Page 78 - Workbook2E

#3
4 I regularly ask my children to count up all their toys and things and consider how sensible and useful they are.
Look at your views and those of your children on the usefulness of possessions. Some parents think the value of their children’s possessions are only in how much they play with or like them at the moment. Other parents think possessions are an end in themselves, and have an inherent usefulness, even if their children aren’t presently using them. What do you think about your personal possessions? Is that attitude the same as your attitude toward your children’s possessions?
Toy Inventory
Now you can take stock. In most homes there is a box overflowing
with toys and other fun things. Often in storage, there’s even more boxes... filled with unused or outgrown toys. Other toys and recreational equipment lie idle in the garage or scattered in the yard. The following exercise helps you determine the value of these items. There is an inventory sheet on page 86.
1. Gather up all the toys from the toy box, storage, and any lying around the house or yard.
2. Using “Your Toy Inventory Sheet” provided in this Workbook, complete an inventory of each item by recording the type of toy, estimated cost, current condition, and if it has educational value.
3. Estimate the amount of time your children play with it, or if they quickly forgot about it in just a few days.
4. Note if item was received as a gift—from someone other than you— like for birthdays or a holiday.
5. Mark if your children paid for it with his or her own money.
6. Then decide whether or not to keep, discard, or sell the toy.
This exercise takes time and effort, but it’s invaluable
in getting control of your children’s belongings.
“Order and simplification are the first steps toward mastery.”
~ Carl Gustav Jung
74 Workbook 2: Improve Your Financial Life