Budgeting can be stressful, especially when you’re on a tight budget. However, it’s an important skill that everyone needs to know how to do. This includes your teenagers as well! It won’t be long before your teenagers leave the nest and are out on their own, so use their time at home to teach them good money habits! Here is how to teach teens how to budget.

How to Teach Teens to Budget

 

Teach them to track their spending

This is where a lot of finances go downhill. Most of us know just how much we make, but not where it all goes. While your teenager won’t be tracking their bills necessarily, they can start getting in the habit of writing down their expenses and where that money is going! This will not only help them learn about spending their money wisely but help them see how those little trips to the movies with friends or coffee before class add up.

10 Things to Cut From your Budget

Identify their “income”

What does income look like for a teenager? For them, it might be money earned from a part-time job or an allowance. Help them break down their income and where that money should go. If you want to take it a step further, you could even help them learn about the concepts of rent, utilities, and other bills by “taking it out” of their allowance. This will help them learn about what they have for take-home pay and how to know how much they make.

Teach them the importance of saving and giving

Learning to budget isn’t just about keeping yourself out of the red. It’s also about learning to save up for larger expenses and the importance of giving. Saving for a rainy day is an easy concept to grasp. However, your teenager must learn about saving for long term goals, such as paying for college expenses or even a house. While you are teaching them to save, don’t forget to help them learn about giving. This could be through charitable donations or through buying things to give to others.

Be a good role model

The reality of what will teach your teens how to budget is if they have a good role model! If they are always blowing their budget, ask yourself if you’ve taught them to do this. Do you have a treat yourself mindset? Have you found yourself spending outside of your own means? These are subtle things we pass down to our kids without even realizing it! Practice being a good role model for your kids and even do things like track your spending together! Having them see real money and consequences in your budget could also serve as a good learning lesson for them!

Check out this post on how to start saving money!

 

As you can see, teaching your kids to budget doesn’t have to be hard! While this guide is specifically designed for teenagers, you could still use it for your younger kids too! Hopefully, this guide will help you start teaching your teenagers how to budget, so they can grow up to be financially smart adults!

Check out more of my budgeting tips:

How to live on a budget

5 Tricks to decorating on a budget

 How to live cheap without feeling cheap

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