'He'll have enough to buy his first car': How Sydney toddler made $1000 in five months
By Nikolina Koevska Kharoufeh |
Now, let's be honest จC toddlers cost more money than they make. And that is true for my two-year-old, without question.
But at least he is making some money, thanks to a fun activity we started as a family project just over five months ago now.
Since starting, the 'work' has earned my two-year-old just over $1000, with the figure growing by the week. ?
So if you have a curious child who you think may need to start their own 'toy fund?', here is how you can do the same.
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In June 2022, we welcomed our second baby boy into the family, Leo. It was a chaotic time for our family as our toddler had just turned 18 months old จC the two under two life.
During the first few months of having Leo join us, as a mum I started to feel like I was missing out on any one-on-one time with my toddler.
?So I was keen to pick up and activity that we could do together one on one.
Alongside my desire to spend time with him, we were also (and still are) looking to buy a home. A home in Sydney, one of the top 10 most expensive cities to live in. ?
So, I found a task that would kill two birds with one stone.
I started a Return and Earn account and scheduled in a weekly recycling session with my toddler each week.
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I first came across Return and Earn after seeing one of their containers outside our local Woolworths supermarket.
The NSW Government's wildly popular Return and Earn scheme was first launched in 2017.
Each state has its own version of a Container Recycling Scheme with Tasmania set to launch Recycle Rewards some times this year.
It allows members of the general public to recycling ?eligible bottles จC plastic, cans and glass จC in containers in over 600 locations across the state and in exchange earn 10c per bottle.
Earnings can either be used as cash vouchers on groceries, be donated to local causes or received as electronic payment. ?
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Considering we were recycling containers at home anyway, I thought why not collect them in bags as we go and turn them in for some cash?
So in October 2022, Noah and I took our first trip to ?our closest Return and Earn container that was just a five-minute drive away.
He had one bag in hand, full of 28 bottles and cans that earned him $2.80. It didn't seem like much, but boy, was he excited.
This was great! If we made $2.80 every two weeks, in 12 months he would have $60 saved up to spend on a toy next Christmas.
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I was not only spending time with my little one, I was also budgeting for Christmas, teaching him about recycling and about the value of saving money.
I was nailing it as a mum.
Though, things got even better.
After sharing a cute picture of Noah on his way to Return and Earn in my family WhatsApp, we started to get bags of bottles dropped off to our house each week.
Uncles, aunties, grandparents จC now everyone is in on the project. ?They all want to see Noah's funds grow.
And boy, does our family like to drink...
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Some weeks we receive more than others, but we have at least two to three garbage bags full of cans.
One week, our biggest earning to date, we received over ?430 cans, equating to $43.
Over Easter, friends got involved in the efforts ?and collected bottles at family events and would bring them over when they visited.
Thanks to that major collection, just five months from when we started, Noah officially earnt his first $1000.
Now, Noah has a dedicated bank account for his Return and Earn 'wage'.
We call it 'Noah's Ferrari Fund', as at the rate we are going, this little one will have enough to buy his first car with the money made by the time he is 17!
It may not be a Ferrari, but hey จC why not reach for the stars?
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