Prom can get expensive, but we have come up with a few ways to make it more affordable.

I am bringing this post back from last year, How to Do Prom Affordable Yet Beautiful, because it was filled with money saving ideas. And I should say not just ideas, but things that we did that actually worked and saved us a ton of money.

In the process we also learned to make our own jewelery.

One tip I did suggest was buying at the end of the season for the next year. We never did do that, and it’s a good thing because my daughter is not going this year.

Instead I am going to give her $20 and she and some friends are going out on the town for some fun.

This year my son is going to his high schools formal. We had to rent a tux. I had looked into buying one, but never did come up with anything.

On top of the tux rental you also have to rent shoes.  The tux is $59 the shoes $20. Seems high for shoes compared to the rest of the tux, but don’t worry we didn’t rent them. Turns out the thing to do is to wear converse with your tux. My husband needed a new pair anyways, so my son wore those.

Tux rental is not a science by any means, but like anything else they up sell you on everything. I went in saying I wanted the absolute basic $59 tux.

She gave me the choice between 3 jackets. When she run it up it was $114 instead of $59. I asked why, she said it was the jacket choice. Really?? We went over this already. So she switched us to the right jacket.

So $59 for the whole tux, but change the jacket by one button and the price jumps up $55. That’s one expensive button.

What other tricks should we all know about??

Alright this is a legit question and I have friends on both sides of the fence.

One side says, “It makes my life easier and less running around for me.”

The other group says, “I am NOT going to just hand them a car, they need to earn it or pay for it or have some responsible part in it.”

I see both sides and I guess the decision has been pretty easy for us. We have 2 cars. My husband works from home most days, therefore allowing my daughter to drive herself to school some days or have access to it, pretty much, whenever she needs it.

We are not mechanical at all, so buying a $500 car is not a good idea for us. Spending the money on a car and having insurance on a 3rd car is not high on our list. Not that we don’t have the money, it’s just I don’t want to hand my child a car.

When you just give things to your kids it gives them a sense of entitlement. I have worked for years trying to get my kids to not have a sense of entitlement. We have tried to teach them the value of money.

Let’s say you do buy the car and give it to your child. It helps you and it makes life so much easier. Some of you might throw in running errands for you as part of their “pay.”

Then does your child pay for anything? Insurance? Gas? Repairs? Do they have any responsibility with this car that is “theirs?”

We haven’t gotten our daughter a car and it has not been an issue, at all. She has had her license for a year and a half.

I guess part of it comes from the way I was raised. I was not given a car in high school. I didn’t work much, so I didn’t have a ton of money and could only afford a motorcycle. That was my means of transportation.

I went off to college and my second year in my parents decided to give me their car. It was a ’78 Ford Thunderbird. To this day I don’t know if it was a blessing or a curse. (It was similar to the middle car in the picture above.) Nonetheless it was a car, a whole lot of car too.

So what do you think? Have you purchased a car for your child? Do they pay anything? Or have you chosen to have them share a car?

Read more to see what Frugal Dad has to say. We have been on the same page lately, pretty funny.

Over the years I have gone back and forth over “if” and “how much” I will pay me kids, but there are some things I just won’t pay my kids to do.

I firmly believe that my kids are part of this family and because of that they need to help out.  Unfortunately for my kids they have a mom with a bad back and so they “get” to pitch in even more.

I will on occasion pay if they do extra, but these are things I would NEVER pay my kids to do:

1. Clean their room - This is their mess that they made and it’s their job to keep it clean, if you don’t keep it clean, then don’t complain about lost things.
2. Walk the dog and clean up after the dog or any pet – this is a responsibility, not a chore.  If you own a pet, you must take care of it.  Mom and dad pay to keep it fed, no need to pay to have it loved.
3. Clean up their toy mess – If your child gets something out, let them put it away.  Even little ones can help.  My teens clean up after themselves, always have, although that doesn’t mean they are good at it.
4. Put their dishes in the dishwasher – Since I cooked, I appreciate the help.  Any child can put a dish in the dishwasher. I will not pay them to rinse off a plate.
5. Laundry – I do most of the laundry, but my kids know if they need something and I don’t know about it, they need to start the laundry themselves.  Why would I pay them to clean their own shirt?

I know this might seem hard core to some, but like I stated in the beginning, a lot that happens at our house is kids pitching to help out the family.

What other things would you add to this list?

This is what Works for Me and my family.

Today I have a Guest Post over at Frugal Living NW.  You have heard me mention this sight many times.  I love having a local deal blog that I can follow so I can save on all my grocery and household needs.

If you are coming over from Frugal Living NW, I thank you for stopping by.  First off you need to know I am not a deal blog.  Don’t  get me wrong, I love deals and on occasion I will post some deals because I hate for anyone to miss out on some great bargains, but that’s not what I am about, and why would I be when Angela does such a great job.

I did a Teaching Kids the Value of Money series a few months ago.  It will show you where the thought of having frugal kids will produce frugal adults came from.   I feel like this is such an important thing for us parents to teach our kids.  We don’t want our kids writing blogs in a few years about how they are trying to get out of debt.  Instead we want them writing the frugal blog or making money online blog.

