Hand your child your phone and tell them, “Put whatever you want in the cart.”
What happens next might tell you more about their relationship with money than another lecture about saving ever could. Maybe they add $8 snacks, a $40 hoodie, $75 sneakers an influencer wore, and a collectible they were desperate to own last week but have barely mentioned since. Nothing has been purchased yet, so there’s little financial risk in seeing what they choose. But before checkout, that virtual cart can become a surprisingly useful lesson about prices, advertising, wants versus needs, and what happens when the total exceeds the family’s budget.
