Moms With A View

One thing that can cause more difficulties within families than just about anything else money and it is extremely important that we teach our teenagers how to handle money sensibly. It seems as thought there are more and more things for our teenagers to buy every day. There are expensive clothes, mp3 players, video games, designer sports shoes and much more. If, like most people, you do not have pots of money, then it is clearly hard to give your teenagers everything they want and, as a result, it is very important that we help them understand the value of money.

It is critically important to begin teaching your children 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 in whatever way they wish. This allowance should not 'free' but should be dependent on their doing some household chores. You must however work with them and allow them to what they wish to do instead of giving them specific tasks. It is also important that you do not set limits on what they can spend their money on and also that, having given them allowance, you do not then continue buying them the things they want. They have to, and soon will, find out that if they spend all their money as soon as they get it they will not be able to buy some of the more costly things they want.

It is also most important for you children to grasp the principles of budgeting at a young age and discover just how much things cost. Take them to the mall when you go shopping, have them help you with working out the household budget and allow them to watch you when it is time to pay the bills. It will not take them very long to get a feeling for exactly how costly day to day living can be.

As your children get older, and certainly by the time they get to the age of 13 or 14, gradually increase both their level of responsibility and their allowance. For example, include their lunch money in their allowance and give them the responsibility of paying for their own lunch. As they accept greater responsible, teach them to prepare a budget for larger items like an mp3 player or clothes, and then make them stick to their budget. Once more, you will find that they will quickly learn that if they wish to purchase expensive items, then they have to make sacrifices.

Remember also that you can backtrack. If you find that your children are not learning how to to use money sensibly, then step in and take back control of that money until you are satisfied that they are able to handle it.

Sooner or later, your teenager will get a job and this is a very good point at which to introduce them to the benefits of saving. Get them to put a percentage of their wages into a savings account which they should come to regard as funding for major projects, like their college education or other significant pursuits. Additionally, get them into the habit of putting a small proportion of their wages on one side to fund less important, but still expensive, things like a video game system or computer. After they have made these provisions, you can then let spend the remainder of their money in whatever 'crazy' way they choose and, if you are worried about where they are spending their money, then open up a checking account for them that you can monitor.

Teaching your children about money can be a long and slow process that takes numerous small steps and will not be without its difficulties. Your kids, and especially your teenagers, will undoubtedly screw up but remember that we learn some of our most valuable lessons as a result of the mistakes we make.

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