Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: Matthew on September 09, 2010, 01:20:25 PM
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shopping for back-to-school "basics" used to mean T-shirts, jeans, socks and some notebooks. This year, parents added a few other things with one item that really stands out: tattoos.
About 45% of parents polled say that hair highlights, teeth whitening, even tattoos are among the items they will buy their kids to go back to school, according to a new American Express Spending & Saving Tracker survey.
The survey tracks parents' school-related spending intentions.
Haircuts led the list of services that mom and dad are treating junior to before the first day of school. But they are also willing to indulge their kids with a few extras.
According to the report, 18% of parents intended to buy teeth whitening services.
And 9% of parents were willing to pay for tattoos for their kids. On average, parents were spending about $70 on tattoos and teeth whitening, versus $40 on average for their kid's haircut.
Still, the survey found that teeth whitening and tattoos were lower down the list of grooming priorities.
"I think everyone found the teeth whitening and tattoo results very interesting," said Mona Hamouly, a spokeswoman for American Express. "The idea was to poll parent consumers on a mix of mundane and some outlandish things that they would buy their kids. We didn't expect tattoos to even rank in the list."
One catch: Hamouly said the tattoo question in the survey didn't specifically mention whether the tattoo would be temporary or permanent.
Regarding their total budget for school-related expenses, the survey showed that the average family of four will spend about $550 this year.
And 76% of parents said they would shop for items on sale or clearance as well as use coupons for additional savings.
Top purchases are T-shirts, jeans and shoes. One third of parents will also buy gadgets such as computers, cellphones, MP3 players and an iPad.
The online survey conducted in mid-July, polled more than 2,000 parents, including 500 households with children in grades K to 12.
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Is this part of the $370,000 it costs to raise each child?
Bet so.
MP3 players, Ipads, Cell phones, tattoos, teeth whitening --
Guess what? They can do without ALL of that.
I wouldn't buy that stuff for my kids if I made $800,000 per year.
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last time wentto my old Byzantine chapel, a few weeks back, we had a good sermon on how people are materialistic, yet have no or few kids.....how some would rather have multi-gadgets then kid#3
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This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of.
I don't pay anything for my children's haircuts--I do it myself. For $27, I bought a really good set of clippers from Walmart. It paid for itself after 2 uses.
Teeth whitening?? Seriously? :roll-laugh1:
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shopping for back-to-school "basics" used to mean T-shirts, jeans, socks and some notebooks.
As I reflect on my high school days, the late 1970s, the only people who wore T-shirts at school were the thugs and the pot-heads and they were few. The football team wore jackets and ties on all game days. Every self-respecting boy had long or short sleeve shirts with collars. White T-shirts under them were optional.
In many respects, even what is considered 100% socially acceptable today would have been considered unacceptable only 30 years ago. The standards of society, as a whole, are sinking very fast.
It reminds me of Benedict XVI. In the early 1960s he was considered to be incredibly liberal. Today, he is considered an arch-conservative. Yet, by his own admission, he has not changed his views one iota. The (concilliar) church has become so liberal in those 50 years that liberality of the 1960s is now often considered conservatism.
Was it Chesterton or Belloc who commented that all that conservatives do is to conserve the gains of liberals?
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TKGS, you are absolutely right.
Great quote, whoever said it. It is right on the money.
Conservatism only conserves the status quo that liberals keep pushing to the left.
Traditionalists are the only ones trying to push it in the other direction.