greenbags

Special Sections
-- Baby Boomers -- Family -
-- Green -- Home and Auto --
-- In Critical Condition -- Lifestyle --
-- Just Starting Out -- Money --



The Dollar Stretcher

Teaching Teens About Money

by Charles M. Armstrong III
carmst@jeffnet.org



share your thoughts
about frugal living
at TDS Community
 
Web Stretcher.com

Subscribe to Our Money Saving Newsletter

Also In This Week's Issue

Credit crunch may squeeze card users

Commuting costs got you down?

Video: Retirement planning in your 30s

Smart ways to trim big-ticket expenses

Visit our Library

More Stories About:

Automobiles

Babies

Children

Debt

Groceries and Food

Making Extra Money

Natural Living

One Income Families

Weddings



Advertise on this site

No copies may be made for any form of compensation; however, copies may be freely made for personal use or to send to others without compensation.

  1. Stick to your guns. Tell them if they want something, they have to EARN it, not LEECH off you and/or their grandparents. When I was growing up, I asked my dad about driving the family car. His answer: "You want to drive? You have to pay for the insurance. And if you can afford the insurance, you can afford to buy your own car." Guess who won. It wasn't me.

  2. You then have to teach them that WORK/LABOR + TIME = MONEY! No money, no allowance without commensurate labor and responsibilities. If they want lunch money, tell them it's either brown bagging it or they have to earn it themselves.

  3. Point out to them that child labor laws only refer to working for wages in a commercial enterprise under a certain age. This has ZERO BEARING on WORKING AT HOME! Child labor laws don't apply at home.

  4. Ask them whether they're adults or children. Little children often whine and beg and wheedle for money. Only infants have to be fed. And only "babies," incapable of feeding themselves, continue to be spoonfed. Ask them, "Are you money babies?"

  5. Next, teach them about the working world. Introduce them to friends, relatives, and acquaintances and get them talking about making a living. It's obvious that they have no contact with that world, and so they are in complete ignorance of what it's really like! Teach them how to make money.

  6. Take them through the entire process of renting an apartment, buying a house, buying a car, paying bills, how to start and run a business, the costs of weddings, the cost of raising children, and the costs of going to college. Give them the real inside details. Walk them through it. Make them do the math. Give them a cash journal and have them track their finances for a month.

  7. Teach them about GOAL SETTING and PLANNING, including long-term (such as ten years ahead)! Get them to thinking about their future. And give them the tools to get to that future. Most of all, talk with them about money. After all, you as parents already know how important a part of life it is. This is stuff they won't get in school, and you owe it to them as part of their upbringing to teach them about it because if you don't, they'll have to learn it all the hard way, including all the mistakes that would otherwise be unnecessary. Teach them your frugal values. Make it a competition to see who can find the best deals on stuff they have to have. And the winner keeps the difference in pocket money.

Charles M. Armstrong III is a professional writer and composer who resides with his Russian wife, Olga, in Ashland, Oregon. He is a retired concert classical and flamenco guitarist, an infamous punster, notorious limerick writer, and even worse joke teller! He's also of Scottish ancestry, which accounts for his "interest" in frugal living. copyright 1998 Charles M. Armstrong III

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

Advertise on this site











Additional Dollar Stretcher Articles:

Economic Turmoil Causing Credit Card Changes
How will recent events affect your personal finances?

My Story
Avoiding creditors will only make things worse

I'm Out of Money
When there's more month than money

Frugal Myths
3 things that don't work and 3 things that do!

Signs of Wealth
Follow the signs to a more prosperous future


Our Sponsor

Check Your Credit Now
Get Your Credit Score, Credit Report and
3-Bureau Credit Monitoring Free for 30 Days

I Would like to:

Would you like to tell a Frugal Friend about this article? Just fill out their email address and your name and we'll send them the URL.
Enter your friend's email:
Enter your name:
Enter a message to your friend:

Copyright 1996 - 2008 "The Dollar Stretcher, Inc.". All rights reserved unless specifically noted.

Write to the Dollar Stretcher at:
Dollar Stretcher
PO Box 14160
Bradenton
FL 34280-4160

941-761-7805 voice
941-761-8301 fax


"The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation.