Saving

Recently Roy found a castle toy at Wal-Mart that he really wanted. Since we're a family who usually just buys toys for special occasions and his birthday and Christmas aren't in his near future I suggested that he start doing some extra jobs around the house to save up for it. He thought it was a great idea and began earning money by helping with the dishes, laundry, putting away Lilli's dirty diapers, and washing the floors. The beauty of this plan was that his toy cost $15 enough for him to begin learning about saving but not enough for him to get frustrated about not being able to get his toy. Well then a couple of days ago we went to Toys R Us to look at toys and he found this Gorilla Mountain by Imaginext. So he decided he doesn't want the castle anymore he'd rather save for the "waterfall." The problem is that the "waterfall" costs $43 at Toys R Us, quite a stretch from $15. So I drew out a savings plan for each showing him how many dollars he needs for each toy and how many dollars he has. He still chose the Gorilla Mountain. So now he has $8... only $35 more to go. At a rate of about $1.00 a day he'll be able to get his "waterfall" sometime in the end of July. I sure hope they still have it by then!!

And for those of you who think he might change his mind by then... when he was 2 1/2 he saved $25 from going on the potty to buy James (a train) and it took him a month... he was very persistent. He even remembers going to Barnes and Noble to fork over his $25 in ones and quarters :o)