Dante's Spending Lesson

By Melissa TosettiSince we adopted Spartacus, we’ve been buying kitty litter in bulk at Petco.  They have a system where you can purchase a 16 lb container and then refill it for $6.The problem is that every three weeks we’re having to make a special trip to Petco to buy litter.  I try to keep my errands to a minimum, so this was starting to get annoying.I’m embarrassed to tell you that it didn’t dawn on me until yesterday to look at the price of litter at Costco.  They had a 35 lb container for just over $8.  One thing I’ve learned is that trying new litter is a bit of a risk (think smell and tracking) but to not have to go to Petco anymore, it was worth a try – let alone the savings.This morning, as Dante and I cleaned Spartacus’ litter box, I set the 16 and 35 lb containers next to each other and realized I had an opportunity for a money lesson.I explained to Dante that the small box cost $6 and the large box, with twice as much litter cost us only $2 more.   I then explained how we save about $6 every three weeks by buying the bigger container at Costco.To demonstrate in a way that would be meaningful to him I said, “That’s about how much it costs for you to go to the trampoline park,” which he’ll be doing later this week.  I smiled at him and said, “Would you rather spend money on kitty litter or jumping on trampolines?”THAT hit home!