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 puzzle,” he said. “I’ve put this one together a million times already. It’s no fun anymore. I would buy a new one, I even found one I like, but I don’t have enough money to buy it.”
Veronika sat down next to Billy. “I think I understand how you feel, Billy,” she said. “What you're saying is, 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. Is that right?”
Billy nodded.
“You get your allowance tomorrow, don’t you?” Veronika asked.
Billy nodded again. “But it won’t be enough for the puzzle I need,” he said. “I saw it in the store yesterday. It has a lot more pieces and a different picture, so it would be more fun than this one.”
Veronika reached out and patted Billy’s arm. “A puzzle 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.”
“Yes! I do, too, and we’re very lucky dolls,” 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 on shelves because no one plays with them anymore.”
“I am lucky! I have sisters and a brother,” Billy said. “I have bicycles to ride and friends to do things with.”
“I have a dog to play with and a nice neighborhood to walk her in,” he continued.
“I still want a new puzzle, 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.
Then Billy had a thought. “But what if the puzzle is gone by the time I have enough money? That would be horrible!”
“That could happen,” Veronika agreed, “but I have an idea about 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, though,” Veronika said, “if the store that has this puzzle 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 great, 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, like the puzzle, or something you 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 when you walk Freckles, or babysit a younger doll. Maybe you could even sell some of your photographs,” she suggested.
“You can also save money by not buying new things you don't need,” Veronika pointed out. “We 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 thinking that,” Veronika agreed, “but money doesn’t make us happy. It’s important to have enough to meet our needs, but if you could buy everything you want no matter what it costs, you would lose out on a lot of the fun of life. Remember why you wanted a new puzzle?”
Billy thought about that for a moment. “Yes,” he said. “This one is too easy, because I’ve put it together a million times. It's no fun anymore.”
“Well,” continued Veronika, “I think that’s what it must be like to have a lot of money, so much you could buy anything you wanted whenever you wanted. Buying things might stop being fun.”
“I’ll bet it would be fun for a while, though,” Billy replied.
“Maybe,” Veronika suggested, “but then you might start to feel like you needed more money, because the things you want to buy to get that good feeling become more and more expensive. Dolls are made to enjoy working for something,” she continued. “If you didn’t need to work and save for the things you wanted, a lot of the fun could go out of life. You might even 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. “Then you might be sorry you bought all those things, because the money is gone, and it wasn’t any fun.”
“You mean,” Billy suggested, “like a doll who pretends to eat too many cookies, and it makes him pretend to be sick?”
“Just like that,” she agreed. “Some dolls go the other way, though. They start to love the money just for itself, and that isn’t good either.”
“Maybe,” Veronika said, “when they see someone who has more money than they have, it makes them jealous,” she explained. “Maybe they stop wanting to help others who don’t have enough, because that would mean giving up some of their money, and they want to keep it all for themselves.”
“Like not wanting to help real children who are sick?” Billy asked. “I remember when we took all the bottles and soda cans to recycling. We took the money we got from it and sent it to people who help real children who are sick. That was one of the most fun adventures I’ve ever had!”
“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.
“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 sat in stunned silence for a moment. Then she clapped her hands and said, “Billy, that’s a great idea! I want to do that, too. You’re a real treasure, and a treasure is better than a lot of money!”
“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.
“That’s great!” Billy said. “I’ll think about how much fun that will be,” Billy told Veronika, “while I finish putting together the old puzzle.”
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.
Copyright © 2025 by Peggy Stuart
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