How To Motivate Your Teen To Save Money

A parent’s guide to helping teens build strong financial habits that last a lifetime

Getting your teen to save money can feel a bit like asking them to clean their room without being told twice—possible but not exactly easy. 

Most teens aren’t naturally motivated to save. They live in the now, and if they’ve got money in their wallet, chances are they’re ready to spend it. All of this isn’t to say they can’t learn to save. It just means they need the right kind of motivation

Teens are much more likely to save when they feel like it’s tied to something they care about: a car, a trip, a new phone, or even the independence of not having to ask you for money. With the right approach, you can turn saving from a boring chore into something empowering and rewarding. 

Make Saving Tangible

Asking a teen to save “just because” rarely works. To them, the idea of building a savings account for someday can feel abstract, boring, or worse…pointless. Motivating your teen to get in the habit of saving starts with giving them a purpose they can actually get behind.

Start with a short-term goal, something they’re genuinely excited about, like a new phone, concert tickets, or a new pair of shoes. These types of goals feel attainable and will give your teen a clear reason to hold off on impulse purchases.

Once they’re in the groove of saving for short-term wants, introduce the idea of long-term financial goals. This could be saving for their first car, saving for college books, or having emergency money stashed away so they don’t need to ask you for cash every time something comes up. Long-term goals feel less exciting than the fun short-term wants, but they lay the foundation for some financial freedom later down the road.

Encourage Them To Earn Their Own Money

When teens work for their own cash, whether through chores or a part-time gig, they begin to understand its true value. Suddenly, spending $40 on a clothing haul doesn’t seem quite as fun when it took hours of work to earn it. 

If your teen hasn’t started earning yet, ease them in by exploring opportunities that match their interests and comfort level. Maybe they’re great with kids and want to babysit for neighbors. Maybe they’re artistic and could sell digital art or handmade crafts online. Or maybe they’re ready for a weekend job at a local shop or café.

With their own income coming in, you can help guide them on how to spend their money wisely: saving a portion of their paycheck for those short-term and long-term goals while having a bit for their everyday needs. 

Talk Openly About Real-Life Costs

 

For teens, the idea of saving for “the future” feels vague and unmotivating, especially when their priority is what’s happening this weekend. Connecting real-world expenses and the freedom that comes with it can help make saving feel more relevant.

Have open, honest conversations with your kids about the actual cost of everyday things. Break down how much gas costs, what a phone bill looks like, or what their dream car’s monthly payment might be. Don’t overwhelm them with all the details, but do give them a clear picture to help bridge the gap between fantasy and reality.

You can frame these lessons around freedom and choices, not restrictions. You might say:

  • Want to take a trip with your friends next summer? Saving now means you can go without asking for help.
  • Want your own car? Saving for a bigger down payment will give you more flexibility with a lower monthly payment.
  • Want to live on your own sooner? Learning to manage money today sets you up to do that confidently.

Teens are much more likely to take saving seriously when they see it as the key to unlocking freedom. 

Make It a Challenge

Teens love a good challenge. Whether it’s beating a level in a video game, winning a match at their sport, or keeping a Snapchat streak alive for 300+ days, they’re wired for motivation through achievement. So, why not apply that same mindset to saving money?

Turning saving into a competition makes it feel more fun rather than forced. Try out a monthly savings challenge. You may challenge your teen to save $50 each month of summer, and if they hit their goal, they get a bonus like a small treat or an extra privilege like picking the next restaurant for a night out.

Have more than one kid at home? Introduce a friendly family savings competition. Who can save the highest percentage of their income in 30 days? Who can go the longest without impulse purchases? Add a small reward, a matching incentive, or bragging rights to the mix, and you’ve just made saving money into something they want to do. 

Open a Savings Account

Once your teen starts building up some money, they’ll need a safe place to keep it. A savings account gives them the resources to store money securely, track deposits and withdrawals, and get familiar with digital banking tools. They can keep their savings separate from their everyday spending so they aren’t tempted to spend it. 

If your teen has earned income from a job, you can take things a step further with a custodial Roth IRA. You and your teen can contribute post-tax income into this investment account where it grows tax-free for retirement. That may not seem thrilling to a teenager now, but making even just small contributions now gives their money ample time to grow. 

Lead By Example

As much as we’d like to think our teens aren’t paying attention to us, they absolutely are. When your teen sees you making smart financial decisions, they’re more likely to mirror that behavior—even if they won’t admit it out loud.

Be open with your kids about your own experiences with money. Share stories about what you wish you had known about money at their age, how you save for emergencies or vacations, or even how you learned from a financial mistake. This kind of transparency makes money feel less intimidating and more like a normal part of adult life. 

It’s also important to create space for ongoing money conversations. Instead of sitting them down for a one-time “money talk,” look for everyday moments to weave it in:

  • Encourage them to listen in when you’re comparing prices at the grocery store.
  • Ask them to help calculate a tip when you go out to eat.
  • Talk through how you decided between two purchases or why you waited to buy something on sale. 

These real-life, low-pressure conversations help build your teen’s financial decision-making skills organically. 

 

Saving money might not come naturally to teens, but motivation grows when they feel empowered, supported, and in control. It probably won’t be your teen’s favorite thing, but what matters is helping them see the point in saving. 

Whether they’re saving for a car, college, or just the feeling of independence, your support and guidance can make all the difference. And once they start hitting their own money goals—even the small ones—they’ll start to feel that pride and momentum build.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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3 Principles For Helping Elderly Relatives With Health Conditions

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There are many wonderful parts of aging that are often under-discussed – the fact that you live with no pretense or the desire to impress anyone, being surer of yourself, having the wisdom of the years behind you, and knowing what really matters in life, like family.

