Teaching about Spending and Comparative Shopping - A Newsletter for Parents of Fifth Grade Children

Teaching About Spending

As a parent, you can help your child understand the process of making decisions with money by being a good role model. You also can give your child lots of chances to make decisions and learn from the consequences.

Here are some ideas to help you teach your child about making spending decisions.

• Together with your child, talk about guidelines for purchases. For example, can the child buy anything he or she wants or are there certain items you won't allow (might be dangerous, for someone older, unhealthy, etc.)?
• Plan shopping trips to buy things. These may be things your child either wants or needs. Work with the child on how to comparison shop. Talk about making decisions based on price, features, quality, etc.
• Help your child learn to control impulse spending. Teach the child to set goals and plan purchases. When the child does buy something on impulse, talk later with him or her about the decision.
• Allow your child to spend his or her own money. The child will have both successes and mistakes. Do not automatically fix mistakes or be too critical. Your child will learn there are consequences from each decision.

Learning to Comparison Shop

When we make decisions, we are choosing among alternatives. Consider at least three alternatives (when possible) before making a decision. Practice comparison shopping for a new pair of tennis shoes with your child and then let the child decide which pair he or she would buy based upon what was learned.

Prepared by Donna K. Donald, family life field specialist, and Vicki W. Sickels, former family support program associate, and edited by Laura Sternweis, communication specialist, Iowa State University Extension

....and justice for all The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Stanley R. Johnson, director, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.

This newsletter is published for families with first grade children by Iowa State University Extension. For more information about parenting education, contact your local county extension office or access the Iowa State University Extension to Families website, www.extension.iastate.edu/families.