by Hope
Back in October, I wrote about my teens getting their first jobs and thus first checking accounts and our plan of action…you can read that post here as refresher. I am so happy to be writing that we seem to be on the right path and it seems to be working, better than I could have expected. To summarize, here are how their bi-weekly paychecks are broken down:
- 25% – in cash in their pocked to spend however they like although it must cover meals out with their friends, dates, etc. pretty much their entire chosen social life
- 25% – into their checking account and only used for “bills.” Bills include their personal hygiene, clothes and other regulated expenses that come up. I let them use this money when they are out with one of their activities and need a meal or spending money for a specific item as well.
- 50% – into their savings which is ear marked for college and not to be touched.
With this plan they typically have $15-25 to spend per week AND more importantly each of them has almost $500 in the savings accounts…in just 3 months. They are LOVING seeing that amount go up every time we go to the bank. They’ve also been able to buy some new clothes they wanted, including work clothes and shoes, pay for their own haircuts (Sea Cadet needs them quite regularly) and really enjoying have a “card” of their own.
I think one of the biggest reasons for our success is that we set the plan in place from the beginning and have not wavered. After three months, they’ve got a pretty clear picture of what qualifies for each of their spending categories…whether it needs to come out of their fun money or they bill money and have been very dependable in being faithful to that. I am so, so proud of them.
They are already talking about working full time when they can in the summer, filing their taxes and paying for their “prom” tickets this year. So despite my challenges and failures in managing my money, I think my teens are starting off on the right foot and really learning the value of work and money with these small successes.
