Yakov Lerner wrote:
My 5-year old daughter will have birthday soon. I thought maybe I'd
take her to the shopping mall to let her choose the gift for herself,

I think the theory is great and I would do that for things like clothes, or
other items but I'd get the birthday gift just because I think half the fun
is getting a surprise gift to open up :-)

If you are worried about getting something she might not like just take her
window shopping. Browse around the aisles and see what she likes best then
go select one of those things later.

You could also start giving her an allowance. If she chooses to save part
of it you can match that amount for savings. I think I might start doing
something like that for my 5yo. I want him to learn to save money for
larger purchases (I don't really care what they are) but I don't think it
does much good to *force* them to save. So I'll encourage his savings by
matching the money. He can buy any thing he wants with the saved money but
it will be a good learning experience for him to choose carefully with the
money he saved - if he chooses to save any, which he might not. He's only
5. Candy and dollar store toys are pretty awesome!

--
Nikki