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Smart Rules To Get
More Money & Presents
 You
know how parents are, they'll give you only this much money and
expect it to stretch like chewing gum for the rest of the month. I
mean give me a break, don't they know how much there is to see, do
and buy. Take my friends, Anubhav and Bhawana, for example: their
mama never gives them any pocket money at all. She says she will buy
them anything they want but won't give them the money to spend
themselves. They have to tell her what they want. Funny. mom, huh?
Mine is better sure - she gives me money but don't you dare ask for
more. If you ever need to ask for more, get ready to answer a
million questions - Why, what happened to the money I gave you last
week? But what do you need to buy? And why must you have chocolate -
it's bad for your teeth anyway? So this is why I've put together
this list of smart ways to save your pocket money for all you fellas
out there. There are some key rules to making your weekly or monthly
all…ow…, allow...ance, I mean allowance (whew! what a word!) go
a long, long way.
#1.
Don't Buy, Just Swap
Don't buy anything from your pocket money that you can avoid buying.
For example, if you really want that frisbee or magnet or tennis
ball, find a friend who already has one. Now remember he's a kid
just like us and he has a mom just like ours who won't give him
enough money. So find out what he needs - you may already have it.
If you do, simply swap - I mean exchange, dodo. However, things can
get a bit sticky if your parents suddenly remember those skates that
they'd bought for you which you have happily swapped for a
skateboard. In such a case, do what I do. Agree with your buddy that
whatever you swap can be temporarily returned whenever his or your
mom remembers the toy or item in question, okay?
#2.
Don't Waste Money on Chocolates, Cokes etc.
Sure they are very, very nice and make my mouth water too, but you
know spending your pocket  money
on them is only fun for a little time. I mean once you've finished
your popcorn or potato chips, what do you have left? Nothing really.
A car or a gun or a Barbie is certainly better. So remember it is
smarter to let adults provide you with all the nice stuff you like
to eat. Go to the market with them as often as you can and be good
all the way. If you spot something you want to eat, just request
nicely for it, like, "Daddy can you please buy me an ice cream?
I'm really feeling tired walking so much with these packets."
#3.
Make a Cash Pool with Friends
You know, I've got three really good friends - they are the best
buddies in the world. So me and Sanju, Ady and Anu, you know what we
do, we put together money if want to do something real bad. Like the
other day, we wanted to go to this Diwali Mela in our colony. But
none of our parents would give us extra money apart from the
tickets. So we put our money together and played all the games like
shooting balloons, skittles, ninepins and throwing rings. You get
five chances to burst balloons with a gun for Rs 3, so we would all
take turns. Instead of separately spending Rs 3 each (which makes Rs
12 for four people), we spent just Rs 6 for two rounds and all four
of us played. Similarly we shared everything we bought amongst us -
two cokes for the four of us and two ice lollies and two chaats -
all the really yummy stuff that moms and dads never let you have. So
all of us got to do more things and eat many more things than we
could have if we had not pooled our cash.
#4.
Get Others to Spend on Your Hobbies
Adults never mind spending money on things they think are good,
useful and edu…educa…tional. Like if you have a hobby like
stamp-collecting or drawing, you can find many sponsors for new
stamps, drawing books and colours. You can easily get your parents,
aunts, uncles and older brothers and sisters to buy them for you.
Don't even think of wasting your precious pocket money on them.
#5.
Keep Adults Informed of Your Interests
As I just said, adults actually like to be nice to children and they
would love to get you things but you need to guide them, especially
if they are not your mum and dad but relatives. Like my chachi
really likes to talk to children and she's forever asking me and my
sister what we like to do. So one day my sis Aashi showed her the
beads she loves to string to make little necklaces and bracelets.
The next time chachi came she brought along lots and lots of beads
for Aashi. Only thing is she kept doing this for a long time, even
after Aashi got sick of them beads. So I guess, it is important to
let all the adults in your life know as soon as you have outgrown a
hobby.
#6.
Be Nice to Guests
Guests are a great source of income. Parents want you to be
especially nice and behave well when you have house guests. And
believe me, it actually pays to be nice. My grandpa and grandma
always get me things when they come but apart from that when I go
out of my way to be nice to them or just do small little things for
them - like bringing a flower for my grandma - they get real mushy.
And that kind of makes me feel real nice. But apart from that, they
always give me money at the end of the visit. This applies to all
houseguests from uncles and aunts to family friends.
#
7. Strike Deals with Parents
Parents, for some reason, like their kids to do well in school. I
mean they kind of dislike it when silly teachers send nasty notes at
home like - 'Your child does not complete his homework' or that 'He
does not do well in class tests'. Parents almost always will tell
you things like, 'If you finish your milk, I'll buy you a bag of
popcorn this evening' or 'If you score well in this test we'll have
a pizza dinner' or 'If you are not rude to the aunty you dislike
when she comes to stay, I'll buy you that Mickey Mouse watch. Well,
I have just one thing to say - grab these offers and save your
pocket money.
#
8. Make the Most of Exam Time
This is that time of the year when parents get real worried about
how you'll do and almost always hope that you'll get good marks.
Your every wish is their command during your annual exams. So feel
free. But remember to study hard. The next rule explains why.
#9.
Asking for a Raise
 Hey
fellas, haven't we all heard the saying, strike while the iron is
hot? Well, all of us need to do this with parents. If you've scored
good marks in your annual exams and your report card says the nicest
things about you, your parents are bound to feel proud and happy.
This is the time to ask for an increase in pocket money. It takes
more than a loving parent to say no. This rule applies to whenever
you do something really excellent - like winning a debate, writing a
small poem that actually comes out in your school magazine or just
beating everybody in school at tennis.
#10.
Gang Up with Your Brother/Sister
This is really an easy thing to do once you and your bro/sis can
learn to work together. Whenever both of you are out together with
your parents, decide beforehand about who wants what between
yourselves. If your parents are in a good mood and both of you get
what you want, well, nothing like it. But if they are not, only one
of you should ask for something and while mom and dad are trying to
tackle this, the other child should just say that he wants nothing
except that his parents buy his li'l sis whatever she wants. This is
bound to work, Aashi and I do it all the while. Like the other day,
mom and dad took us out to Connaught Place. Aashi and I had already
decided that we would push her demand for a Barbie that day. So when
she dragged them to the toy store, I didn't mess up things by asking
for something equally expensive myself - (whenever both of us fuss
for toys together my parents don't buy anything for either Aashi or
me). I just said that I wanted my little sister to have the Barbie
because I loved her so much and didn't want anything myself. And
man, did it work. Only thing is, half the times Aashi and I are mad
at each other over something and then we mess things up and behave
really bad. Okay fellas, this ends my list of Smart Rules to get
more money and presents. If you've got other tricks you know of, why
don't you let me know so that we can put them up here for all the
kids in the world.
By: Vandana Malhotra
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