Sunday, December 28, 2008

Tips On How To Curb Overspending In Teens

By Alix Montoya

You may or may not know it, but more and more kids these days are oblivious to the global economic dilemma we're going through and are spending their money, or rather their parents money, on useless and expensive junk. There's an increasing number of kids out there who are falling for marketing tactics designed especially for the youth, who seem to be more gullible when it comes to buying stuff.

Parents are the best teachers when it comes to lessons outside of the classroom and one of the best things that we can teach our kids is the value of money and how we should handle it responsibly. Here are a few ideas to put you on the right track.

Teach them that money is the product of hard work and must not be taken for granted. If you have older kids, try and convince them to work or start their business in North Dakota craft shows. If your kids are a little younger, try giving them simple household responsibilities and then reward them for a job well done. Believe it or not, children tend to value money the worked hard for more than money they receive for doing nothing.

Open up a savings account for them. You can discuss opening up a savings account at a local bank and talk to them about how banks work. Make sure to point out the advantages of having a secure and safe bank account so they can save some of their money for future use. Point out how saving is also very useful in a pinch and how they could buy bigger and better things in the future if they save today.

You should also teach them how to budget. If you're looking for family activities, why not ask your kids to sit down with you as you plan out the household budget and walk them through how to do it themselves on their own allowance. Teach them all about the advantages of being able to plan ahead and being well prepared for whatever the future might bring.

You should teach your kids the real deal on money today, before they start eating off their college allowance on expensive lattes and excessive shopping sprees. It's always never too late to start out money matter lessons, until of course, it is completely too late.

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