Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Cheap Thrills

Our Family Store is still going strong. The kids love it. It is sometimes a challenge trying to keep it stocked with stuff that excites them without spending a bunch of money or feeding them too much junk food. I've been buying a lot of dollar store type stuff and it makes them happy, but you know how it is. It usually only lasts a day or two before it gets broken and ends up in the garbage. I would rather reward them with quality stuff but I would either have to spend a ton or make everything cost so many Badger Bucks that they would get discouraged. So I put in some nice things that I charge them more for and some cheap things that don't cost them much and so far they've seemed pretty happy without me going broke.

I'm always on the lookout for Family Store fodder. I try to look for things that are sold in packs that I can break up and sell individually. That makes my money go farther. Remember those little capsules that you put in hot water and watch some sort of sponge creature emerge as the capsule dissolves? There were twelve of them in a package in the dollar bin at Target. Instead of selling someone the whole package I opened it up and charged one Badger Buck for each capsule. Only three got bought this week, but the kids were completely riveted as we dropped them in the sink and watched various bugs emerge. I was surprised at how enchanted they were by such a simple, cheap thing. The rest are going to sell like hotcakes next Monday night and I'd better buy some more.

I love how kids are so easy to please.

2 comments:

The Hills said...

My kids love to play with Bubble Guns. They can't hurt anything and they don't break easily. And the nice thing about them is that they aren't too pricey. They cost $4 or so at WalMart and the bubbles are cheap to replace. It's an idea.

Sox said...

I couldn't find the right post to add this to, so I am putting it here. THANK YOU soooo much for being so open about your sugar/food addiction. You have helped me to realize that I have the very same addiction, and possibly worse. You speaking about it has helped me to realize I have it, if not do much about it. Just know that we are in this together--your my sponsor.