Consumerism is a term that now means the continual and increasing dependence on consumer goods, even those that we don’t need. Consumerism is the evil that we should not let inside our homes if we can avoid it.
We have heard parents complain about overspending among teenagers nowadays. There are simply so many gadgets and accessories that are available for anyone to buy. We end up giving kids what they want simply because we don’t know how to say no, and we feel helpless at the way marketers of consumer goods have taken our children’s emotions hostage.
So, now we ask ourselves, when is the best time to introduce frugality to our children? Do we wait until they’re teeners before we start teaching how to scrimp on everything except the most basic necessities? The answer is ‘no’. We should start during early childhood, which is the ideal time to curb bad spending habits.
How do we teach our young ones frugality at such an early age? We can start by being role models. If we can control our own desires to buy new consumer products on a whim, we can properly teach our kids the essential lessons of self control when it comes to shopping and spending.
To begin with, let’s emphasize the superiority of ‘home made‘ items compared to store-bought. This lesson is particularly important during Christmas, Valentine’s day and other holidays. Instead of going to the malls buying trinkets and small gifts for family members and friends, we can spend our time teaching our kids how to create home made greeting cards and personalized gifts.
Our kids may not fully grasp the importance of curbing the habit of overspending for now, but our goal is to instill the value of frugality so that saving cash becomes a habit and a lifestyle to our kids in the future.
[...] Believe it or not, I didn’t buy much stuff, because as I become more mature I learned about saying no to consumerism. [...]