for the half the meal while on vacation.

On the one hand it seems pretty extreme, on the other hand it is a great way to make the financial impact of eating out seem real to your kids.

My parents did something similar to me when we went on vacation. I had an allowance when I was pretty young, but sometimes for vacation my folks would give me a little extra spending money. They gave me the extra money at the start of the vacation with the condition that it was for the WHOLE vacation and it was mine to spend on any souvenirs or snacks that I wanted. I didn't have to pay for meals, but snacks and treats came out of my own money. Any money I didn't spend was mine to keep.

A similar idea, and overall I thought it was a good thing. It kept me from constantly having to beg my parents to buy me a churro/soda/balloon and I remember feeling very grown-up about being able to pick out and buy my own souvenirs. I remember that it was fun trying to find that "perfect" souvenir to buy, plus I think it was more pleasant for everyone to not have me running up to my folks every 10 minutes to beg for a quarter for a video game, or to buy me a lemonade.

I even remember once at a fundraising school fair when that I went to that my mom gave me $3 to buy "tickets" to play the different little games. At one of the booths they were selling plants for a dollar each. I remember thinking: "Wow, a dollar for a plant seems like a good deal, and I can plant it in the yard and enjoy it for a long time." so I bought one.

I remember my Mom being surprised and amused to see this 8 year old coming back with a potted plant and saying how it seemed like a much better deal than the carnival games.

Anyway, the article is worth a read.

Enjoy!
-Paul