Smart Spending Habits Every Teen Should Know

If you have a teenager, it’s important to give them a little more freedom than you would your younger children. This extra freedom helps them develop their own sense of responsibility before they leave home for college and the real world. One freedom every teen should have is the freedom to start spending (and saving) money. By teaching your teen smart spending habits, you are setting them up for financial success. To get started, here are Smart Spending Habits Every Teen Should Know.

Smart Spending Habits Every Teen Should Know

Create a Budget- Before your teen can start spending money, you should teach them the importance of creating a budget. Sit down with your teen and go over how much money they make each week or month. This should include all income, such as any allowance they get or any money they make from a part-time job or babysitting. Once your teen knows how much they have to work with, you can help them allocate funds towards the three important budget groups – spending, saving, and giving.

Look for Deals- Another important spending habit your teen should know is how to be frugal. Teach your teen how to look for deals and sales on the things they want to buy. If your teen is saving up for a new gaming system, encourage them to wait until Black Friday or some other sales event where they can get their gaming system at a discount. This will help them buy what they need while still saving money.

Balance a Checkbook- Balancing a checkbook is an important part of learning to spend money. Give your teen a checkbook (even if they use cash for everything) so that they have a way to record how much money they have saved up and how much money they have spent. Each time your child subtracts their spending from their total amount saved, they’ll realized how much those small purchases can affect their savings. This should hopefully help them curb their spending on unnecessary purchases.

Learn to Say No- Hopefully as your teen learns smart spending habits, they start to realize that they can’t afford everything. If they only have $20 left in their savings and they see something they want for $15, it might not be worth it to drain their bank account on something trivial. Teach them that it’s ok to say no to a purchase or to wait until they have more money saved up.

These smart spending habits are sure to teach your teen financial responsibility.