How To Teach A Teenager The True Value Of Money

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How To Teach A Teenager The True Value Of Money - By: Donald Saunders, Posted on: 2007-09-08

It seems that there are a growing number of things for our teenagers to spend money on every day. There are designer sports shoes, mp3 players, expensive clothes, video games and so much more. If, like the majority of us, you have not been blessed with wealth, then it is clearly hard to give your teenagers everything they want and, for this reason, it is very important that we help them understand the value of money.

It is very important to begin teaching your kids about money at a young age. Starting at around the age 10 you should give them a few dollars every week that they can spend however they want. This weekly allowance should not 'free' but needs to be dependent on their undertaking some household chores. You must however work with them and let them decide what they want to do instead of giving them specific jobs. It is also important that you do not set limits on what they can spend their money on and also that, once they are receiving an, you do not then continue buying them the things they want. They need to, and quickly will, find out that if they spend all of their allowance as soon as they get it they will not be able to purchase some of the more costly items they want.

It is also vitally important to teach your children the principles of budgeting at a young age and discover exactly how much things cost. Take them to the store with you when you go out shopping, have them help you with working out the household budget and let them look over your shoulder when it is time to pay the bills. It will not take them very long to get a feel for just how costly day to day living can be.

As your kids get older, and unquestionably by the time they have reached the age of about 13 or 14, slowly raise both their level of responsibility and their weekly allowance. For example, include their lunch money in their weekly allowance and make them responsible for buying their own lunch. As they accept more and more responsible, teach them to draw up a budget for larger items like clothes or an mp3 player, and force them to stick to that budget. Again, you will find that they will quickly learn that if they want to purchase expensive items, they need to make sacrifices.

Remember too that you can backtrack. If you find that your kids are not learning how to to use their money sensibly and for its intended purpose, then step in and take back control of that money until you are satisfied that they can handle it.

A some stage, your teenager will get a job and this is a very good point at which to introduce them to the benefits of saving. Teach them to put some of their wages into a savings account which they need to come to see as a resource for funding major projects, like their college education or another significant pursuit. Additionally, get them to put a small proportion of their wages to one side to fund less important, but still expensive, items like a video game system or computer. After they have made these provisions, you can let spend the remainder of their wages in whatever 'crazy' manner they choose and, if you are concerned about what they are buying, then open up a checking account for them that you can monitor.

Teaching your kids about money can be a lengthy and slow process that takes numerous small steps and will not be without its problems. Your children, and especially your teenagers, will undoubtedly mess up but remember that we learn perhaps our most valuable lessons from the mistakes we make.

Article Source: http://higradesearch.com

Parenting4Dummies.com provides a wide range of tips on parenting and looks in some detail at the problems of parenting a teenager

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