Money in a Jar

Veronika was concerned when she found Billy looking sad.

"What's the problem, Billy?" she asked. "You look as if you just lost your best friend."

Billy gave a big sigh. "I need a new Lego set," he said. "I've put this one together a million times already. It's no fun anymore. I would buy a new one, but I don't have any money."

Veronika sat down next to Billy. "I understand how you feel, Billy," she said. "You remember how much fun it was to put it together when it was brand new, and you want that feeling again, but now it's too easy, so it isn't fun anymore."

Billy nodded.
"You get your allowance tomorrow, don't you?" Veronika asked.

Billy nodded again. "But it won't be enough for the set I need," he said.

Veronika climbed back up on the table, so she could look at Billy. "A Lego set isn't something you need, Billy," she explained. "It's something you want. That isn't the same thing." 

"Something you need is a place to live, people and dolls who love you, clothes to wear and food you can pretend to eat. It's pretend dog food for Freckles and visits to the vet if she pretends to get sick. Those things come first."
"I have all that, though," Billy said, "and a lot more, too."

"Then you're a very lucky doll," Veronika said. "Some dolls don't have all that. Some dolls are still in their boxes, waiting for a home. Some dolls are stored away in boxes because no one plays with them anymore."
"I still want the new Lego set, though," Billy sighed.

"If you don't have enough money for something you want," Veronika suggested, "you can save until you do, or you can work to earn money. You can do extra chores or do things for people and dolls who would rather pay someone to do something than to do it themselves."

"I could do that," Billy agreed, "but what if the Lego set is gone when I have enough money? That would be horrible!"

"That could happen," Veronika agreed, "but I have an idea for that, too."

"You do?" Billy asked.
"Some stores have something called 'Lay-away,'" Veronika explained. "You pay part of the cost of something, then each week you go and make a payment on it. When you have paid all the money, you can take it home."
"That's a great idea!" Billy exclaimed.

"You need to find out," Veronika said, "if the store that has this Lego set will do that and how much money you will have to pay for them to keep it for you."

"I'll call them and ask," Billy said.
"That's a good idea," Veronika said. "That will save you a trip in case they say no. Now, I have a suggestion to help you so you don't get into this fix again."
"Tell me," Billy pleaded.

"Well, you need to learn to save money, Billy," Veronika explained. "Here's what I do. When I get my allowance, or get money as a gift, or because I worked for it, I divide it up and put it into two jars. I like to put half into one jar and half into the other."

"One jar is to spend as I like," Veronika continued. "The other jar is to save. I don't touch the money in the savings jar unless it is something very, very special. Then I only take out what I need to spend for the special thing."

"I want to do that, too," Billy exclaimed.
"That's fine, and I can get you some jars to use," Veronika agreed, "but you have to decide for yourself how you are going to divide up your money. The more you put into savings, the easier it will be when there is something you really want or need to spend money on."

"I'll do that," Billy agreed. "Maybe I can think of a way to earn money, too, but I don't think anyone would let a doll babysit for them or walk their dog."

Veronika laughed. "I can just see even a small dog dragging you off down the street," she agreed, "but maybe you could walk a toy dog, or babysit a younger doll. Maybe you can sell some of your photographs," she suggested.

"You can also save money by not buying new things you don't need," Veronika pointed out. "You can often repair broken toys or torn clothes rather than throwing them out and buying new. That can save you money before you even have it. It's like getting paid not to spend." 

"I wish I had a lot of money," Billy said. "I'll bet dolls who have plenty of money are happy."
"I'm sure you aren't alone in wishing that," Veronika agreed, "but money doesn't make us happy. It's important to have enough to meet our needs, but if you can buy everything you want, you lose out on a lot of the fun of life. Remember why you want a new Lego set?"

Billy thought about that for a moment. "Yes," he said. "This set is too easy, because I've put it together a million times. It's no fun anymore."
"Well," continued Veronika, "that's what it must be like to have a lot of money. Spending it stops being fun."
"I'll bet it would be fun for a while, though," Billy said.

"Maybe," Veronika said, "it would be fun for a while, but then you might start to feel like you needed more, because the things you have to buy to get that good feeling get more and more expensive. We are made to enjoy working for something," she continued. "If you don't need to work and save for the things you want, a lot of the fun goes out of life. You might stop being careful about what you spend and then not have enough later on."

"You might find you need to spend more and more to feel good about yourself," Veronika continued, "and soon you don't have enough. Some dolls go the other way," she added. "They start to love the money just for itself, and that isn't good either."

"You mean," Billy suggested, "like a doll who pretends to eat too many cookies, and it makes him pretend to be sick?"

"Maybe," Veronika said, "but more like when you see someone who has more money than you have, and you don't like them because you're jealous," she explained, "or you stop wanting to help others who have no money, even if you have plenty, because it would mean giving up some of your money."

"Like helping real children who are sick?" Billy asked. "I remember when we took all the bottles and soda cans to recycling. We took the money and sent it to people who help real children who are sick. That was one of the most fun adventures I've had so far!"

"That was fun," Veronika agreed. "We should do that again. Real children need a lot of things. Some things you can't buy with money, but some things you can."
"Well," Billy said, "I just had an idea!"
Veronika looked at him and waited, because she knew he would tell her if she waited.

"Can you get me another jar?" he asked. "I need a jar to hold the money I want to save, a jar to hold the money I can spend AND a jar for money to help children in need. I want to divide my money up evenly between the three jars."

Veronika was silent for a moment. Finally, she clapped her hands and said, "Billy, that's a great idea! I want to do that, too. You are a real treasure!"

"Thanks, Veronika," Billy said. "Now I have a new thing I can work on. This will be fun!"
"We both have a new thing to work on, and it will be fun," Veronika agreed. 


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

T-shirt image from UIHere.

Note to parents: Here is a good article by Warren Buffett about when and how to start teaching your children about money.

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Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

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