Nowadays, it seems as thought there are a growing number of things for our teenagers to buy every day. There are expensive clothes, video games, mp3 players, designer sports shoes and much more. If, like most people, 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 to understand the value of money.
It is extremely important to begin to teach your kids about money from an early age. Beginning at around the age 10 you should give them a few dollars every week that they can spend in whatever way they wish. This weekly allowance should not 'free' but must be dependent on their completing some household chores. You must however work with your children and allow them to what chores they wish to do instead of giving them particular tasks. It is also important that you do not set limits on what they can spend their allowance on and also that, having given them allowance, you do not then simply go on buying them the things they want. They have to, and soon will, discover that if they spend all of their allowance as soon as they get it they will not be able to get some of the more costly items they want.
It is also vitally important for you children to grasp the ins and outs of budgeting at an early 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 the household budget and allow them to look over your shoulder when it is time to pay the bills. It will not take them very long to get a feeling for precisely how costly day to day living can be.
As your kids get older, and certainly by the time they get to the age of 13 or 14, gradually raise both their level of responsibility and their weekly allowance. For example, add their lunch money to their weekly allowance and make them responsible for paying for their own lunch. As they learn to accept greater responsible, show them how to prepare a budget for bigger items like an mp3 player or clothes, and then make them stick to their budget. Once again, you will find that they will soon learn that if they wish to purchase expensive items, then they need to make sacrifices elsewhere.
Do not forget too that you can backtrack. If you find that your kids are not learning how to to use money sensibly, then step in and take control of that money again until you are satisfied that they can handle it.
At some point, your teenager will get a job and this is an excellent time at which to introduce them to the benefits of saving. Teach them to put a proportion 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 into the habit of putting a small amount of their wages to one side to fund less important, but nonetheless expensive, items like a computer or video game system. Having made these provisions, you should then allow them to spend the remainder of their money in whatever 'crazy' way they choose and, if you are concerned about what they are spending their money on, then open a checking account for them that you can monitor.
Teaching your kids about money can be a lengthy and slow process that takes a number of small steps and is not going to be without its difficulties. Your children, and especially your teenagers, will mess up but remember that we learn perhaps our most valuable lessons as a result of the mistakes we make.
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