You will see Money 4 This articles.  Which is things I enjoy and will spend money on, a splurge if you will.

Flavored Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oils, I can’t get enough of these.
The Beer ‘n’ Burgers Event in Portland, which as a blast by the way.
Our Roller Coaster Vacation, that I took just days before my back surgery.  I wanted to get my money’s worth out of my back surgery. 

You will also find Not 4 This articles, where I find things inexpensive or free.

How to get great prices on school supplies
School clothes shopping that’s easy on the pocketbook,   Who uses the word pocketbook anymore?
A recent post I did on having the affordable T-shirt be versatile

I talk often about how much I love food.  Good, local, hearty, creative food.  I am always trying something, whether it be a recipe or a great local restaurant. Even though food is a splurge I am learning to cut costs with stockpiling.

As you can see there is a little bit of everything, but a whole lot of frugal, that’s for sure.   I always have been frugal and I always will be.  Quite frankly being frugal is a Thing I Love.

Today I am going to reach out to you and ask you, is this a Money 4 This or Not 4 That?  If you have a middle school girl you know exactly where I am headed.   If you don’t, but you remember your middle school years you too know where I am headed.

Boys are different, they never really care.  My son he is getting pickier, but just as long as he doesn’t have to go along for the ride, then he’s appreciative.

Girls.  Girls are different.  Middle school girls are even more different.  Those are the hard years.  The years the girls go from little girls to young ladies and hit a bit of gangly in between.   One day your shirt was crumpled and your hair barely combed.  The next they needed the right clothes and smooth hair.

Girls start forming cliques, and they quickly eliminate those that aren’t cool.  AND they get mean!

First time parents get blindsided with this new phenomenon.  We aren’t really sure what to do.  If your family is on a budget it’s more stressful, but nonetheless, they are demanding so much more and we need to figure out how and if we will give in.

I have shared this story in the past, but I will share it again.

My daughter came to me, when she was in 8th grade, and told me she wanted all her clothes from Hollister.  Knowing the price of Hollister and knowing my budget for school clothes, I knew the two would not line up.

Finally I just told her how much she had to spend.  She took her money and my money and walked into Hollister with $200.  Then walked out happy as a clam an hour later with 7 things.  Want to see how this played out?

7 things to last her the whole year
7 things to base her outfits around 5 days a week for how many weeks?
7 things that didn’t create a whole outfit
7 THINGS

It was so important for her to have those clothes.  We talk a lot about being true to yourself and not letting clothes define you.  BUT we are talking to a middle school girl here.  Good parenting and awesome advice doesn’t make Target clothing look any cooler.

My question to all my readers is this:

Is buying the right clothes for your Middle School daughter a

Money4This – get her what she needs, it’s a hard enough time and you don’t want her feeling left out?
OR
Not4That – Teach them it’s not about the clothes, Target and Old Navy are fine?

Here’s an article by a young girl and what she has learned and how she goes about it.

]]> http://money4thisnot4that.com/2010/08/school-clothes-shopping-with-a-middle-school-girl/feed/ 2 http://money4thisnot4that.com/2010/06/tuesdays-tip-teenage-clothing-swap/ http://money4thisnot4that.com/2010/06/tuesdays-tip-teenage-clothing-swap/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:06:54 +0000 Amy http://money4thisnot4that.com/?p=4516

Who doesn’t like getting something for nothing or something for nearly nothing?  I think we all do.

You might remember our recent Prom that we did on a budget.  You might also remember how my daughter found a way to make a necklace that she had seen else where for over $30. You have also heard me talk about how my son goes out into the cul-de-sac to sell his goods for money.

In case your wondering, the answer is yes.  Yes, all these things make me proud.   You too can instill these same frugal, money saving values in your kids, and I challenge you to do that.

Where am I leading with all this?  Just the other day my daughter came home with an idea.  Now it wasn’t hers exclusively, but a group of girls thought it up.  They are going to do a back to school clothing swap.  Everyone will bring out all their clothes that they no longer wear.  I will help get it set up and organized.  We will also have rules that go along with how to do the swap (depending on how many girls show up) and we will have food and a good time.

My daughter is going to start promoting it on Facebook and we have decided to do it the first of August.  That way they will know what they need or don’t need for the school year.

I honestly can’t believe the girls came up with this idea all by themselves.  These girls are incoming Juniors and Seniors.  What I do know is that some of these girls do have to buy their own clothes, so they are now looking for ways to save a buck.  I love this!!

Have any of you ever done anything like this?  I am taking suggestions on how to organize it.  Don’t worry I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

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My day was amazing because I have an amazing family.  I love them.

I have been a Mom for 16 years, but this was a Mother’s Day of firsts for me.

The first time I have had one of my kids be taller than me
The first time I have had a kid driving themselves around
The first time my kids went shopping all by themselves, literally, my husband just sat back and let the kids buy the presents.  He didn’t even go with them.
The first time my daughter thought to use a coupon and shared how she got it all so cheap.  They left a price tag on and I pointed it out, teasing her, and she told me not to worry, she didn’t pay that much.

