Teaching my Kid how to Shop

I believe shopping is one important skill a person must learn. Exposing yourself to the market, learning some hacks, haggling, finding stores that sell at the lowest prices, and even the timing when you go shopping are essential to survive this ever inflating market prices. I believe every peso counts for every great deal you get.

But sadly, this skill I was not able to really master. When I was young, I wasn't exposed to the market. I was not trained to do the shopping for supplies. Shopping was for the mom and the older sibling, that was why. And as a result, I am not good at haggling or I won't even try... I am too shy! Lol! There were times when the seller was the one to offer a discount because I never haggle. Lol! I have a tendency to stick to a familiar store and I don't explore so much. When I started to be independent, I even had a hard time identifying quality products and finding them at a more affordable prices. I was too naive and I realized how futile it is to not learn even the most basic life skill.

I learned on my own. And by now I could I say I know the basics but still haggling is not my thing. Haha!

For this reason, I don't want to pass the same mistake to my kids so I started to expose them to the market starting with my eldest.

Brought my kid to the market so she can learn its ways. First I made her list the things we need to buy.

Shopping list is necessary so we can do away with buying unnecessary things and stick to the budget. That was the first thing I taught her.

While we were at a store, I let her pick the things that were on list. I reiterated that she should only pick what's on the list. She graciously followed. She was excited and had fun doing it.

While at the snacks and chips section, she asked if we can have pringles. Pringles is expensive so I told her that we can't have it since it's not in the budget. She was a bit disappointed but I couldn't be swayed. It's one way to teach her to stick to the budget.

After shopping for the dry goods at the store, I brought her to the area where many vendors gather during "tabo". It's the day many vendors with no permanent stall in the market come to the market to sell their produce. I showed that during tabo is the best day to buy vegetables and fruits because these products are fresh.

Aside from vegetables, other products are also displayed during tabo like these ukay shoes,

and dried fish or we locally call it buwad.

There was also a stall that sold lechon baboy or roasted pig which they sold by kilos which only happens during tabo. Unfortunately I was not able to take a photo. I told my girl that if she wants to buy these products with a variety of choices, she must do it during tabo.

After buying everything we needed, I treat her with icecream. She loves icecream but the purpose was not just to enjoy its goodness but also to teach her how to pay at the counter. She is usually shy and I couldn't even ask her to buy at the sari-sari store in the neighborhood because she's uncomfortable doing it. So paying at the counter would be the first step.