Halloween is a good time to teach your kids the basic principles of money management. According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will spend about $6.9 billion on Halloween this year, an average of $74 per shopper. This figure includes the cost of candy, Halloween decorations, and costumes. Shopping together for these items gives you an opportunity to discuss important money lessons with your kids. Here are some good opportunities for using Halloween to teach kids about money.
Saving Money With Bulk Purchases
You can show your kids the importance of bulk buying certain items by showing them the price savings per unit of their favorite bags of Halloween candy. On the labels on the store shelves, the stores post the price that you are paying per ounce for that selection, making it easy to compare values in the store. You can also turn this into a math lesson by asking your kids to calculate which item is the best value using the size and unit price of the items under consideration.
Comparison Shopping
Kids need to know that comparison shopping can help them save a lot of money on their purchases. You can demonstrate how to use apps like RedLaser or ShopSavvy to compare current prices for Halloween costumes or for Halloween décor across several stores. Letting your kids see you price checking your purchases will make it more likely that they will do the same in the future.
Searching For Deals And Discounts
Another important lesson to teach kids about money is that they don’t always have to pay the full retail price for their purchases. Many stores run weekly specials and last-minute markdown offers on Halloween products in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Show your kids where to find the latest deals, coupons and special offers using apps or weekly circulars and let them help you find the best price for the Halloween items you are looking for.
Trading And Bartering
While our cash based financial system has eliminated much of the trading and bartering in our society, it is still an important thing to teach kids about money. Halloween provides you with an opportunity to show kids basic trading and bartering skills, like how they need to trade more than one piece of less popular candy for premium brands to make it a fair trade. Even the youngest kids can start learning this skill and it will put them in a better position to negotiate when they get older.