Pause Before You Pay

What your kid learns

• Why impulse buys happen

  Impulse buys happen when you’re excited, bored, sad or rushed. Stores and apps know this. So they put fun stuff right in your path.

• Set a waiting period

  Before you buy a want, pick a waiting period. It could be an hour, a day or a week. Still want it after? Then it’s a real choice.

• Three questions

  Need or want? What do I give up? Will I still want it next week? What you give up is called the opportunity cost.

• Decision steps

  Problem, options, what matters, choose, look back. The last step counts, too. Was it worth it? Use that next time.

The story: Kayla and the glowing headphones

Kayla wants glowing headphones, waits a pretend week, and keeps the money for a concert.

1. Helper: Kayla is bored at the store, with $25 of birthday money.
2. Kayla: Ooh, glowing headphones! $25. I want them right now.
3. Teen: You already have headphones. Want to wait a week and see?
4. Kayla: Need or want? Want. What do I give up? The concert ticket I’m saving for.
5. Helper: A pretend week later, the headphones feel like no big deal.
6. Kayla: I still have my $25. And I’m closer to that concert.
7. Helper: Want it? Wait it. A pause turns an impulse into a real choice.

The game: Want it now?

Draw a want card. Buy now, or take a waiting period? Then see how it feels a pretend week later.

Games use pretend money and work with taps or a keyboard. Nothing is timed.

New words

impulse buy

buying something on the spot without thinking it through

waiting period

time you wait before you buy a want (Kid Mode calls it Thinking time)

opportunity cost

what you give up when you choose one thing over another

decision-making

steps for making a choice on purpose

Questions at the end

• Which is a common trigger for an impulse buy?
• Which is one of the three pause questions?
• You buy a $20 game, so you can’t buy the $20 ticket you wanted. The ticket is your…
• When does a waiting period help most?
• Two weeks after a buy, you ask, “Was it worth it?” Which step is that?

Remember this

Want it? Wait it.

Talk about it

What’s something you were glad you waited on, or wish you had?

Try it at home: Keep a 24-hour list

1. When you want to buy something, write it on a list.
2. Wait 24 hours.
3. Still want it? Ask the three questions. Not anymore? That’s a win.

Keep a 24-hour list.

School standards

• Grades 6–8
• National Standards for Personal Financial Education: Spending