I picked Ryan up from his day at the mall with his friend, Cody.\u00a0 Ryan and his friends usually don’t hang out at the mall which is fine with me.\u00a0 I find that when I go to the mall I always\u00a0discover things that I didn’t think I needed but all of a sudden have a desire to buy.\u00a0 I have pretty good self discipline and don’t often succumb to the temptations, but I can see where it would require a lot of effort to resist things if you’re not as stingy as me.<\/p>\n
That said, spending money is not a bad thing.\u00a0 In fact, it’s a necessary thing.\u00a0 It sort of keeps our economy going.\u00a0 But it’s all about spending wisely.\u00a0 So I was pretty proud of Ryan when he plopped into the car saying, “Wow. Used is the only way to go, mom,” and showed me the two “new” games he bought for the PS2.\u00a0 Together both games cost $18.38 and apparently that was a great deal.<\/p>\n
He also mentioned that he would be sharing the expense with his other friend, Luke.\u00a0 He and Luke would split the cost and come up with a fair way to share the games.\u00a0 They’ve done this sort of thing before and it has always worked out fine.\u00a0 I’m glad they can problem solve these things.<\/p>\n
But then he mentioned that he wasn’t worried about Luke paying his half for the games.\u00a0 I asked him why and he said, “‘Cause he has a job.”\u00a0 It’s true.\u00a0 Luke has a paper route just like Ryan does.\u00a0 Ryan knows what it’s like to get the paychecks in the mail.\u00a0 Real money in the form of a check.\u00a0 Nice.<\/p>\n
I thought it was pretty interesting that Ryan made the connection between ‘he has a job’ and ‘he’ll pay me back’.\u00a0 Not that this always works as I’m sure he’ll find out in life.\u00a0 But knowing that Luke has income made it an easier decision for him to put up his hard-earned cash.<\/p>\n
One other thing.\u00a0 Ryan had called me from the mall asking if I would pay for a $20 t-shirt.\u00a0 Ryan will receive his first clothing allowance this summer as he enters high school and from then on will need to work within the limits of his twice-yearly clothing budget.\u00a0 Until then, I\u00a0will pay for all of his clothes.\u00a0 And he\u00a0doesn’t want much, so when he called, I told him that I’d pay.<\/p>\n