The Holiday Money Challenge
Four small weeks that help kids ages 6 to 18 notice money moments, pause before they buy, and build one habit that lasts past the holidays. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and start any week in November or December.
Why the holidays? Wish lists, sales and gift money all arrive at once. In a 2026 survey of 1,000 US parents and grandparents, 56% named avoiding impulse purchases and overspending as the hardest money lesson to teach children (Wealth Enhancement and Wakefield Research).
One page, US Letter. No sign-up needed.
The four weeks
Spot the money moments
Everyone hunts for money moments: an ad, a sale timer, a wish list item, a friend's new thing. Say each one out loud and add it to a list on the fridge.
Ask: “What just made you want that?”
Try the wait rule
Every new want waits before anyone buys it. Ages 6 to 8 sleep on it. Ages 9 and up wait 24 hours. After the wait, decide together.
Ask: “Do you still want it after the wait?”
Make a gift-money plan
Before holiday money arrives, your child decides how to split it: some to spend, some to save toward a goal, some to give. Write the plan down while it is calm.
Ask: “How much closer will this get you to your goal?”
Keep one habit
Hold a 10-minute family money talk. What did we notice? What did waiting change? Pick one habit to keep in January.
Ask: “What will you do next time you want something right away?”
Make it fit your child's age
Ages 6 to 8
Keep it visual. Use a picture wish list, and make the wait rule "sleep on it". Count money moments together out loud.
Ages 9 to 12
Use the 24-hour wait rule for anything not on the plan. Let them write their own gift-money split and check it after the holidays.
Ages 13 to 18
Add one question after each wait: how many hours of work or chores is this, and what else could the money do? Let them run the Week 4 family talk.
These are our editors' suggestions, not tested figures. Adjust them to your family.
Good to know
- The point of the wait rule is not to say no. It is to decide with a clear head, so the choice belongs to your child.
- Games count too. The US Federal Trade Commission suggests turning off in-app purchases or requiring a password for every purchase on a phone or tablet (FTC, April 2025).
- Gift money planning works best before the money arrives. Our guide on holiday and birthday money has more ideas.
- You do not need any app to do the challenge.
Want to keep the habit going after the holidays?
Babalata is a money-habits app for US families with kids ages 6 to 18, available on the App Store and Google Play in the United States. No debit card, no bank account: parents keep the real money.