Should I give my children money when I sell their things?

cozzie

I encourage my son to put any earning from selling his old toys etc into his savings as usually they're things that he's outgrown, unless it's video games or DVDs then he exchanges them for credit at the exchange shop which he gets to keep. He gets more than enough new toys & knickknacks for his birthday and Christmas for him to argue. Old clothes are taken to the rags shop and I keep the cash for putting towards new clothes. But, before we do any of this we check to see if anything is of value/use to any of our family & friends, because I want him to know that helping others that we care about is just as important as helping ourselves and will always come back to use in some form. HTH. X .

Jagraf

.[/QUOTE]

Not having a go, but.. maybe not accumulating a ton of unused stuff will help make ends meet more easily? But perhaps all that unused stuff was presents from friends and relatives. And yes, of course, if the money's needed now for basic essentials then there's absolutely no point having it in an account for later, especially at these dreadful interest rates which punish savers, but don't get me started on that![/QUOTE]




In the case of DD she now has 4 sides of the family as both parents are remarried. At one point when she was younger the amount of plastic in our house was sickening. So much unused unopened stuff so I sold it, and gave some to our local hospital childrens ward where she had been as a baby for a while.

I spent the money on day to day living.

But yes you are right, if it had been me buying all the stuff in the first place that's a different matter.

Jagraf

smashedcrab wrote: »

I had a friend who's mum put away every penny she could for her in a savings account. When she reached 18 her mum withdrew all the money and gave it to her daughter, who immediately went out and blew the lot on Burberry clothes (it was the 1980s). So no, I wouldn't put it in a savings account.
If you're really moneysaving then you should keep it, afterall your children are using the gas/electric/water that you might put the money towards. If money's not the issue and you just want to make room for new toys, spend the money on a family treat. That way you're trading their toys for a happy family experience and memories.

My ex did that with the money his gran left him.

moneyistooshorttomention

Their possessions = their choice as to whether they are sold or no.

Their possessions = if they have decided to sell them, they get the money for them.

I would obviously take exception if someone else sold my possessions without my consent and then kept the money themselves. There is a word for that...

Puzzled why the question has arisen...

jayok

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Their possessions = their choice as to whether they are sold or no.

And if unwanted stuff is left lying around clogging the place up, it is the parents choice to levy a storage fee on said child

Their possessions = if they have decided to sell them, they get the money for them.

If they do some of the donkey work yes otherwise you are encouraging a 'something for nothing' entitlement in your children

I would obviously take exception if someone else sold my possessions without my consent and then kept the money themselves. There is a word for that...

I doubt a 5 year old would be taking exception that their unwanted stuff disappeared

Puzzled why the question has arisen...

:rotfl:

meknowalot-51

Clearly your going to be selling the toys that they no longer play with or have lost interest in.There not going to know you've sold them as saying anything would not be too bright,why cause unnecessary distress.What to do with the money raised?As i see it you have two options,pay off any outstanding bills or fill up the fridge if money is that tight.Don't feel guilty,as doing this helps keep a happy household and the kids aren't going to hear you both arguing over money issues.The second option is put it into their savings account,if they don't have one then nows the time to start.When they reach the age of 21(no sooner) hand over the money saved and all the stories that go with it.
You could of course ignore everything i've said and give the 7 or 8 year old all the money and watch them buy some more crap.This is a tough one.

quidsy

I'm getting a definite "Maude Flanders - Think of the children" type vibe off a few posters on this thread. Amusing but a tad disturbing.

Jagraf

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Their possessions = their choice as to whether they are sold or no.

Their possessions = if they have decided to sell them, they get the money for them.

I would obviously take exception if someone else sold my possessions without my consent and then kept the money themselves. There is a word for that...

Puzzled why the question has arisen...

I suppose therefore we can't as parents tell them to stop playing with their toys in the middle of the night. Their toys, their life, their decisions ... :cool:

Garvagh_Man

This is a valuable property rights lesson for both you and your children. Who has title to the property? If you GAVE the items to the children, then title transferred to them and any proceeds from sale of the items are theirs. If, however, you simply allowed the children use of your property, then any proceeds are rightly yours.

threelittlemonkeys

I do sell a lot of things belonging to my children - toys, clothes etc... with my oldest (who is 13) we do it like that: he helps me to sort toys out - he checks the games working condition, and tells me the names of the toys (as very often I am not even sure what they are and how to advertise them!). I do all the listing and posting etc. He gets 50% of the profit. I always said to him - if he does all the work himself (under my supervision) he can have all the profit. If I sell anything that he bought using his own funds - then he gets all the profit.
Two girls are only 7 and 8. I make sure the toy/item of clothing is completely forgotten and then sell it. I pocket all the profit - which believe me I still spend on running the house and NOT on the pint in the pub :beer: