Shopping mall (Photo credit: pix.plz)
Back to school shopping ads have me thinking about the first time I took my son back-to-school shopping with his own money. He had spent the summer cleaning up roofing shingles and other debris on a construction site. It wasn’t ‘easy money.’
He set the budget. I contributed half. I was impressed by almost everything that happened after that. First, there was a thorough inventory of the closet. He decided that many of last year’s clothes were, in fact, still pretty good. Those that no longer suited him were packed up for either give-away or the consignment store. Next, he went through the paper and found out what stores were having sales, giving coupons and the like. Then, he made a list that included his basic needs – and some ‘wants.’
I’m generally a very fast shopper – probably because I don’t enjoy it all that much. I don’t think that I have ever spent so much time in a shopping mall – before or since!
He compared and contrasted, balanced wants and needs. We checked laundry labels (!) to make sure that he could handle the care required. He made notes – and went on to another store or two before ever parting with a dime.
It was wonderful to watch a young man who did not think he was good at math decide whether the “buy one get one free” was a marketing scam or in fact a better deal than the straight 15% off…. But a highlight that I remember, many years later, was when he found a designer shirt that had been marked down in a store where he had a coupon for a discount on the total purchase.
What a learning experience! Saving, budgeting and planning before hand followed by wants v. needs, decisions about quality and value, stretching your budget as far as possible, separating fact from marketing fiction…. There was also almost none of that negotiating or tension about what he liked versus what was sensible or what we could afford. He had all of the control.
Is it faster and easier to do the shopping ourselves? Probably. But if you can manage at least one “together trip” there are great lessons to be learned — and opportunities to see new strengths in our children. Even if you’re not ready to turn over the whole process, can you start with the school supplies? Or the shoes?
Who knows, maybe you’ll move on to groceries???
