While you may not want your teen to learn by handling all of the family finances, you can give them a particular item to budget out and follow through like the grocery money for this week or this year's family vacation budget. By having an active part in budgeting an experience they are participating in, they will connect how the money was spent to produce the experience. This lesson can be done over and over again until your teen is really good at budgeting. Here are a few places where you can let your teen get some budgeting experience:
- family holiday events
- family vacations
- summer or camp activities
- the weekly grocery list
- their monthly spending: lunch money, activity money or clothing budget
- a birthday party budget
On a side note, do allow your teen to make mistakes and to try again. This is a learning experience and often times in order to learn, you need to make mistakes.
Quick Links: Teach Your Teen to Be Money Smart | Quiz: Is Your Teen Money Smart?
More on Parenting Teens.
