Heck no. I’m sure that would create a spoiled brat.
We make our kids learn the value of a dollar by doing chores, saving up money for things they want..and explain the limits of our household budget.
Food..we’ve handled in a slightly different manner with far fewer limits.
I came from a household where food was severely restricted—especially sweets and pop.
I struggled to learn healthy eating habits after moving out on my own.. and HATED the all-natural gross stuff I was forced to eat as a kid. (Karob = Yuck!)
After we had kids my hubby and I decided to never restrict candy/sweets and to let the kids pick what they eat to a great extent. We don’t fight them on eating certain foods—we just want them to eat meals with us. This means we cook kid friendly meals that cater to what they like (read: corn dogs, chicken nuggets, pasta as an entree).
Of course we insist on them eating at meal times..we insist on fruits and veggies (they get to pick from a variety we keep on hand) and we’ve talked to them as they’ve been growing up about the relative merits of food (“Sure, you can have that chocolate bar..but I don’t think it’ll fill your belly up. Maybe have a bowl of oatmeal and then you can have the chocolate bar at the end if you’re still hungry for it..the oatmeal will stick with you longer and is better for you.”)...so they understand the basics of high calorie vs. low calorie, what foods are high in proteins, good for calcium and so on.
The interesting thing is that we have candy just laying around the house and the kids are just as apt to eat an apple or a bowl of cereal as they are to eat a cookie now.
Without all the restrictions in place (and KNOWING they can have candy or a cookie whenever the craving hits) they tend to eat more “real” and healthy food all on their own.
So..by not limiting their access to candy or junk food…we’ve somehow taught them lifelong (?) healthy eating habits at a relatively young age.
2 of our kids don’t even like soda pop, and the oldest recently stopped drinking it because she heard the acidity is bad for her teeth. (All on her own!) It’s really interesting.. if we go to a restaurant one orders water the other white milk, the oldest (a high school aged teen) orders chocolate milk.