Some days the saving money pays off.
My youngest two daughters have been working very diligently on saving money. For the past three months, they have been holding on to their gift cards and earning cold hard cash with various chores around the house. One of the girls even collected some money from the tooth fairy for two loose teeth at much dismay from her momma who cannot stand all the yuck that comes from teeth falling out. These girls have been learning the value of a dollar and when one of the girls had enough for a certain video game she wanted, we ended up going to a department store this past weekend.
Two girls with more than a hundred dollars between the two of them, they were a danger to the red shopping cart at the front door. Today was the day that their gift cards would pay. With a feverish beeline to the back of the store, the two departments the young shoppers desired were only separated by an aisle. The older of the two girls wanted a video game that she and her friends love to talk about on the bus while her sister just wanted to get a toy. Within a minute of finding the electronics, the $29.99 video game was found and a nice employee was able to reach the locked game, all while complimenting the young shopper on the selection. The child would eventually cross the aisle to the toy department and after much disappointment about the horse selection, she found a transforming toy cat she suddenly decided that she could not live without.
While her sister was quite pleased with the two selections her saving and planning paid off for, the littlest shopper had no idea what she wanted. First it was a mysterious doll’s package that stuck her fancy. Then it was a parade of a certain mouse character toys that she wanted, some of which she already had. The child ended up selecting a toy that was significantly less than her gift card, but her heart was full of love for the toy. Now both children were satisfied and ready to do something that they never did before.
We went to the front of the store and were greeted by a young cashier who was okay with each child paying for their purchases. The older of the two girls went first and watching cautiously as the items were rung with care. She handed over her $80 in gift cards and was quite happy to see that she had about $11 left for another day. The little sister who had watch the transaction go down without an issue, proudly put her toy down and was extremely excited to have $14 to save for next time. At the end of the day, everyone had gotten what they wanted and both had a little bit in bank to start saving for things once again!
