Ok, I’ve turned into one of those shoppers. You know, the ones who scour their receipts as they leave the store and have the audacity to return things! I used to judge those people – ‘don’t they have a life?’ Maybe it’s a reaction to my *retail sales* days ~ but times HAVE changed.
First of all, the tweens who ‘work’ at the register are in another world as they ‘beep’ my goodies across the scanner. They have little regard for cold, hard, CASH. When you hand them the green stuff you often get a blank stare or a sigh … more work. When they shove the change in your hand – without regard to what it represents – I’ve found it comes up short way too often.
We homeschoolers make a lesson out of EVERYTHING … but these teachable moments are too good to pass up.
Endure my ‘historical reasoning’ as I provide a backdrop for my pedestal. My mother worked for Safeway when I was little. (1960′s)She was a whiz at math and had to come in early to memorize – I said mem-or-ize – the sale prices that she punched into the manual register. She was accountable for every penny in that thing, so she counted change as if it mattered. Years later, (1970′s) I worked for Pizza Inn. We had to calculate tax IN OUR HEADS and I didn’t inherit my mother’s mathematical skills. We learned to count backwards, forwards … and … correctly … no matter what. Non of this was a big deal – it’s just what life required in order to get a (small) paycheck.
Fast forward to 2010 when money is pretty much *virtual* and the checkers pretty much – don’t care. See my point?
I like helping the kids step into reality with money. It seems we spend most of our money at the grocery stores – (7 sons at home) so I figure it’s a great place to start. They help me comb over the receipt to make sure it’s right. Because, when I’m shortchanged – it means THEY’RE shortchanged.
We’ve had Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover groups and teen class in our home for 3 years. Over this time I know I’ve saved hundreds of dollars in errors caught by … just doing the math!
Got any ‘consumer math’ success stories? I’d love to hear your comments.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It makes me crazy when young people do not know how to count back change. You know, the old way, when you count up to the denomination the customer gave you! Remember, “back in the day” as my kids so proudly boast, when the person at the register would count it back to you. Now, they hand you a wad of money, change and the receipt and cram it in your hand. I find myself stressed as I’m trying to get it back in the correct Ramsey wallet envelope and most times just end up throwing it in my purse. The commercial on TV showing the entire assembly line at the coffe shop come to a screeching hault when the customer pays with cash instead of a debit card is a perfect depiction of what happens when you use cash the Dave Ramsey way! But, I still LOVE the Dave Ramsey way! Sorry, got off subject there for a minute…yes, making change. We’ve helped out at many concession stands over the years and that is the ONE thing I was sure to teach my children, “COUNT BACK CHANGE”.
My husband is the same way, I need to do better
He also teaches our girls to count change backwards, something I still get confused about!