Can kids really be frugal?

As I continue the battle of "Turn off the lights", "Turn off the water", "Close the door, we aren't heating the outside", and "Would you like to pay the electric bill?", I really wonder if my kids will ever get it.

I am trying desperately, and very determined, to live off one income. It isn't an easy task, and as I continue to clip coupons, plan meals, really watch where every penny is going, I have a team that is undermining the entire process. They are "Team Dietz". You may know them better as Jacob, Seth, Kate and Jo, my four children. I am convinced that they like hearing me repeat myself, over and over again.... "turn off the lights", "turn off the water", "close the door, we aren't heating the outside", and my personal favorite "who decided the sink needed to brush it's teeth?".

The waste I see from my children, is awful. From electricity, to paper, to food, to household supplies, it doesn't seem to matter how red in the face I turn, their little brains just don't get it. So I stepped up today. I decided that we will turn the "vacation jar" into the "pay the bills jar". Now I, like many of you, enjoy the rewards of saving all my change to use towards a vacation. I look forward to it every year. But I have come to the conclusion, that at the rate my children are wasting time, resources, and money, I can't afford to go on a vacation.

So, starting today, for every time I catch a child wasting, they get to contribute to the "pay the bills jar". Yep! I quarter (.$25) for every offense. I figure that is going to add up quick. And if it isn't hurting them, and they continue, I figure they can watch their entire allowance drop in that jar. When they find that they aren't saving for that game or toy they wanted so badly, because their funds have been diverted, maybe they will change their ways. Only time will tell....

In the meantime, I am off to wash the unused toothpaste off the sink; sort the dirty laundry, from the laundry that was just washed, but a child was too lazy to put away, so they sent it to the dirty clothes basket; to make sure that every light in the house is turned off, the doors are securely closed, and the heaters are set at 60 degrees; to scrape the dishes of all the unwanted oatmeal; recycle all the paper that hit the trash can, instead of the recycle bin; and refill every soap dispenser in the house and hang up every towel...

Ahhhh.... the joys of being a stay at home mom!