If you have a kid that likes trivia games, here’s a fun way to raise awareness about what things cost. And if we can raise awareness, we can curb spending and create comparison shopping habits.

Invent quizzes about different areas of spending. Make some seasonal or subject matter oriented. Play with the whole family. Keep score. Kids will love it if they beat the adults at this.

I tried this with my college students. The thing that surprised me the most is how little they knew about costs, even when they’ve been familiar with the products all their lives. What surprised me even more: In some cases, I was just as bad.

Here are a couple of sample quizzes. One fun thing to add is to have your kids make up their own quizzes for you. You can play a couple of ways. One, everyone writes down their guesses, then someone checks the answers online. Or, the game show host can look up answers beforehand, and keep a live score, with some prize for the winner at the end.

CHRISTMAS QUIZ:

How much does a Christmas tree cost?
How much does a box of red ball ornaments cost?
How much does a box of candy canes cost?
How much more does it cost to fly to somewhere warm from somewhere cold during the week between Christmas and New Years, versus in late January? (to find the answer to this one, go online to a site like expedia.com, and research flights from, say, Boston to Miami.)
How much does a box of Christmas lights cost?
How much does the average mall Santa get paid? (This was an absolute favorite question for my students. One of them applied for the job at the local mall after class!)
How much does it cost to go to Church on Christmas? (This one stumped my students, too.)
What does a 10-pound ham cost? If your family doesn’t eat ham, what about a 10-pound turkey?
What does a one month gym membership cost to work off all the Christmas food?
What does it cost to bring grandparents to the house for Christmas? (this might include gas money, flight money, etc.)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON QUIZ. (Every teen should score 100% on this.)

What does a Saturday matinee movie cost at a movie theater?
Small popcorn with butter at the same movie?
The cost difference between a large coke at the movie theatre and the 20-ounce bottle you can smuggle in in your jacket?
What does a gallon of gas cost?
What does the nearest slice of pizza to your house cost?
What does a bus ride cost?
What does bowling cost?
What does a prepaid cell phone cost?
What does an iPod cost?
What is minimum wage?

Stay tuned for more fun quizzes in future posts. And please share ones you come up with!

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