Teach your Teen to be Frugal During the Holidays
The Holidays are a great time for teaching your teen how to be frugal. You can show them how to get the most out of their money, how to save money and different options for gift-giving.
Teach your Teen how to get the Most out of their Money
The Holidays are about giving and some teens really love to give. The trouble is most teens don’t know how to bargain or comparison shop. They usually see something they’d like to give and if they have the money they get it without a second thought. But, you can teach them how to shop and compare.
When you get your local store’s ads in the mail, sit down with your teen and show them what’s on sale. Show them the sales price compared to regular price. Also, compare ads with another store. Perhaps one store will have an item on sale one week, and then the next week a different store will feature that same item in their sales ad. Teach your child to wait before they just go out and purchase something at regular price.
Brand name items can often be found at greatly reduced rates in outlet stores like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Teach your teen to shop these stores for items that would otherwise be too expensive.
Help your teen make wise gift choices by teaching them not to select a gift just for the sake of giving a gift. What I mean by this is, for example, when you go to your local department or big box store there is always an aisle, or two, of shelves filled with pre-packaged gift items. Usually these items are off brand makeup sets or hair brush sets, wallets, weather clocks, socks, slippers, and other stuff no one really wants. A better idea would be to go to the dollar store and pick up some cute baskets and fill them with some items your teens family and friends really want. You can do this fairly inexpensively and the gifts are much more appreciated and usually cost a whole lot less.
For instance, a teen girl might really like a basket with a sample or trial size of their favorite perfume or body spray, some lip gloss, a tube of mascara, some hair ties or headbands, their favorite CD or DVD, a candle, some scented lotion or bath gel. You could even create a set of their favorite shower items like shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion for fairly inexpensively.
Another great idea is to have your teen bake a batch of goodies and package them up into nice gift baskets for giving.
If your teen is artsy, have them create some works of art and hand them out for gifts. Most people truly appreciate handmade gifts better than store bought anyway.
As you can see, there are lots of ways you can help your teen be more frugal during the Holidays. A little though and imagination can go a long way.
