Teachable Moments During Christmas

Consumers traditionally splurge during the holidays whether its on holiday food, gifts for everyone under the sun, or the ever competitive neighborhood decorat-a-thon. There isn't anything wrong with getting into the 'spirit' of things by spending lots of money but smart shoppers will admit that they probably plan and follow a budget.

Shopping season is a great time to teach supply and demand. Example: Last year it was the X-Box 360, this year it's the Nintendo Weii. Are there enough of these to go around to all of the consumers who want them? No, and as a result of the supply being low, demand is high and the thing was selling for $2000+ on e-bay.

Plan a holiday spending budget with your kids. Have your child create a budget (real or just for practice) that will account for the total spending on Christmas gifts for X number of people. Supervise your child on the internet or take them to local stores so that they can actually find potential gifts to record on the budget. Teach them how to ration out the money so that even amounts are spent on everyone. You could even talk about deficit and surplus while your at it!