Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for August 24, 2013

Guess she would have a different attitude, if she earned the money. Spend girl-spend!What could be more expensive than two young girls with a no Dad income, and a Ganny at home?Guess more expensive would be the same, only both in college.

…or if Mom went back to school.

@ sjsczurek from yesterday.Can’t even imagine petit-fours dipped in mustard?

I doubt if they would sell well at all. :)I do remember when white pant suits were popular.but they always reminded me of the ice cream man

I’m with Alix…a good second-hand shop, Goodwill, Salvation Army…you can find really excellent (name brand, even!) clothes for a reasonable amount…

Give Holly 100.00 and let her buy her jeans. That’ll be the ONLY new piece of clothing she’ll have for the whole school year. Our kids took the $$ and learned to shop at discount stores. Still do.

I’m with loveslife—you give her a budget and then it’s up to her. I usually don’t care for Holly, but she has shown that she’s capable of thought, as when she felt bad about teasing the girl and losing a friend. Gramma hit the nail on the head—guilt lasts longer and it never hurts to consider the consequences of your actions.

Right on Grandma Evie and Alix. It is about time, Holly, came ‘back down to earth’ and face up to life’s truth instead of acting some ‘inane teenage drama diva’ on the Disney Channel. Which is where teenage girls get there outlandish ideas ! It is all Disney’s fault ! ! !

Shut her down, fast and hard..Way to go Evie!

Wow! There are places called Cheap Frills – what a great idea.

No slappy faceKicky butt!

My girls all graduated between 1980 and ’84, so money went comparatively farther. Princess Clothes Horse (middle daughter) could only put her fine fanny into Gloria Vanderbilt jeans until I gave her a clothing allowance that was $5 less than a pair of fancy pants. She learned VERY quickly how to find the best sales.

I agree with you!!

Gramma kind of did that with words. Put Holly in her place!

When I was a kid we got allowances and when we were at the store and wanted something we’d ask if we had to use our own money to buy it. Sometimes our mother would buy it or make a mental note about Christmas or our birthday but usually the answer was yes. Suddenly we didn’t want it that much anymore if we had to use our own money. It’s always easier to spend someone else’s money than your own.

In today’s society, it’s easy for kids to not see where the money goes thanks to multiple credit cards. No actual dollars exchange hands. So it’s more difficult for kids to see. My best friend and I are teaching her daughter (my god daughter) the value of a dollar. I made her break down her mom’s salary into weeks, then into days to see just how long it took her mom to earn the money. For school shopping this year, she gave her daughter actual cash to pick out a few items (not necessities) that she could wear to school. When she realized the things she had picked out exceeded the amount she had and she would have to dip into her own savings to pay – many of the expensive items that she would have outgrown or gotten bored of in a few months, went right back to the racks!

No bad language allowed!

There is no child abuse going on here, no hitting allowed, and I"m sorry that you had a rough childhood. However, not everyone is the same growing up, and you should be nice in your comments or you might get flagged next time.

Like I’ve said before, I’ve never been big on fashion, so when it comes to clothes shopping, I look for clothes that go together and can fit.

Yep…can always tell the ones that don’t have kids of their own.

Agreed Alex.

Holly might be old enough that Val can sit her down and show her how much disposable income they have after the bills are paid. Most kids (and too many adults) don’t realize how fast a paycheque disappears into utilities, insurance, and other payments — unless they’re the ones paying the bills.

Time for Holly to get a babysitting job and pay for her own clothes.

Self-centeredness in teenagers is nothing new (I now cringe to think of my self-absorbed adolescent self) and 30+ years ago my mom did something like what loveslife suggested upthread. By the time I was 14 or 15, she decided she’d had enough of arguing with me about clothes and enduring my brattiness when I didn’t get what I wanted. She figured out how much she typically spent on clothes for me in a year, and twice a year I was given a “clothing allowance” (40% of annual amount in spring, 60% in fall, since winter clothes cost more). When buying a couple pairs of super-expensive designer jeans meant I couldn’t get a single other item of clothing for at least 6 months, those jeans just didn’t appeal to me very much any more.

It was a good move on her part; not only did it free her from my pleading & whining, it got me to appreciate what things really cost and to appreciate a bargain! It also meant I started learning how to budget money over a period of time, using something for which consequences were not dire if I screwed up — better to learn those lessons at 15 with a clothing budget than at 20 with food and utility money!

My folks didn’t believe in the new clothes for the new school year sales scam. I got new clothes when I needed them. The “I really want” items were birthday and Christmas presents if mom agreed with the item. My mother also made ALOT of our clothes. Unfortunately we rarely had fabric choice input. LOL I learned about budgeting and saving as soon as I was making money on my own, Started working in the berry and bean fields the summer I turned 12. Today I just shake me head at the lack of “work ethic” in younger generations.

I wore a lot of hand-me-downs from a cousin and also got a few clothes from a secondhand store.

Savers! Supposedly a second-hand store, but I’ve found things there with the tags still on them. Years ago, I bought a turtleneck that was marked at 50 cents and they were having a half-price sale. I paid a quarter for it, and two people at work complemented me on it!