Dear Dr. Tightwad - My 13-year-old daughter hangs around with a group of about a dozen girls, and her popularity is hard on our pocketbook. It seems like we're always buying a birthday gift for someone, and CDs for 12 kids start to add up.
With the holidays coming up, she'll want to buy a present for everyone. Am I the only one who thinks this has gotten out of hand?
Answer - Dr. T thinks that if this is the worst problem you have with your 13-year-old daughter, you're a lucky parent.
The holidays may be the most expensive time of year gift-wise, but they also present the cheapest solution. Instead of buying presents for everyone, your daughter and her friends could each pick a name and play "secret Santa" for that person, giving small tokens and doing favors as the recipient tries to guess who her benefactor is. It's less expensive - and more fun - than buying everyone gifts.
There's no getting around birthdays, however. In a group like this, if you buy for one member you have to buy for them all. You could set a price limit per gift - but why are you doing the buying in the first place? At 13, your daughter is old enough to take on this responsibility and use her own money. If she's in charge, she'll be inclined to be less extravagant and more creative, and outlays will tend to regulate themselves.
Dear Dr. Tightwad - I thoroughly enjoyed reading the excerpts you printed from the winners of an essay contest for kids about the stock market. My children are really interested in money and investing and wouldn't mind a crack at a prize. Please keep us posted about other such contests.
Answer - This is your lucky day. Stein Roe & Farnham, the mutual-fund company, is sponsoring an essay contest for students in fifth, sixth or seventh grades during the 1996-1997 school year.
In about 250 words, entrants should answer the question, "What are the most important things you have learned about money and investing, and how will this knowledge help you in the future?"
The first-prize winner in each age group will receive $5,000 worth of shares in Stein Roe's Young Investor Fund, which has been one of the top-performing long-term-growth funds over the last 12 months. Second prize is $2,500 in fund shares, and third prize $1,000.
To request an entry form, call (800) 586-KIDS. Entries must be received by December 31, 1996, and winners will be announced next March.