Money Talks You Should Have With Your Teenager

Parenting is definitely a hard job and especially when they’re teenagers. Talking about the future and building their life skills is still important, though, as it will help them to get a better foundation in life when they’re off to college.

A few topics tend to stand out in terms of building these life skills, ranging from when boys should start shaving all the way through to how to manage their finances. The latter is, undeniably, one of the biggest ones. Young adults are generally a bit more reckless with their money but, if they manage to listen to your advice, they could be able to graduate without too much debt.

Here is a handful of ways to teach your teenagers to be a bit more money savvy and understand the importance of saving rather than spending. That way, we may even be able to raise a generation who values money and gets a kick out of watching it grow.

Stay away from the credit card

Heading off to college and being able to take care of yourself, being in charge of your own life, and making those important decisions can be a bit overwhelming. There are so many fun things to do, after all, and so many events they would like to be a part of – but how can they do this when they’re out of money?

While the bank would love for them to just take out a credit card and burn away that money they don’t really have, you would definitely prefer it if they were a bit smarter about it. Talk about how credit cards may be beneficial in the future as they can enjoy some rewards when staying on top of the down payments – but it’s not really something they should burden themselves with quite yet.

Prioritising what they would like to do and learning to only spend money that they actually have is a part of growing up; talk about it before college and they might be able to steer clear of that credit card trap.

Keep your expenses low

Sure, having a car would be great and all that when you’re actually able to drive but is it really necessary? If your kid is staying at campus and has the opportunity to take public transport to visit you guys at home, it’s definitely much better to wait with getting that car.

Cars are expensive and not just because they need to fuel up once in a while; there are insurance costs, maintenance costs, perhaps even parking costs – and all of this could have been better spent elsewhere.

If your teenager is unable to take a bus or a train to go home or if they live outside of campus, you might want to get involved in finding them a car that’s low on fuel and known for being rather robust. Start by having a look at Vauxhall Garage to make sure that they get one that is better suited for their needs.  

Other than that, your teenager should learn how to cook and preferably together with his or her family. Cook up some basic and budget-friendly meals together so that they’re able to take care of themselves rather than trusting the takeaway delivery guy and they might end up saving a small fortune.