Two wish-list alternatives: do not add them if only one will be purchased
By Erik Nilsen · Kroni2 min read
A wish list may contain several alternatives for one purchase. If your child will choose one, the costs are alternatives rather than simultaneous expenses. Label the choice before adding the budget so a provisional list does not become a double purchase.
Make one total per possible choice
In a hypothetical example, your child considers a plain notebook at 30 units or a patterned one at 45. They want one book and either meets the need. The arbitrary prices are invented, with no other costs.
Option A costs 30 and leaves 20 from the available 50. Option B costs 45 and leaves 5. Either can be paid for separately.
Adding 30 + 45 = 75 to the budget would describe two books rather than the plan. Money reserved to retain freedom of choice must cover the more expensive option, 45, not the combined 75.
Separate alternatives from additions
A practical snag is listing both books under “what I need” while an adult adds everything. Write “either A or B” between the lines. Once your child chooses, mark one selected and the other not purchased.
If your child later wants both, that is a new plan costing 75. The existing 50 cannot cover it; 25 are missing. Do not retain the calculation for one choice while ordering two.
A required shared extra would instead belong in both alternative totals. If either book needs a label costing 4, A becomes 34 and B becomes 49. Do not buy the shared label twice when choosing only one book.
The highest alternative estimate is a plan rather than a completed expense. Record the actual selected payment when it happens.
Ask your family: “Are these lines two items to purchase or two solutions to choose between?”
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.
