How To Get Your Children Brand Free

[sunshine]

Those of you that have children know what an excursion to the local mall or
supermarket can be like. If you're not careful, this simple trip can easily
become a wallet draining experience.

How often have you heard:

"I want Luchables because EVERYONE eats them at lunch!"
"Come on mom, these cool pants only cost $80."
"Dad, everyone has a Playstation II, I need one too!"
"I need 2 sodas and 2 bags of chips everyday!"

Certainly, we as parents want to make our children happy and not deprive them
of a delightful childhood, but who's to say that you must give in to every
one of your child's requests.

Why must you work twenty overtime hours just so your son can have a new video
gaming system? Why must your grocery bill be over $200 just so your children
can have the latest cereal, ice-cream, snacks, candies, and sodas available?


Truth About "Brand Names"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brand names cost money. Quite a bit of money. Especially when you add them up
over time. The reasons these brands must charge more money is to cover their
enormous advertising and marketing costs.

Since children are constantly bombarded with advertisements on the television
and amongst their peers at school, they are most likely going to ask you for
these same products.

No one really enjoys telling their children they can't have something they
want, however looking at the bigger picture, what lesson are we teaching our
kids if we simply give in to their every request?

For one, they are not learning the value of money and the role it plays in
our lives. Secondly, they are not learning about the importance of
conservation and how to properly budget their money.

Learning to budget and save money at an early age will really come in handy
especially as they grow older, start driving, and get offered tempting
pre-approved credit cards through the mail.

If they are not careful and able to budget their money effectively, this new
found freedom may drain all the money from their pockets.


Teaching The Importance of Conservation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not only is this the perfect opportunity to get your children "Brand Free"
and away from the expensive, trendy stuff, but it's also the perfect
opportunity to teach them the value of money.

Here's one way you can approach this.

Explain to your children that the money you spend on clothes, food, toys,
etc, depletes the amount you are able to save for future needs.

Explain that starting today, only the NECESSITIES will be purchased. No more
ice cream, chips, soda, candy, lunchables, except maybe on special occasions.
Toys and games will need to be earned and will no longer be given away for
free. Etc...

For example, you could state that you will only be purchasing Cheerios (or
another low priced cereal). If your children want to have Captain Crunch or
Cookie Crisp, they will have to buy them using their own money.

Same principal for their lunches. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna
fish, apples, oranges, carrots, and raisons. If they want Lunchables or some
other type of non-nutritious fast food, they will have to buy it with their
own money.< The introduction of allowences is great for these... set up a
chart which lists things your child is capable of doing ....put a price by
each activity (DO NOT CALL IT A CHORE LOL) here's my prices
making bed-50 cents
washing your own cereal bowl 10 cents
cleaning room 2$
mine also help with the care of our dog & laundry ,Dusting ,vaccuming &
washing the sliding door windows ....all have a income earned. I don't have a
yard so I have to think of off the wall stuff LOL but they never get money
for not doing their activities .So they decide how much they earn
we average about 10$ a week here per child

Soon, you will have your child(ren) deciding "Is a Quarter Pounder Meal worth
$4.50 out of my savings?" or "Do I really need that new video game that cost
$50?".

This "brand free" approach can be applied to all other shopping areas aside
from the supermarket example.

When you are shopping for clothes, ONLY buy the necessities. Ignore the most
expensive and most popular items. Only buy what you, or the children,
absolutely need, ignore all the rest.< Clearance Racks , Thats wear I get
most of the clothes for the family ;-) I can afford brand names then
.....just have to wait for the prices to drop ,,, Like at work (Wal-Mart) we
had these black leather jackets at Christmas they were 210$ the end of Jan.
they were 19$ because we had such a mild winter ... Now that's a deal LOL>But
stick to the basics Othewise. ..and if your schools vote on uniforms vote yes
... that ends all peer pressure

Regarding toys and games, you can make it so that your children ONLY get
"free" toys on Christmas and their birthdays. If they want something
additionally, they must purchase the item with their own money.< Yep been
doing this since the boys were born learned my lesson with my daughter


Taking These Ideas One Step Further
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once you have inspired your children to participate in this money saving,
"brand free" lifestyle, it's time to MOTIVATE them to help increase their
success.

As with everything in life, having a goal to strive for greatly increases the
probability of success.

Goals help us stay focused on the task at hand. Goals help the individual
strive for something tangible that's meaningful or important to them.

A runner's goal may be to shave 10 seconds off their lap time. This runner
will then practice, workout, and time themselves, striving to run a lap 10
seconds faster than before.

In our "brand free" exercise, you may want to come up with a goal that you
and your children can strive towards. For example, you could establish a
short term goal that states, if your children can eat healthy and not ask for
any "brand name stuff" for two months, you will buy them a toy in the $10-$20
range.

Here are some more ideas for the various goal ranges:

Short Term: 1-3 months
small toy or game, picnic, trip to beach, movie of their choice

Medium Range: 3-6 months
new video game, doll house, Chuck-E-Cheese trip

Long Term: 6-12 months
Disneyland trip, Playstation II, Water Theme park


Sticking To Your Plan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regardless what your decide to implement, remember that this is your plan.
You are the parent so you will decide what's best for your children. Don't
take any negative remarks or any bad mouthing and "stick to your guns".

Just keep in mind that these exercises and lessons will benefit your children
in the long run regardless of what they may think of it at the moment.

Best wishes teaching your children to be "brand free" and money conscious.

[nodmicks]

Good article! I have 1 kid who wants brand names but knows they need to be a certain price before I will consent to it. I have no idea why 1 kid is brand conscious and not the other.

My other son is a blackbelt tighwad at 9. He is a numbers person with a great memory. He can tell me milk is x amount cheaper at xyz store and he wants to buy his action figures at Savers with his allowance because he can get 10 for the price of 1 at Target.
He even once told the librarian I was wasting my dimes when she was making me copies because we could copy the pages by hand.(about 15 pages! LOL)

As far as brand name snacks we have the oposit problem. Most of the kids friends Moms don't bake. At lunch those kids try totrade their packaged snacks for my kids homemade ones. Score 1 for Mom!!!!

[Emerald_Mommy]

Good article!

[AmyBoz]

Julia is the only one of my children who is old enough to have the "gimmees" at this stage of life. However, she's very receptive to the concept of us not buying things because of how ridiculously expensive things can be. She has asked for things she's seen on tv, but we've pointed out how many toys she already has, and she's been okay with that. When we go to the mall, she brings a dollar of her own money (she gets a dollar a week in allowance for completing certain chores) if she wants to ride the rides that they have. Since we don't go that often, it's not like she's spending all of her money on rides, but she knows that it's an extra that mom and dad aren't paying for. She enjoys it, and really thinks about what ride she wants to go on before jumping on. Knowing that it's her own money makes her think more before making choices. I think that's great for a 4/5 year old.

[FrugalMomof3]

Good Article!

[poppyseed]

Great article!

My kids used to have a shocking case of the 'gimmees' for way too long.... I ended up giving the older 3 who are in school an increase in their pocket money, and from this, they have to cover their own expenses.... if they want to buy something from the school canteen, or buy a special school lunch, or want something from the shops like a toy, or texta pens or a comic etc...., they must allow for it from THEIR money... no more handouts from Mum!

I have only been doing this for a short time, but have already noticed a real change with my eldest child. She is now more conscious of what things are costing, and she is becoming a regular saver. I am hoping the other 2 follow suit!

I guess it is just a case of them learning that there is not an endless supply of funds available.

[Shell]

Thanks Sunshine.