Liv Dolls--worth the Money? Kids and Money Management 101 - Wheaton,IL

"Love and Logic" has a great approach to this topic. It would say that you have the talk with her and explain what you see and then let her make the choice. NOW is the time for her to make these "mistakes" with money so that when she is an adult she has learned the lessons. I know unfortunately I am one that learns through mistakes. It is so hard to watch, but a great way to learn when the stakes are low and she is not blowing her paycheck on things. This is a gift card so if she is going to purchase something that you don't feel is practical, you can think in your own mind that it was really a gift from someone esle and not a waste of family money. You sound like you are doing a wonderful job teaching her about money and helping her learn to be responsible with money. But you want it to be her choice so that when you aren't looking out for her she can do it on her own. A "mistake" or two while she is young will help her when she is older! Also, learning to use gift cards for things that are extra or not necessary is the way to go rather than spending what you dont' have or using money that is marked for other things. It is important to feel like you can have things you just want sometimes.

Can't answer about the Liv doll but I can answer about the $$ questions.
We starting giving our daughter, also 8, a small allowance when she turned 7. She gets $3 a week, of that $1 must go into the bank and she decides what to do with the rest. Our experience has been when it's our money she has a devil may care attitude but when we tell her she has to spend her own money she is much more careful how she spends it. For example, she doesn't spend money at the dollar store or Target without carefully thinking about it now. She saved a bunch of gift cards recently (I bought them from her for equal face value since I palnned to go to those stores anyway) and used saved money to buy a DS. She takes much better care of that game than anything else we have given or bought her. When she wants something, we talk about how much it costs, if she can afford it immediately and what she will be giving up if she purchases it. Yesterday she saw a 2 pack of Webkins for $16...after I said I wasn't buying it for her, we talked about her purchasing it and I reminded her that if she bought that she wouldn't be able to buy a new DS game for a very long time she sighed and walked on.
For us one of the best financial lessons actually was a holiday gift. She had begged for bendaroos. Once she got them she realized they weren't as cool as they looked on tv--now every time a commercial comes on for something she looks at it and goes "yeah right, like that actually is gonna do that"....created a skeptic.
We give our daughter $$ to spend so she can make mistakes now and can learn to weigh purchases now. My husband has at times told her not to spend her money on something junky--but after he does that we talk about it and I remind him that is why we give her an allowance--so she can make stupid purchases and learn from the experience. We try not to prohibit a purchase except we have told her that just because she buys something doesn't mean we can't still impose rules on its use or consumption. For example, if she buys a ton of candy she can't just eat it all, or if she acts up we can still take away her DS. My parents didn't do that for me and I wish they had.

Hi Michelle,
My sons both (10 & 8) have had MP3 and they didn't hold hold at all. I felt they were very poorly made even for kids that weren't too rough with them.
My oldest son received an IPOD Shuffle for his birthday and he loves it. He saves his money (asks for gift cards) and loves to go on-line with his Dad to download "his" music. It holds the charge (which the MP3 never did) and he can clip it to his shirt so he finally will do chores with a pep in his step since he can sing/dance along while he is doing it (I say we both won with that!)
Good Luck on your search and I'm sure your daughter will make the right choice!

I think you're doing a great job. You taught her what you know, showed her the options, and now you can let her make her own decision. If she regrets it later, well, it's a great lesson.
I still remember to this day when my dad gave me a jar full of change. To me it seemed a huge amount of money. So I set out for Ben Franklin (kind of like hallmark) and spent virtually all of it on a stuffed white dog.
My parents didn't get us much in the way of toys, outside of Christmas and birthdays, so for me, it was a thrill. I seriously still have the dog, and now my daughters play with it.
As long as your daughter knows that if she picks the doll, you won't buy her the MP3 next week, I'd say let her pick the doll. If she seems to really want the MP3 player after buying the doll, make her wait for it. It's a great lesson for kids to learn. :)

ETA: I think MP3 players for kids are great. Just a better version of a walkman or discman. Depending on the age, though, you might want to hold on to it when they're not using it. Those things get lost easily. I've lost three.

It seems like a lot of kids my son's age (just turned 9) have mp3 players, so I would say that's normal. He does not because he's not interested yet, but if he did I'd keep it cheap and assume it would either get lost or break at some point. (would not buy him the $400 classic video iPod I have, in other words!)

My 8-year old stepdaughter has had an iPod for over 2 years now. She lost her first one, and received another as a gift for her birthday. She also lost her GameBoy (a Christmas gift) and although she played with both constantly, she did not take good care of them. She does love her iPod though (gift from Mom).

We made her purchase her cell phone with her own money. It cost her $60 which she carefully saved up. We also made her purchase her own electric guitar (she wanted to take lessons) which she was able to do by selling some of her toys that she no longer played with.

She has NEVER lost her cell phone, even though she carries both her cell phone and her iPod in the same purse. Her guitar is in mint condition still, but many of her toys are not.

It absolutely works to let them purchase things on their own. It seems to us sometimes that she does not care for her things, but looking back I do see she has never misplaced her cell phone whereas her iPod and digital camera (both gifts) have been lost numerous times.

I don't think an 8-year old with an iPod is bad, provided they are responsible AND you realize that it is in many ways your responsibility to help them remember it if you don't want it to disappear. It certainly has helped us in the car when she wants to listen to Hannah Montana for the 100th time! We do have a rule now, she can't listen to it when she's crossing the street. She also only has an iPod nano, she wanted an iPod Touch and thank goodness her mom said "no way."

We haven't really gotten the value of money down so I'm eager to hear what others advise. I will say that when she squanders money we let it be its own lesson. If she spends her money, that's IT, we don't give her extra no matter how she whines.

She also has 40+ Webkinz of which she never plays with the stuffed animals and hardly plays with them online (we limit online time and her mom doesn't let her go on the computer much). The online stuff is really cute and fun, but it's just like a video game and TV and time on it should be limited.

Hope that helps!

Michelle,
I don't know much about the Liv Doll but I think 7 1/2 is a bit young for an MP3 player and may not be that safe for her hearing. Your daughter will not want to play with dolls forever so if she doesn't have a special doll yet, this may be the time to get one. As far as the website goes, it might be fun.

You are right to think about teaching responsibility about money. Now is the time. I think she is at a good age for this. Allowance is a good idea. Also to have some age appropriate chores.