Thrifty - Honest with the Money
| Category: | Scout Law |
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| Notes: | For older Scouts handling money during a fundraiser, or a Scout serving as patrol or troop quartermaster or treasurer-in-training. Works for any scouting program. See also thrifty-earning-your-own-way and thrifty-the-door-to-door-lesson. |
During a fundraiser, something happens that doesn't happen very often to people your age. Somebody hands you real money that isn't yours.
A neighbor pays you for an order. A customer at the store gives you a twenty and trusts you to make the right change. At the end of the day, you hand an envelope full of cash to an adult and trust that it all ends up in the right place.
Most of the time, nobody is checking every single dollar. That's what makes it a test of character.
A thrifty Scout is careful with money, and an honest Scout is careful with other people's money most of all. That means counting change carefully, even when the line is long. It means writing down every order and every payment, clearly. It means keeping the fundraiser money separate from your own, so they never get mixed up. And it means that if you make a mistake, if you're short or you lost an order, you tell an adult right away instead of hoping nobody notices.
Being trustworthy with small amounts of money is how people learn they can trust you with big things. Someday it might be a job at a cash register, a club treasury, or a business of your own. The habits you build now, during a popcorn or cookie sale, are the ones you'll carry.
Handle every dollar like someone is trusting you with it. Because they are.