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Kids and the economy

March 3rd, 2008 / 4 Comments

moneyKids don’t know anything about the economy nor do they care. They could care less about unemployment, recession, or foreclosures.

But kids should be very concern about the economy. Do they know that it has a great impact on their personal lives? Their family vacation, their college fund, the amount of Christmas gifts they get, and the size of their birthday parties all depend on the state of the economy, right?

My husband and I have our own real estate business. Don’t mistake us for the Donald Trump type of real estate business. We have a small office in suburbia. On a good year, we save up for a rainy day. Right now it’s a huge storm in the real estate market!

Since our income is never steady, I’ve always taught my children to live frugally. No matter how cheaply we live, we still always have more than we need. We really have nothing to complain about. Living with less allows us to give more generously to those who are truly needy.

Here are 8 DON’Ts in managing our spending that we try to live by:

1. Don’t buy anything unless it’s on sale. Don’t worry, those same trendy styles will end up on the sale rack in a few weeks.

2. Don’t buy something just because it’s on sale. We’ve all done that, right?

3. Don’t go shopping just to look around. It just makes you want things you don’t need.

4. Don’t neglect what we already have. Play with the toys we already own before we talk about buying more toys.

5. Don’t forget to use free resources – the parks, the libraries, etc.

6. Don’t buy new if you can buy used. Things that do not wear out like houseware are great to buy from Ebay.com, Craigslist.com, or garage sales.

7. Don’t go cheap on items that you need for a long time. I bought an expensive quality blender because I know we would use it.

8. Don’t buy quality expensive brands on things that you will get tire of. I don’t mind buying cheap furniture because I know my taste changes every few years!

What suggestions do you have?

Photo by stopnlook

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Comments

  1. Great tips, especially #7. Sometimes you get caught buying cheap stuff and thinking its thrifty and you get it wrong. Much better to consider its value based on how much use you get out of it. Good quality items that really last and fit your needs are best. I want to buy for quality value and not for popularity or brand recognition.

     
  2. Thanks for the comment Michael. Much of the clothing industry is brand recognition instead of true quality.

     
  3. […] also written a post about Kids and the Eonomy.  I wish your family well during this troubling economic […]

     
  4. […] mentioned here that my husband and I are in the real estate business. No need for any further explanation, you already know we are having financial struggles […]

     

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