Son's birthday

[schup696901]

I have and issue hoping i can get some advice ? Back in june my son 14 was turning 15 so me and my wife gave him 100.00 in a card,now my 7 years old is turning 8 in 3 days and i want to give him the same but she said no it is to much. I believe it should be the same reguardless of the age am i wrong for this ?

[sbattisti]

Originally Posted by schup696901

I have and issue hoping i can get some advice ? Back in june my son 14 was turning 15 so me and my wife gave him 100.00 in a card,now my 7 years old is turning 8 in 3 days and i want to give him the same but she said no it is to much. I believe it should be the same reguardless of the age am i wrong for this ?

Just my opinion, but . . . $100 is WAYYYYY too much for an 8-year old. At that age, you want to be starting to teach him the value of money, and saving, and so forth, not dumping huge wads of cash on him.

I don't think things should be equal between a 15-yo and an 8-yo. Frankly, I would suggest you get some age-appropriate gifts for your son, and then perhaps a small amount of cash ($20?) as well.

Again, it's just my opinion, and of course I'm sure it depends on your financial means as well.

Do your kids get allowances? If so, how much? I have a 15-yo old and a 9-yo, and the 15-yo gets $9/wk, and the 9-yo gets $4/wk. It goes up by a dollar each year on their birthday.

[Jeremy+3]

I think $100 is fine, you wouldn't limit actual presents to like $40, so I don't see a problem with allowing him to choose exactly what he wants.

[Father_0f_7]

I think it depends on the kid. Jeremy has a good point but so does sbattisti. I wouldn't give my 9 year olds $100 mainly because I know they would just go out and spend it immediately on candy and eat it all that day.

BUT Jeremy has a good point. We don't really limit presents to a certain amout of money. Would you give him a $100 present?

I remember when Megan was 6 or 7 we opened up a bank account for her and we gave her some money each year. I don't really remember how much it was but say we would give her $100, we would put $50 in the bank and she could do whatever she wanted with the other $50.

[xox.ilu.xox]

i think what Fo7 did with megan is a great idea!!!!! then he doesnt blow the whole $100!

[sbattisti]

One thing we have done in the past is to give the kids money, but give them more if they elect to save it.

So, like, they can have $20 if they want to spend it, but if they save it for X amount of time, we give them $30. Just to encourage them to understand the value of saving money.

[stjohnjulie]

Something that has worked well for us and our now 9 year old son, is an online retailer gift card. If you would spend $100 on a present, then give them a $100 gift card instead.

Why an online retailer??? Because it's a good chance to sneak a lesson in. Takes all the impulse out of buying. We will sit down together, go through the site, see what they have and start researching. If the site has customer reviews, we go through those to see if we can see of any "problems" a product might have. Then we can do an internet search and learn more through other reviews. We can also sign up for newsletters and wait for things to go on sale to get more bang for the buck.

This has worked so well, that my son has learned to "research" other stuff he is interested in buying. He will price compare online and read reviews before he makes a big purchase. He even hangs on to gift cards until another birthday or xmas so he can "save up" for another gift card so he can get what he really wants.

If you decide to give him $100 cash, give it to him in a $100 bill. Most kids are more reluctant to break that big ol' bill and will show a little more control on what they are buying.

Happy birthday to the little man!

[Dadu2004]

I love the idea of an online retailer gift card. Also, you could try giving him $100 but having him put $25 in a savings account. Would be a good opportunity to have him learn about checking accounts, saving accounts, interest, etc...