Lemonade Stand

At the beginning of the summer we made a list of all the things we wanted to do as a family. One was make a lemonade stand. The kids have wanted to do this for a while, I figure if we officially put it on the list we might actually get it done. The kids were so excited we went to the store priced everything out, they figured out what would give them the biggest bang for their buck. We fronted them $20 fully expecting not to get any of it back. They sold lemonade, pink lemonade and popcorn. Between the lemonade, cups, straws, fresh lemons for garnish, each cup took .13cents to make. They sold it for .50 cents a cup. Good thing because they painted the sign weeks ago and had already determined the price. The popcorn took .12 cents to make and they sold it for .50 cents.

The kids set up a pop up tent behind Palo Verde high school, the street gets a lot of residential traffic. Both Benjamin and I were out there while they were selling their wares. They had a sign and a giant lemon that Parkin wore as he danced the customers to the tent. Bella, Olivia and Holman would race out to the cars with large smiles and greet their customers like a good QT employee, those people are friendly!

Two things I learned. 1) People are generous. We had some people drive by and just give us the change that they had in their car. People gave large tips. 2) Can't judge a book by its cover. The most unexpected people would stop and buy the lemonade. We had one monster truck full of large bearded men stop and buy cups of lemonade. A teenage boy in a sports car all alone stopped by to buy a glass. Everybody was so kind.

When asked what we were raising the money for we would explain it was a family economics lesson. We were trying to teach our children the cost of materials, the work required to make money, the attitude it takes to sell a product and the fortitude to be there till its done. I was so impressed by how they all worked so hard, they greeted each customer with a smile and tons of thank you's, their face were red from standing out in 110 Tucson heat but the take away was well worth it.

We actually didn't expect to get the $20 back, but in the end they made $58! Not bad for an hour and half worth of work. The kids decided to buy pizza for lunch thanks to the $5 pizzas at Little Ceasers. The kids voted and they thought half off shakes at Sonic would be a good deal. Not to eat all our profits they wanted a fun family activity and bowling was on the summer bucket list so we signed up for kids bowl free and all they had to pay for was the shoes. They made their money stretch! They were a little short for all five of them so Bella like the awesome big sister and tender-hearted girl that she is, chipped in to help pay for Anna

I am not sure if it is a good thing or not, but our kids know our family finances really well. They have been aware of the financial pit falls we have experienced due to our failed home building project. They know our goal is to pay it off as soon as possible. We have been paying for everything beyond bills with cash. I lay out in bills what we have extra and we start to divide what we know is coming up. They can see clearly what we have left after obligations. Maybe it is too much for the kids to worry about, but groceries are always bought, the house and utilities are payed for it is the extras of "mom can we buy new shoes, go to the movies, go to DQ?" They see what is available and what is possible. They know piano, guitar and swim team  do not come free and in fact it is a sacrifice to make those things happen.

Now they are trying to think of another money making possibility......