National Bank of MomEven though I’ve been budgeting for over 10 years now, things have felt more and more tight with every passing year.
J just graduated from high school, and I decided to sit down and calculate just how much his senior year cost us!
(Just a note that AI was NOT involved in the writing of this post.)
Below is a list of expenses for his senior year.
Recently a friend shared that her 8th grader was going on a school field trip. Parents had been advised to make sure their child had a way to electronically pay for any souvenirs because the destination was cashless.
The teacher gave the parents some suggestions — a pre-paid card (like from the grocery store), adding a card to Apple Wallet or the like on the child’s phone, or giving them cash and having them convert it to a card at the destination.
She ended up adding her card to her son’s Apple Wallet and all was well, but 8th grade is a great time to get kids their own card so they can learn to manage money!
I’ve been using YNAB for years now (and J does too), and what’s made a HUGE difference for me was money in categories. Instead of seeing $3,000 in my bank account, I see that I have $300 allocated for groceries and don’t overdo it on the fancy cheeses every time I go to the store.
This works well with most categories – groceries, household goods, gas, utilities. Typically I spend about the same amount per month in each of these categories.
For some categories like car insurance, I allocate money each month and pull the money out twice a year when the payments are due.
I have noticed an issue with other categories, though, and maybe you have, too.
Want to get your kids started managing money? I’ve broken the process down over five days, and by the end of day 5, they should be well on their way!
Let’s get started. Grab two index cards and a pen.
When I first started teaching J about money, we used cash and envelopes. After a few years, we switched to FamZoo’s prepaid cards and last year when he turned 13, we opened regular checking and savings accounts at our credit union.
J has also been using YNAB for two years now, but I wanted to give an update on the entire process and how easy it can be for your teenager to manage their money.