However, it’s true there are downsides, of course. We need not list them here, but the one of note is that health conditions become more common and likely. It’s not unusual for an elderly individual, even with a healthy life behind them, to have one or two conditions that need management. Thankfully, medicines and healthcare appointments exist to keep them on the right track.

It also helps to provide some love and care as their younger relatives. It’s what we would hope for ourselves after all, and so soothing their daily experience can count for a great deal. But what principles can help you in this duty, especially if you have children and a full working life to manage?

Well, let’s explore that.

Medication Management

Keeping track of someone’s meds isn’t hard because the task itself is complicated (even with a fair amount of prescriptions)  it’s more that it never really stops, and because of how important it is. If your elderly relative has trouble with their need to to check or reorder or double-check, and if you’re juggling work and kids on top of that, it can be tough. But before you notice pills running low, and want to avoid realizing they missed a dose because the old bottle didn’t have one of those pop-up reminders, there are some measures you can use.

Some people use alarms on their phone, or you may just tape a note to the fridge and go from there. Weekly pill boxes can be helpful too, especially the ones with big writing that show what’s been taken and what hasn’t.

Device Upkeep & Repair

If a device they rely on stops working, it slows everything else down, and you can usually tell something’s off before they even mention it. That might include a hearing aid that’s started to buzz or lose clarity, which can cause a bit of quiet withdrawal, which can happen without anyone really noticing until someone points it out.

Hearing aid repair, or making sure you go for maintenance checks of the device in question, can help. In this case it might be a blocked tube or the battery running low, and a quick clean or part swap sorts it. There are also services that can check the device without needing a full in-person appointment, which helps if getting out is tricky. It’s worth checking every so often, even if they haven’t said anything.

Routine Scheduling & Management

Most people like knowing what their week looks like no matter their age or health, and it doesn’t have to be rigid, just enough structure that there aren’t surprises. But when we’re elderly we care about that more, such as having a repeated morning walk for exercise, lunch at the same time most days, or going for chekups.

Helping them with this can help, like such as swinging by the pharmacy on the way back from a check-up or booking appointments close together to save an extra trip later in the week. And if you can’t make it one day, asking a friend or relative to step in can help. But assisting you relative is very worthwhile in this matter.

 

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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3 Tips for Starting a Family Emergency Fund

Image by Kevin Schneider from Pixabay

 

Starting an emergency fund for your family is definitely something that you need to do. Emergencies can happen at any time and you need to be prepared for them. 

However, starting an emergency fund can be challenging. Here are some tips to help you get started with your fund very quickly.

Determine How Much You Need

A good emergency fund should cover at least three to six months worth of your expenses. You should start by calculating your monthly cost of living, including random mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation as well as your insurance. 

If your income is unpredictable or if you have dependents you should aim even higher than this range. This will give you greater stability.

Set a Realistic Savings Goal

Once you know how much you need it’s a good idea to break it up into smaller manageable goals. If saving six months worth of expenses seems impossible for you, start with one month’s worth. 

You can then work your way into more. Even saving a few hundred dollars a month can help with your emergency fund. This way you will always make consistent progress instead of trying to focus on the total amount all at once. This can make it overwhelming and you may become discouraged.

Look for Ways to Cut Spending

You should always be looking for areas where you can cut back on spending. Simple changes, such as eating out less can make a big difference. Additionally, consider cancelling your subscriptions or shopping for better insurance. 

All of this can give you extra cash that you can use towards your emergency fund.

You should place wind falls, your tax refunds or even bonuses towards your emergency funds as well. If your family or friends give you cash gifts you can also add it to there as well to accelerate your savings.

Earn Extra Income to Boost Your Fund

If saving from your current income seems to be challenging you should try other things to bring extra money. Try selling unused items or taking on freelance work. 

You can use cash back apps because these can help you to reach your goals a lot easier. You may even want to consider exploring affiliate marketing opportunities, such as joining the top payday loan affiliate program to generate some passive income for your fund.

Open a Dedicated Savings Account

Keep your emergency fund separate from your regular checking account. It is going to reduce the temptation to spend when you don’t have urgent expenses. 

Try a high yield savings account because it is a good option and allows your money to grow while remaining accessible in an emergency. Try to avoid accounts that have fees because they can eat into your savings. 

Consider setting up automatic transfers to your emergency fund. This ensures that you always stay on track. If you receive an irregular income then you should consider saving a percentage of each payment instead of a fixed amount.

A solid emergency fund is possible but you definitely have to be strategic about saving for it.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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Harlem Globetrotters – Family Fun!

We had the opportunity to go see the The Harlem Globetrotters a few weeks ago. We traveled down to the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL. The Stephen C. O’Connell Center was a perfect venue, small and cozy for lots of family fun.

 

The globetrotters did not disappoint. There was plenty of live action and comedy. Silliness and audience participation were also included.

I took my 17-year-old daughter. We had fun but this would have been more suited to younger children. However, we still had lots of laughs!

 

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Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS 2025 WORLD TOUR – PRESENTED BY JERSEY MIKE’S SUBS

 

I remember seeing the Harlem Globetrotters when I was a child. Then about 10 years ago I was able to take my children. It is a fun event!!

 

Save 20% with Promo Code: USFAM

hhttps://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/world-tour/schedule

Get ready for high-flying fun as the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters make their victorious return with their 2025 World Tour! This is your chance to witness the world record-breaking, trick-shot stars of basketball LIVE as they bring their signature SPINS, DUNKS, and SLAMS to the court, taking on their determined rivals, the Washington Generals.

Coupon:  https://www.usfamilycoupons.com/coupon.php?regionid=75&bid=13043&dealid=2964

Save up to 20% with Promo Code: USFAM
https://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/world-tour/schedule

 

(Discount Expires 7 Days Prior To Game Date)

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

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