Do you have issues with spending your hard-earned money on materialistic items, fast food, drinks or other objects that are not necessarily needed to live? If you can relate, there are other ways to go about spending your money and saving it for your future.
There are around 27.7 million teenagers living in the U.S. and they spend about 63 billion annually. Divided up, that is approximately $2,274.37 a teenager per year. While each teenager does not have the same income, most of that money is being spent on wants instead of needs and should be put into a savings account, which could help support great expenses like a new car, college or even a downpayment on a house in the future. With social media usage rising, “influencers” are some of the main problems with disrupting a teenager’s savings and spending. In reality, these teenagers already have enough to worry about.
Savings:
The average teen in South Dakota from 16 to 19 makes $16.90 an hour and works 25 hours a week. Each paycheck would be approximately $422.50. Whether it is driving to school or work, one will need to accommodate some of the paycheck towards gas money which will leave them with a good portion of their paycheck left over. It most likely will not all go straight to the savings account, but a better way to divide it up is to use 50% on needs, 20% on wants and 30% on savings. Doing this not only helps manage one’s budget but it sets up a good habit that one can continue to use in the future.
Clothes:
The next time you go out shopping for new clothes, shoes, or other needed items, think twice before buying. Is it good quality? Would you still want it if it wasn’t on sale? Is it too trendy? When will you wear it? Last but not least, is it a reasonable price? If you are ever out and about at a Target for example and your cart is full of merchandise, try looking away and think of all the items in your cart. For the objects that you can remember, think about how often you will use them. And for the items in your cart you could not think of, put them back.
Open lunch:
If you go out to eat for open lunch often, try adding up all the money you have spent just on food in a week. Whatever that amount may be, it could most likely be spent at a grocery store on food that you can make at home, which can be much more beneficial to your health. If you already have food at home, you could do yourself a favor by not only filling up your stomach but learning a useful life lesson like how to cook while at it.
Although it may be very tempting to buy whatever you want when seeing new trends rising and new products being released, think about the practicality of the possible purchase and what your future self would say looking back. Most importantly remember that just because you received a paycheck, that does not mean you need to spend it immediately.
