Comments on: When Your Child Always Wants to Buy Something, Here’s a Quick + Simple Fix

By: Libby

Libby

In reply to nurturehernature. I snap a pic of what they want and save It in my phone. and say will save It for Bday or Santa.

By: Nikki

Nikki

Great idea putting items on a wish list, I’ll definitely be using that one.

By: Sajo

Sajo

In reply to Kaylee. I called it “research shopping “

By: Sajo

Sajo

How much is it? Can you buy it today?
I can’t buy it today either.

When child is 5 and older, give them a certain amount of cash before you go shopping. Parents choose not to add monetarily if the item is cents higher.
Reinforcing staying under budget.

By: Mama J

Mama J

“You can’t always get what you want” is our family’s silly theme song. We started playing it when they were little, and will play it every now & then; My teens find it entertaining & will sing along. It has a great message,” you might find, you get what you need!”

By: Maggi Norris

Maggi Norris

When my daughter was about five years old, she used to get money for various reasons: allowance, birthday gift, etc. When we went to the store, I had her bring her money with her. Then if she saw some thing she wanted she could buy it herself. I explained to her while we were walking through the store that if she bought whatever it was that she thought she wanted and then saw some thing that she wanted more she would not have enough money to get it and so would not be able to buy it. Many times this caused her to keep whatever it was in the cart, but think about it as we walked through the store and often times she would change her mind and put the item back. This helped her to make decisions on her own and really consider if she really wanted what she was looking at or she just wanted the experience of buying something on her own. It also helped her to place value on the things that she bought and not to buy things foolishly. I never would have stopped her if she wanted to buy something, but I never had two, she always thought about it, and then made her decision.

By: Barb KOSKI

Barb KOSKI

I convinced my children that I couldn’t purchase anything that wasn’t on sale. So anytime they found something they wanted, they asked “mom, is this on sale?” I will take a very serious look at it and then give them a disappointed look and say “oh no it’s not on sale right now. We will have to wait.” So basically, they thought that if it wasn’t ON sale, it wasn’t FOR sale. You should’ve seen other mothers looking at me like I was a genius! Worked every time.

By: Becky Knick

Becky Knick

I like to go yard saling, and I take my son with me. I give him $10 that he can spend whatever way he wants. Or, if he doesn’t want to buy anything he can keep the money. No whining for things, and you’d be surprised how often he goes home with ten dollars. And…I don’t end up with a house full of junk.

By: Laura

Laura

In reply to Emily Brownell. It's not abelist to recognize a difficult truth. Kids with ADHD DO struggle in school and teaching ways to cope early on is critical to their success. So this is even more important for kids (and adults) with disabilities like ADHD to learn. We are more likely to have trouble with impulse spending and to go into debt. I use a similar trick with my son to help both of us with impulse control because I (the ADHD parent) am way more likely to buy him presents on a whim.

By: Hayley

Hayley

In reply to Barbara Dougherty. I was wondering this too!

By: Darlene

Darlene

When I would take my boys grocery shopping, I would let them have any one item they wanted. If they found something else they wanted, they had to trade. One time my youngest traded a package of cookies for a can of beets. True Story! This way I only had to buy one item not planned.

By: Emily Brownell

Emily Brownell

This is one of the most ableist articles I’ve ever read. So basically I’d children have things like adhd they won’t be happy or successful in life?

By: Chelsea

Chelsea

In reply to Kaylee. My struggle is that sometimes I'm like, yeah that is really cool, sure we can buy it! And other times I'm more strict on a budget or I know he doesn't really want it. So I'm inconsistent because sometimes I want to buy him stuff and sometimes I don't lol. Is the answer to just always say no?

By: Nandini Hirawat

Nandini Hirawat

Thank you veryyyyy much! Found it really helpful… My 11y/o sister keeps demanding a lot of toys and accessories and comes to me whining about how she never has enough of them and needs more ?

By: Melissa

Melissa

I let my daughter know that we are not buying any toys today. We are only getting what we really need. I almost always offer to take a picture of it so we can remember it for another time. Lately she hasn’t been asking to buy the toy. She skips right to, “can we take a picture of this?”
It’s especially helpful at Christmas time so I can send photos to family or “Santa.”

By: Pam

Pam

I snap a picture of it put it in the “things I REALLY want” folder. They love going back and scrolling through the pics and will say “I really do want this on my bday (or Christmas)

By: joyfully5

joyfully5

My love language is gift giving. So when I went to Cracker Barrel with my 7-year-old grandson for a birthday card for a friend, I was ambushed when he brought me a soft and cuddly baby Yoda (Star Wars) stuffed alien. One look at Yoda and my grandson’s sweet face, and I was toast.
When I read your post, I printed your answer to children wanting everything they see – twice. Once to laminate and carry in my wallet, reduced to a few sentences, and the full post to keep on my computer in the “kids” folder. Thank you for this solution. My son and daughter-in-law will be so grateful! One toy room can only hold so much before it looks like grandma owns a toy store and keeps bringing box-loads to their house.

By: Claire

Claire

In reply to Barbara Dougherty. If they don’t want it in their wishlist and want it now then I tell them that they have to buy it with their own money. Case closed. If my son knows he wants something specific when we got to the store, he’ll bring his wallet and buy it himself. Otherwise, I do use the method of taking a picture and putting it on their wishlist.

By: Julie Pearce

Julie Pearce

Definitely going to do this. Love your parenting hacks. Thanks so much!

By: nadine

nadine

This is a great idea! Thank you!
Usually when my children see something that they really like, I acknowledge it and say wow that is nice, but then we ask do we really need it? And they answer, no, we don’t need it, but it is cool! And then we walk away – The best part about this trick is that I use it on myself!! (And 9 times out of 10 it works on me too!)