I have found the best way to save money on snacks for teens is twofold: change them up and put them out. The thing you want to avoid is having your teen comb the entire kitchen and then exclaim, "There's nothing to eat!" when you have full cabinets and the refrigerator is overflowing.
First, purchase different snacks each week, this will keep your teen interested in the food available. I'll use bananas as an example from my home. If I buy them every week, there will come a time that I have bananas going brown and no one will touch them. But when we go for a week without them, my teens wonder if we will be getting them again soon, and they don't waste them when we do.
Second, food needs to be ready to eat. When teens are hungry, an unprepared fruit salad isn't what they'll grab. But if the fruit is cut up and just needs to be scooped out, they will do it. And if it is in the bowl ready for them when they walk in the door from school, all the better.
Some Fun Recipes:
Follow the About.com Parenting & Family's Thrifty Thursday:
Is your teen's
youth group doing any caroling this year? Maybe just heading out to the local light show? Are you trying to pull together a car pool of teenagers? It's crazy! Lucky for you I've done this quite a few times and although I'm not promising you won't get a little nuts, these tips should help.
Shopping for your teen can make you nervous about facing all of the holiday crowds, finding the right gift, your budget, etc. But parents, you can get your teen to help! Have them tell you what they want and then just order what you need online. For years, I've been using this time-saving trick. I still shop in stores for the fun of it at Christmas, but it is stress-free, because what I need is already purchased.
Here is how: Have your teen create a wish list and give them the responsibility to find the item in online stores, trying to get the best price. Then use their wish list to shop. Be sure to tell your teen what your budget is, but that they can put what they want on the list. This is also very handy if you have relatives who are looking to buy for your teen. Just email your teen's list to them. One wish list I recommend is Amazon.com's wish list area.
Suggested Resources:
Follow the About.com Parenting & Family's Holiday Shopping
My daughter has a very part time job this year, therefore she has been able to save some money for Christmas shopping. After counting it up and seeing what she would like to buy her sisters and her friends, she realizes that she may not have enough. She then started looking for sales and has not - yet - asked for more money from me. The thing is, I'm not sure how much money I'm willing to give. I'm sure after talking to her I'll know better what she needs, but as a ballpark figure, I don't know. My feelings are that I was willing to give her more last year, but why should she be penalized for
having a job and
saving some money? I'm going to have to think about this. While I do, let's get a pulse from our parenting community with a poll - and don't forget to
leave your opinion in the comments area!
Poll: How much money do you give your teen for Christmas shopping?
See the poll results.
