I’m sick of spending loads on snacks for my kids so gave them an allowance to buy their own – it’s been brilliant
A MUM who has grown tired of buying expensive snacks for her kids only for them to be gone in a day has come up with an ingenious way to teach them the value of money.
Markie took to her TikTok page to explain that she’s sick of her children treating her like a bank, so decided to give them a £20 (£25) allowance to get their own snacks for the week.
“I told them that I was not buying any more s**t that they wanted to eat because literally every time I buy them something, it’s gone in two days,” she said.
“So I gave them each an allowance of $25 to spend on snacks, drinks and any other food they want for the week.
“I will supply the meals but any snacks, drinks and whatever else they want to eat is on them.
“The struggle of them trying to decide what they wanted and what they had to put back to get what they wanted more?
“I had enjoyment!”
She went on to show what her two kids had got from the store – starting with her son.
He’d gone for a box of fruit snacks, a pack of Goldfish crackers, a pack of Doritos and a box of cookies.
“He loves these and wanted the biggest box they had but it was $5 so he had to learn to conserve a little bit of his money, he had to get a smaller pack,” Markie said of the cookies he eventually settled on.
In the chilled section, he bought a lunch snack pack, a bag of pepperoni and a multipack of yoghurt, as well as two two litre bottles of drink.
Her daughter chose a box of ramen noodles, some fruit rollups, a pack of mini muffins and a bag of crisps.
“She did go over by $3 and some change because she miscalculated on her calculator on her phone,” Markie said.
“But it’s ok, we’re learning. I just told her I was going to tax her for the $3 she went over.”
She also got some pepperoni, two lunch snack packs, a jar of pickles and some vanilla yoghurt, as well as two bottles of drink.
“I just want to say, I typically never buy this much junk food for my kids but it’s their f**king money, they can spend it how they want,” she said.
“But it must last them all week, because I’m not buying them f**king s**t.
“Groceries are so expensive for me to make multiple trips during the week, so we’re going to learn a value of a dollar.
“I’ll let you know how it goes.
“But like I said, I have got so much enjoyment – we are learning today!”
Sharing the video on TikTok, she captioned it: “Like I said, I supply all the meals and your other basics, but all the funzies they like snack and drink wise.. that’s on them.
“They need to know the value of a dollar, especially in today’s economy.”
People were quick to praise her for the concept in the comments section, with one writing: “This is a smart idea! Teaching them to budget!”
“Honestly in todays world, I think 25 each is reasonable since prices are SO high! But it’s amazing what you’re doing!” another added.
As a third commented: “This is BRILLIANT.
“They will also prob start filling up more at meals with the nutritional food to make the snacks longer!!”