Three for two: does your child save when they only need one?
By Erik Nilsen · Kroni3 min read
An offer on three items can lower the unit price without lowering the expense your child originally planned. Before adding anything to the basket, write down how many they would buy without the offer. That quantity is your comparison, rather than the largest bundle on display.
Compare with the planned purchase
In a hypothetical example, a small notebook costs 30 units. Your child wants one. The offer is three identical notebooks for the price of two, or 60 units. Your child has 75 units to spend. These are arbitrary teaching numbers, not actual shop prices.
One notebook costs 30 units and leaves 45. Three notebooks cost 60 units and leave 15. The unit price drops from 30 to 20, but the payment rises by 30 units. Your child has received two extra notebooks, rather than 30 extra units of spending money.
Ask your child what each notebook would be used for. If only one has a clear purpose, draw the other two as empty boxes on your paper. This makes the difference between “cheap per item” and “useful to me” visible.
When the offer fits the need
If your child already intended to buy three notebooks for three agreed purposes, the normal total would be 3 × 30 = 90 units. The offer then saves 90 − 60 = 30 units on an already planned purchase. The very same promotion has a different result when the need changes.
A realistic snag is deciding that “the free notebook” could become a gift for someone who was meant to receive something else. Do not count that gift as a definite saving before there is a recipient and occasion. A possible future use is different from a planned purchase.
Check the actual offer as well. If the cheapest of three different products is free, you cannot automatically divide the total as if they all had identical prices. Use the prices of the selected products and calculate that basket again.
Your family rule can be simple: do not add an extra item just to describe something as free. Ask your child: “Would you buy all three for this total if the sign did not say three for two?” Their answer will show whether you need another round of arithmetic before buying.
Carry the calculation into your family agreement
Kroni can keep track of your child's virtual balance. The app does not transfer money, so any actual purchase is paid for outside it. Agree on what you will record, then check the amount with your child afterwards. Do not deduct a possible cost as though the purchase had already happened. Read about allowance in Kroni.
