Spending on the kids?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2005
Spending on the kids?
14
Sat, 03-18-2006 - 11:42am

I'm just wondering if anyone else can relate to over-spending on their kids. It's not about lavishing them with toys or video games -- I'm pretty stingy about that! It's when it comes to items that are developmentally or educationally good for them that I go overboard. Like books. I'm a total sucker for books. Or crafty stuff -- I love for them to be creative. And games -- we love our family game nights. But I know I overdo it. My son's been having some trouble learning money in school, so I went to an educational toy store to find something to help him out. I found these cool flash cards, and I think that's fine. But then I found myself with this craft kit and a couple of books in my hands, and things were adding up quickly. I reminded myself that they still had craft kits from Christmas they hadn't yet used, and that I had just bought them a bunch of books they hadn't yet read, and I put those other items back. I have to admit, though, I did buy my little guy a solar system game, because he's really into that now, and then I bought my older guy a portable chess set, because I didn't want to leave him out. Those were only $10 each, so I didn't feel too badly. It's not that we're extravagent, but I definitely spend more on them than I should given our situation. Just wondering if anyone else can relate to this.

Laura

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-07-2003
Sun, 03-19-2006 - 7:04pm

"My other indulgence is usually clothes for Christmas/Easter. For some reason, I really like buying them new things for those events."


Oh, I do this too.

Pumpkin

&nbs

Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 03-19-2006 - 10:32pm

I'm in the same boat. My kids loves books. We've been reading to them since they were infants. (I have 4 year old twins, boy and girl). They have tons of books. They each have My First LeapPad from Leapfrog. Between both of them, they have all the books for it. This Christmas they each got Leapster L-Max. I've had to control myself on the cartridges. However, they both have 4 cartridges each. Boy...they are expensive, $24.99 each. OUCH!!!!

My DS love cars. He has a huge collection of Hot Wheels cars and several car cases with wheels to store them in.

As for the clothes, I spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on clothes for them and shoes. (Shoes are purchased at payless.)

My kids are my weakness.....I don't spend money on myself.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Mon, 03-20-2006 - 7:27am

I can definitely relate! It took my husband to say, over and over, "He's just got too much stuff!!" to realize what I was doing. My son's room was so packed with toys that he didn't play with half of them, and his room was too crowded for him to clean up on his own, so it put more of a burden on me to have to keep it organized and cleaned. Finally, I just went through his room with him and we made two piles....toys to keep and toys to consign. Then, the next day, he consigned all the toys he didn't play with anymore, and within a week or two, he was handed cash that he put into his bank to save for a video game.

Pat :-D

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Sat, 03-25-2006 - 7:54pm

Hello,

We don't have children (but want them). However, my husband goes overboard buying gifts for his brother, who is autistic and mentally retarded. Paul operates at a 10-12 year old level in many ways, but also enjoys toys made for younger kids. If I don't stop my DH, he'll spend $200 picking out different christmas gifts during November and December. Put in perspective, our christmas budget is normally $400-500 total.

My in-laws occasionally call and let us know if they are buying him one of a toy series, so that we can get him one of the others. Unfortunately, often my DH will have a hard time deciding between 2-3 items, and get them all!

So, now before we start shopping for Paul, I'll show my DH the christmas budget and ask how much he'd like to allocate to his parents, brother, etc. We buy gifts for immediate family and grandparents. Everyone else gets a handmade soup mix, or some other inexpensive craft item.

In 2005, because I had the Christmas Budget set up in a simple spreadsheet (with columns for budgeted amount, actual, and a short description of the gift), we stayed close to our budgeted amount. Shipping & Handling on one gift caught me by surprise, so we were $23 over budget, but that's the closest we've been in years!

This year, I have a sinking fund / freedom account for gifts, including Christmas 2006. We had several baby showers and wedding showers to prepare for, so I didn't want those gifts to be "unexpected" expenses.

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

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