by Lokemun Magar

Created on: July 11, 2009   Last Updated: August 15, 2009

How do you make your teens change their spending habits if you have given your teens the illusion that money falls from the sky? On the other hand, you might want to grab hold of this economic down turn to tell them that money is no longer falling from the sky where you are concerned and hence where they are concerned too.

In all fairness, assess your teens' spending habits with them. You may be surprised at the expenses that teens consider 'normal'. For example, boys are still growing into their late teens and have unsatiable appetites at times. It is unfair to compare the amount of money they spend on food with the amount that their sister might have spent at the same age.

In a more affluent society, an acceptable outing includes gatherings at a coffee house or dining at a restaurant. While some teens are able to afford such luxuries, others such as your own teens may not because you do not earn as the parents of your teens' friends do. In such circumstances, there are more issues your teens need to grapple with, apart from money issues. There is the issue of apparent injustice in society, the issue that your teens are the unlucky ones in society, the issue of the different earning powers of parents.

You might want to consider these alternatives:

~ Be a good example of a wise spender

~ Do your family financial planning with your teens

~ Get your teens to earn their keeps

~ Take those plastic money cards away

Be a good example of a wise spender.

Research on habits of children into adulthood has time and again proven that wise parents produce wise children. Chances are that those closest to your teens are careless spenders. Children learn from a young age by imitating the actions of adults they are close to. If you have been the errant spender, it is not too late to change for the better. As parents, you are the head of the household, and even if your teens do not accept your sudden saintly spending, the truths will soon hit them hard and their spending habits will become more realistic.

If your teens have, on the other hand, not been careless spenders but scrooges, lessons to learn can be financial planning and assurance that although money is not easy to come by, stinging on necessities such as good food and lasting goods may reap undesirable results as well. Teach them to think in a rational and logical manner. For example, teach them that it is wiser to spend a little more on a good pair of shoes that lasts years and gives good support than buy

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