Today, I opened up the family store. Our family store is a little method that we use to help teach our children about responsibility and about money management. At the same time, the kids get to rediscover old toys, weed out unloved toys and become appreciative for what they have. So far, it seems to be working.
This is how our family store works. First, it requires inventory. While we encourage our kids to put away their things every day, that just doesn’t always happen. So we give them a deadline. The downstairs has to be picked up by the end of the day, and their rooms need to be cleaned by the end of the week (Friday morning at our house). Any items left on the floor, stuffed behind furniture, spilling off of a desk or dresser, hidden under the bed, etc. are fair game to be confiscated as inventory. Everything is fair game, even the most loved of toys (if they are loved so well, they will be rescued before inventory day).
The inventory goes into bags or boxes and is stored in the attic until the shopkeeper (me) feels as though it is time to have a sale to unload some inventory.
In order to “buy” toys back, the children need to use real money that has been earned. Birthday money, holiday money, etc. is not eligible. Money can be earned by taking on extra chores. Unloading the dishwasher and putting the dishes away will earn a quarter, for example. The kids quickly begin to realize that it is a lot less work to put their toys away than it is to do extra chores, not to mention the loss of the toys for weeks or months. They look forward to sale day at the family store and will even ask for extra chore in anticipation. Any toys that aren’t worth purchasing can be weeded out and donated.
The bonus of all this is that right now, the three kids are happily playing with their “purchased” Legos, trading cards and other toys, leaving me free to get my own chores done!
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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