I picked Ryan up from his day at the mall with his friend, Cody.  Ryan and his friends usually don’t hang out at the mall which is fine with me.  I find that when I go to the mall I always discover things that I didn’t think I needed but all of a sudden have a desire to buy.  I have pretty good self discipline and don’t often succumb to the temptations, but I can see where it would require a lot of effort to resist things if you’re not as stingy as me.

That said, spending money is not a bad thing.  In fact, it’s a necessary thing.  It sort of keeps our economy going.  But it’s all about spending wisely.  So I was pretty proud of Ryan when he plopped into the car saying, “Wow. Used is the only way to go, mom,” and showed me the two “new” games he bought for the PS2.  Together both games cost $18.38 and apparently that was a great deal.

He also mentioned that he would be sharing the expense with his other friend, Luke.  He and Luke would split the cost and come up with a fair way to share the games.  They’ve done this sort of thing before and it has always worked out fine.  I’m glad they can problem solve these things.

But then he mentioned that he wasn’t worried about Luke paying his half for the games.  I asked him why and he said, “‘Cause he has a job.”  It’s true.  Luke has a paper route just like Ryan does.  Ryan knows what it’s like to get the paychecks in the mail.  Real money in the form of a check.  Nice.

I thought it was pretty interesting that Ryan made the connection between ‘he has a job’ and ‘he’ll pay me back’.  Not that this always works as I’m sure he’ll find out in life.  But knowing that Luke has income made it an easier decision for him to put up his hard-earned cash.

One other thing.  Ryan had called me from the mall asking if I would pay for a $20 t-shirt.  Ryan will receive his first clothing allowance this summer as he enters high school and from then on will need to work within the limits of his twice-yearly clothing budget.  Until then, I will pay for all of his clothes.  And he doesn’t want much, so when he called, I told him that I’d pay.

In the car after he showed me the two PS2 games I asked about the t-shirt.  He had run just short of money after buying the two games so wasn’t able to get the shirt.  I asked if he wanted to go back in and get it.  “Nah.”  I think he just wanted to get home and play the games.  But the funny thing is he hasn’t mentioned the shirt or even seemed interested when I asked him about it again later.  And that’s my point about out-of-sight, out-of-mind.  If we could find some other place besides the mall to hang out with friends maybe we wouldn’t need as much as we do.