That was a brilliant decision...

Boxes. 

I fixed the op.  

That's the best part!  She intended to buy the chocolate covered peanut butter patties, but bought the peanut butter sandwich cookies instead. She says, "That's okay.  I like them too and there are more in each box." 

She he also just informed me she has a case in her locker for lunch emergencies or for when she forgets to eat breakfast. 

So healthy. 

It is her money. It is her choice. I see it as wasteful, but in the end it is not my choice. 

I guess I see it as wasteful for someone living on a tight budget, but then I guess it will also provide her with a nice learning opportunity as well. 

The job comment was made because to me this shows she has no idea how much that money is really worth. If she had put in a week of work to make that money, she might have made a different choice. 

I totally get feeling frustrated with your kids' spending habits from time to time.

But just remind yourself that kids are often going to spend money in ways in which their parents don't agree or understand. Including us when we were kids! When my siblings and I were young, really young, we brought our weekly quarters to buy penny candy. Then we graduated to records & books. Records changed to tapes & videos came along. Then it was computer games or for the youngest of us who managed to save a chunk of change, a Nintendo, and then the games, which seemed extremely expensive at the time.

My youngest brother used to buy an expensive game, then drop another chunk of change to buy a cheat book so he could finish the game in a weekend. It drove my mom insane.

And it wasn't always big items we wasted our money on. At different times we happily spent God only knows how much money on charms for bracelets, sticker collections, baseball cards, etc. We didn't drop $92 at once, but while we were obsessed with one of those things or another, we simply spent every penny we became in possession of as soon as it added up to the right amount to go buy another.

I was in 4th grade before I can remember ever saving my money to buy some bigger item (a pair of Dr. Scholl's clogs, LOL!).

And truly, even now, as an adult, I'm sitting here next to drawers and drawers of pieces of paper that I've paid a buck a sheet for. And we did work to earn the money spent on those! I think the cookies were likely no more a waste of money that a bunch of pretty papers. At least the cookies won't become one more thing to find a place for.

I love her! What a great heart. And a great lesson she'll figure out on her own. That's how we learn.

When I was maybe 12, I spent all the money I had buying gifts for my mom's birthday out of the National Wildlife Federation catalog. Pens, pads of paper, a little coin purse, mug, etc. Tons of stuff. All of my money. I had such a great time deciding the best things to get from the catalog and endlessly adding up what I was spending and SO happy I was saving wildlife in the process (that's still my heart today). My mom made me feel so stupid for spending my own money "on a bunch of useless junk". I could have been smarter with my money and bought her one big thing and something better somewhere else. I've since learned more about money and charities, etc. Those lessons take time and experience to learn. And make for lots of great conversations along the way. But I learned something else that day, for sure. And it stung.

Hug your daughter and tell her what a big heart she has. Let her feel whatever natural consequence happens from being without that $100. She'll get there.