I hope all you Mother’s out there had an amazing day too.

If you have been following me at all you know I am passionate about Teaching Kids the Value of Money.  I feel, as parents, it is a huge responsibility on our part.

I have shared a few different ways we have done it over the years, but I haven’t even touched on the number of methods that we have tried.  It’s good to be consistent, but it’s also hard to find a REALLY good system that will work with your kids.

Well, lucky me I was contacted by FamZoo and I was asked to review a product that helps you teach your kids to manage their money.

I was instantly surprised by the detail that they have put into this.  If you have kids and you are thinking about starting an allowance or you have older kids and want to reinforce a budget, please take the time to read on.

The system is set up so you can agree to an allowance every week or month, depending on what you choose.  Those can be attached to the chores they do.  If they don’t do the chores…they don’t get paid.  No more nagging.  The money is then divided up, and you can choose the categories and percentage.  For instance we have 80% spending, 10% charity, and 10% savings.

Your Savings can be added to a goal you might have.  For my daughter we have listed her goal as a car.

Your Charity can be added in weekly/monthly and accumulated, so instead of giving 25¢ to the church offering, they can wait a few months or longer and then give the $5-$7(or whatever the accumulated amount is) towards something bigger.

The Spending is used to buy whatever they want.  They can build that up as well to get something bigger or choose to spend it weekly/monthly.  It’s their decision.

I have only been using this product for 2 weeks, but I am super excited about what it is capable of doing, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Check it out yourself, as you can do a FREE 2 month trial.  But for now I GET to give away a FREE  lifetime membership to ONE LUCKY READER.

Want Lots of Ways to Win??

• You will see the bar at the bottom of my screen, you can go there and follow me on Twitter 1 Entry
• Follow me on Facebook.   1 Entry.
• You can sign up for my newsletter just to the right of this post. 1 Entry
• You can follow FamZoo on Twitter 1 Entry
• FamZoo on Facebook 1 Entry.
• Retweet the giveaway and get 1 Entry.
• Leave a comment on this post.  1 Entry
  

Do any of the following above and leave a comment on this post telling me what you did.  This Giveaway will close at NOON PST on May 1st.  I will randomly choose the winner using Random.org.

That is a total of 7 chances to win this product.

For hosting this giveaway FamZoo has given me a lifetime membership, that I am super excited about.

This is a series on Kids and Money.  If you haven’t read my first post you should start with Teaching Your Kids the Value of Money.

When our kids were in 3rd and 5th grade we decided to take them to Disneyland.  Now, it’s no surprise that I am frugal, hence the blog, so dishing out money for vacations is always an issue for me.

It’s actually a 2 fold issue.  We were on a tight budget at the time, so I didn’t have a lot to give and I hate just giving a ton of money and letting the kids run through aimlessly buying crap.  I know it’s Disneyland, but seriously it’s all junk that lays around once it’s home.

I came up with cleaver idea.  Our kids were doing chores at the time and they were earning around $3 a week.  Now at our house, not only do you have to do the chores, but I won’t hound you to get them done.  You don’t do them, you don’t get paid.  If I need it done badly, you pay me to do it for you.

I know what you are thinking…I have a lot of money saved up for my kids’ therapy when they leave home.

Anyways, I gave my kids 2 month warning.  I told them that whatever they earned between now and when we left, I would match that as their spending money.  So if they earned $21, I would give them $21 to take, plus if they wanted they could also take the other $21 and have a total of $42.

I am pretty proud of myself at this point thinking I am pretty cleaver.  First day out, my son goes into the neighborhood and sells toys and comes home with $17.  Crazy kid!!  He did this a few times and also did some chores, and in the end had nearly $40.  Yeah, that idea bit me in the butt. Smart kid though, right?

Who was he selling to?  One of the neighbor kids at the time had a dog and got paid $10 a week to walk the dog.  This kid was still in elementary school. When you have a pet, that is a responsibility NOT a chore.  This kid was not learning the value of money.  How do I know, because 1) he bought used toys for lots of money and 2) the kid would walk down the street throwing quarters into the air.   Don’t worry my son was close behind picking them up.

Needless to say when we went on the trip my son had a lot more money than my daughter.  My son chose to only bring the half that I offered, smart kid.

As both kids walked through Disneyland, ages 9 and 11, they watched for the perfect thing to buy.  My daughter bought this and that and here and there.  Not my son, very thoughtful until he found the perfect thing.  The monkey that wraps around your neck.  He loved that thing.  Plus he got a few pencils.  In the end, I don’t even think he used all his money.  He got to keep the extra.  My daughter watched as he picked the perfect thing and she learned her lesson from him.  Later she wished she had chosen one big thing instead of lots of little things.

See my son, by the age of 9, was already aware of what money could buy and how it cost him personally. Not once during that whole trip did I have to hear, “can I have that?”  Not once.

Stick around as I talk about Kids and Budgets.

Linked to Tuesdays Tips and Works for Me Wednesday