Look Over That Receipt

Over the weekend our family went out to eat after church on Sunday. Going out after service has become a normal thing for us and something that I thoroughly enjoy! We usually don’t even have to try to pick the restaurant because we usually go to the same one every week…Mexican on Sunday is a family favorite!!

Well this Sunday, after enjoying our quesadillas, burritos, and cheese dip, of course, the waitress brought the bill. She laid it on the table and walked away. I’ve gotten to where I don’t even look at the bill anymore seeing as we go to this place so very often. However, my oldest son picked up the bill and started reading it. He said, “Mom, why is a side of cheese dip 4 times less expensive than the appetizer cheese dip? They were the same size.” I wrinkled my brow and of course, assumed he was reading the ticket wrong. When I took a look, he was absolutely right. The appetizer was $5.50 while the side of the exact same thing was $1.50. Naturally, we all started really analyzing the bill after that!

We took note of how ‘affordable’ the actual meals were but how truly expensive all of the other stuff was. A very small portion of cheese dip was over $5!!!! A bottled drink that my youngest just had to have out of the cooler was over $3!!

Here is the thing, I am in no way criticizing the way that restaurants have to price to their food. The unfortunate truth of how expensive EVERYTHING is right now is a subject for another day but what I do want to discuss is the act of just looking at that receipt!

What a concept right?! But how often do we actually do it? I know I am extremely guilty when it comes to checking over my receipts and really just making sure I know the price of things in general before committing to buying them. Had I known that a little bowl of cheese dip was going to be over $5, I may still have made the purchase but at least I would have known what I was actually buying! When we don’t pay attention and ask questions, there is a huge opportunity to let our money sneak away without us actually understanding where it went!! And when we as parents are careless with our money like I was at the restaurant, that shows the kids to act the same. They see that we don’t really know or care the cost of something. They may even become embarrassed to ask the price of something if they don’t see it listed because it was never done in front of them before.

With me, this is fairly common but it shouldn’t be. There is absolutely NOTHING WRONG with knowing the price of something and making an informed decision as to whether you are willing to pay that price for the item that you are going to receive.

Think about it this way, if we had all gotten ice water for our drinks and skipped the cheese dip appetizer we would have saved $16.50 (that’s $2.50 x 3 drinks, $3.50 for a bottled drink, and $5.50 for cheese dip). Did you know that $16.50 can buy you 1.5 shares of Nintendo stock?!?!? Yep!! So, to relay this message to your kids, you can tell them to skip the cheese dip and the sugary drink and open up that Greenlight app or Robinhood account and put that money to better use by buying a little piece of the Nintendo company! Now that’s using their money wisely.

Overall I am so glad that my kiddo was so much wiser than me in that moment and actually looked at the receipt. Now we know how much those drinks and appetizers actually cost. Now we have had the discussion about how those extras really weren’t a necessary thing and most importantly, we can be more intentional with our money next time we go.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and know where your money is going. If something sounds unreasonable when the cashier or waitress tells you the price, simply say, “No thank you!” These little acts of paying attention and knowing what you’re paying for will serve your kids so well and show them how to handle their money like the Wealthy Kids they are becoming, thanks to you!

I hope you have a wonderful, intentional week!!

Amanda