Do tweens and teens need to budget? YES, they do! Budgeting is essential! It does not matter if they are already working for a fast food restaurant, cutting yards in the neighborhood or receiving an allowance a budget is where it begins.
Every parent or guardian should add budgeting 101 to the set of financial tools that they give their children. Budgeting enables the tweens and teens the capability of having a clear picture of the amount of money they intend on spending and saving, as well as the amount of money they have spent already. Now with you as the guiding force, and me as your Coach, this is how we can create your own little conscious spender. Remember, the traits they learn as a child are the habits that will follow them into adulthood, so it is never too early to start.
Steps of Budgeting 101
- Have a conversation with the tween or teen regarding how much money they earn or given and how often they will receive the money.
- Listen to their finance ideas, evaluate their ideas, and then help them to identify their money goals.
- Then it’s time to write down their budget. Have the tween/teen write down how much money they will make, and an outline of the costs of desired items. You can use a computer or spreadsheet to create a budget. If you don’t have a computer, NO PROBLEM; use a notebook and a pen.
- Saving money MUST be a key component of the budget (in fact it should be #1 – pay yourself first).
- Donating is important! Have them budget time to help someone in need, share their talents with someone or donate some of their cash to someone or an organization.
- Revisit the budget on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on what makes sense) in order to evaluate whether they remained within their budget or did you have to BAIL them out.
- Re-evaluate the money goals that were initially set up to see if they still make sense or should they be revised.
Another aspect to help your kids learn about budgeting is to have them open up their own checking account. This will help them to learn about the responsibility of owning an account and only spending what is there. Checking and/or debit card accounts are available at many financial institutions for children 13 years old and up. These accounts are linked to a parent or guardian account; where you have the ability to transfer their allowance or deposit amounts they earned from work. This is a financial mechanism, which assists with tracking their spending. The bank statements that will be available on a monthly basis will help them to see where their money went.
For tweens, allowance tracking websites can be utilized, in order to track spending habits. Children get excited when they feel they have some sense of control over their money. Budgeting gives them a good foundation towards being in control of their money.
You continue to do your part and I’ll continue to support you as you create more Money Smarts in your home!
Consciously,
Shareeke The Conscious Spender
theconsciousspender.wordpress.com 
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