Sunday, December 28, 2008

Teaching Teenagers All About Responsible Consumerism

By Alix Montoya

Nowadays, there are more and more kids who are falling victim to cheap marketing tactics used by capitalists desperate to increase sales during the current economic dilemma. Kids are getting more irresponsible and indiscriminate when it comes to swiping credit cards on weekend long shopping sprees.

You can lessen your kids' financial privileges outright, or you can teach them how to become more responsible. It's your call as their parent. But in case you chose the latter, here are a few ideas to get the message across. You'll never know, you just might make all the difference in their world.

Why don't you ask your child to get a job? It's admittedly hard, but there's no better way to make them understand the value of money more than working hard to earn it. The choice of job is of course dependent on the age. In fact, if they're a little older and more inclined they might want to even start a business of their own. A good place to start is their hobbies through North Carolina craft shows.

You can also convince them to open up an account at the local bank so they can save some of their allowance money or salaries for future use. Discuss interests and other banking matters and make sure to point out the advantages of having some cash ready when you need it. It's even a good idea to start out a college fund and let them save up for it.

Another great idea is to teach them how to plan out their expenses effectively. One good way to do this is by teaching them how to write a budget. Let them join you and when you're doing the household budget, or better yet, do it together. Your child would be learning all about better budgeting and you'll be spending time with them.

It's never a good idea to just let your kids loose out on the mall with credit cards in hand. You'll be surprised at the difference some of these tips can make, if you just put some effort into doing them. - 16928

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