I got the idea for this tip at the Motley Fool site. The article was about earning and saving money tips for teens and it suggested that teens ask their parents to match their savings. For instance, if your teen makes $65 in tips one week and chooses to put $25 in savings, you would give your teen $25 more to put in savings and he/she would be depositing $50 in savings. This would encourage your teen to think about savings first before spending the whole $65 at the mall.
I really like this idea and I'm going to talk to my teen and try it. Here are three things I will do when setting it up that should make it run a bit more smoothly:
- I'm going to put a cap on how much per month I will match. This will keep me from busting my own budget.
- We - my teen and I - need to agree on what the savings are for. I'm willing to match the savings of goals like a car or building her net worth. I'm not willing to match savings for the most rad basketball court sneakers for the upcoming season. She knows what her school clothing budget is, the rest has to be all of her own money or what is the point?
- Savings then need to stay in savings until the goal is met or my money is returned to me.
More Teens and Money Resources:
- Five First-rate Opportunities to Talk Money Sense with Your Teen
- How To Give an Allowance That Includes Financial Responsibility
- The Motley Fool Investment Guide for Teens
For more family friendly money saving tips, check out the August edition of the All About Parenting Blog Carnival: Money Saving Tips, which is hosted by the guide to the Single Parents site at About.com Jennifer Wolf.
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I think this is a great idea. I’m hoping it will alleviate the constant “extended hand”. I like the idea of establishing the guidelines for use.
I love the idea especially about linking savings and a goal of building her net worth. Thank you for sharing it.
I guess if you could afford to match your childs savings that would be a good idea. Some of us are not in a good enough paying job even to have savings of our own. My teens know if they need money for anything they have to work for it . We don’t have credit cards. Needs come before wants. Wants come from their pocket after their needs are met. They know the value of a dollar and apreciate what they have.
I think this is a terrific idea! I have been giving my son allowance every 2 wks to aleviate the “can you buy this for me” when we go to the store. He has his own money. But we were having trouble saving money for future. He’s good and saving for a goal. For example, he bought himself a Wii last year. I agreed to buy a game and accessories. I would like him to learn more about saving for future vs immediate wants/needs. Recently, I saw that ING.com has an area that teens can use as a practice to invest in stocks/mutual funds. As I understand, it’s ‘real-time’ stock $$, but fake money in their acct. Basically, practicing investing. Perhaps, grownups should try this as well!!! My son just turned 11 yrs old. I would like him to be financially capable when he grows up – earning and saving. Something my parents did not do for me was teach me about money.
For me one of the greatest ideas to save money as a teen was keep it out of the reach. A debit card helped a lot because at that time few shops accepted them as payment. Another way to keep the cash is to go out without it. Sounds silly, but really works. If I don’t have money with me, I can’t spend it.
Great Great Idea..one downfall I think if the child is a real young teen. Ours is 19..working part time..living at home..already one year down of college done during Senior year at H.S..but is taking a leave til Jan (family choice)..before going back. Needs a car badly and we are willing to help out with that once we see determination on their part..but to match and place it in the bank. After 18 they have that access without parent..and once it is in there your sunk..so dont mind matching it but it stays in a separate account with our name on it where we would have total control until the time the vehicle or reasonable use is determined.
We are making our 20-yr-old pay a significant amount of “rent” which he will get back when he can afford to either go to college or move out; at that time, we’ll match it.
What a great idea to encourage a teen to save.
So color have nothing to do with financial downturn. ,
A joke for you! What time is it when the clock strikes 13? Time to get the clock fixed.
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