How to Save Money
Tips for Teenagers
Budgets and Saving Money
On the basis of the personal record account you have made, you can decide upon a possible plan for future use of your money. Such a plan is called a "budget," a "spending plan," or a "financial plan." Your plan may or may not be good, but you cannot tell until you give it an honest trial. No budget is any good unless it is carried out. Compare your actual spending with your plan frequently. The first plan you make may not really fit your needs, and you may have to revise it until it is right for you and helps you to meet your goals.
Why Have a Budget?
-It saves you time and bother every time you want to spend
money and can't decide whether or not you should.
-It helps you to get the
things you want as well as the things you need, and may even allow for a bit of
foolish spending.
-It will give you experience in learning to plan your spending
and saving that will be of value to you all your life
-It allows you to save
for things you could not afford otherwise.
Planning on Saving
Every good budget should provide for setting aside an amount of money - no matter how small - for saving. By saving is meant putting aside a definite amount regularly. This amount should be included in the budget and taken out first. Unless you do this, you will probably not be able to save.
It is easier to save when you are putting money aside for some definite purpose, not just for the sake of saving. The person who has saved money is also better prepared for an emergency.
It will help you to keep from dipping into your savings unnecessarily if you put the money away where you cannot readily get it.
Reasons for Saving Money
-To
be prepared for an emergency or have money on hand for future use.
-To have
money on hand for the purchase of an article too expensive to buy otherwise.
-To
develop habits of thrift and living within an income
Ways To Keep Savings
-Give
it to your parents to lay away for you, and do not ask for it back.
-Have a
bank in your room that cannot be opened easily
-Put it in a commercial bank
-Buy
Savings Bonds
What You Gain by Careful Management of Your Money
-You
can have more things for the same amount of money
-You will have less trouble
with your parents
-You can have more of the things you want
-You can save
for your goals or for large articles
-You will not be worried or frustrated
about money problems
-You will gain a skill that will help you as a homemaker
Keeping a Record of Spending
The first step in managing your money more wisely is to keep a record of the way you are spending your money now. Make a complete, accurate record over a period of at least a week. A month's record is better. At the end of the time, look at your account to see where your money has gone. Have you spent it wisely, or have you wasted some of it? Only you can decide, and you will have to be very honest with yourself in making the decision.
An expense record like below will help you to keep an accurate account of just what you are doing with your money.
SAMPLE EXPENSE RECORD
Record
of Expense ..... Mon.... Tues....
INCOME
Allowance
____________________________
Earnings
____________________________
Gifts,
loans, etc.
____________________________
Total Income
FIXED EXPENSES
Lunch
__________________________
Transportation
__________________________
School
Supplies
__________________________
Clothes
__________________________
Church
__________________________
Contributions
__________________________
FLEXIBLE EXPENSES
Entertainment
__________________________
Snacks
__________________________
Cosmetics
__________________________
Personal
Grooming
__________________________
Bicycle Repairs
__________________________
Gifts
__________________________
Club
Dues
__________________________
Personal Accessories
__________________________
Others
__________________________
Total
Expenses
SAVINGS
__________________________
__________________________
Keep
a written account of your personal expenditures for two or three weeks. At the
end of that time combine the expenditures into such groups as lunches, bus fares,
clothes, amusements. On the basis of your results, decide whether or not you need
to improve in your spending practices.
Keeping a record of what you spend gives you an opportunity to see where you might be spending too much and why you may not have money for some of the things you would like to do or have.
How is Your Money Spent?
No matter how much or how little money you have, it is still important to plan carefully the way in which you use it. Some people, through good planning, get much more for their money than do others.
What
Determines How Your Money is Spent?
Have you ever thought about money,
what it is really for? Actually, it is only a means by which we exchange our work
or the work of others for the clothes, food, books, amusements, or other things
we may need or want.
There is a difference between our needs and our wants. By wise planning of the spending of your allowance for the things you really need, you may have enough left for the things you want. One of the pleasures that comes from managing your money well is being able to spend a little money foolishly if you want, because you know you've done well with your other money.
Your
Personal Aims or Goals
If you want something very much, you will be willing
to save for it. Thus your personal desires, or your aims and goals, influence
your spending. You may even get your parents to match dollar for dollar, each
dollar you save, until you reach your goal of maybe saying, buying a bicycle.
Your
Family
Your parents may have a lot to do with the way your money is spent.
If you have a definite allowance, you probably have an understanding with your
parents as to what expenses your allowance must cover. School lunches, bus fare,
Sunday school and church offerings, paper and pencils, club dues, as well as the
occasional ice cream, soda, or movie may be included. You may be given some chance
to select and buy part of your clothing or the accessories for your room. After
you have reached an understanding with your parents as to what is to be included
in your spending, the actual management is your responsibility.
Your
Friends
The way your friends spend their money usually affects your spending.
You can think of many examples of ways in which your friends' purchases of cosmetics
or clothing accessories have influenced you to spend your money for similar things.
As a result, you may buy something which your own better judgement tells you is
a foolish purchase. On the other hand, in some cases your friends' spending practices
could be a good influence.
Ways That Young People Waste Money
1.
Going on a spending spree the minute any money is received.
2. Spending money
on snacks and trinkets that give only temporary satisfation
3. Being influenced
to spend money for things not really wanted.
Teen Tips
Teen
Allowances and Jobs
Teenagers and Money
Teen
Party Tips
Teens and Dating Tips
Dating
Manners
Making and Keeping Friends
Teenagers
and Credit Cards
Teenagers
and Cellphones
New Pages
Prepare for a Recession?
- I'm starting a list here of some things we are going to do to try to prepare
for this... somehow.
We Put Solar Lights in our
House - We've had a set of outdoor solar lights outside our house for 3 years,
and thought, "Why not put outdoor solar lights "inside" the house?
Wind
Turbine Test - We started thinking about how we could build a wind turbine
to generate our own electricity.
Magazines
for Toddlers - I wanted to send some magazines to the grandbaby for something
to do during winter.
