Reply to At what age are my child's peers going to expect my kid to have a recent top of the line smartphone?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid's classmates started asking in late MS/early HS.

He still doesn't have one. And his classmates' parents are freaking out about how to pay for college. We're not.

(Not to turn this into some victim-blaming screed about how you could afford a house if you didn't eat avocado toast or heath insurance if you didn't have an iPhone. But it's never too soon to start letting your kids know that your spending reflects your values, and fancy electronics for kids didn't make our cut.)[/quote]

Np: I think this is poor logic.  The $45/mo we spend for our son's phone/service in no way affects his college fund nor any other savings goals.  But, what you're teaching your child is to judge others and assume that by having new electronics, then that person/family is sacrificing savings.  Is that what you intended?[/quote]

Yes it does. That phone cost several thousand bucks that could have been put in a 529. All so he/she can websurf and interact with idiot friends.[/quote]

PP: several thousand? WTF kind of phone are you talking about?  What if college is fully funded?  We all have financial priorities, but the poster I'm quoting seems to think it's one or the other, it can be both.  [/quote]

Phone + service to make it worthwhile adds up. I don't see how telling your kids that you aren't willing to pay for the top-of-the-line whatever and that spending = opportunity cost is telling someone to judge others. We don't know other families' finances (which I point out), and different families have different rules (which they have heard since they started with "Why can't I? Connor's family lets him" in preschool). I don't talk to him about what his parents' friends are worried about -- it's in the vault. But I'm not sorry we've made the choices we did, and I'm glad he understands that kids who don't get everything they want aren't deprived.[/quote]

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