Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a Dollar

by Jenn

This post is brought to you by Amazon and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

We all want our children to grow up and know the value of a dollar, but it’s not just that easy.  They don’t teach kids about money management in school, it’s something that starts at home.  I’ve been teaching my kids about money, budgeting and saving since they were old enough to understand it.  I worked in a bank for years, and it was disturbing how many young college kids came in and didn’t appreciate their checking account, budgeting, saving, and some didn’t even know that their debit cards withdraw money from their account, much less how to balance a checkbook.  After seeing this time and time again, I decided I was going to make sure my kids understood how to manage their money.

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarTips for Teaching Teens the Value of a Dollar

No free money

Now I am not saying don’t give your children money as a birthday gift or anything like that but when it comes to everyday life, don’t just give them money.  I have my kids do different things for me around the house, or they will do things for some of our family and friends.  When they have to earn money, they appreciate it a bit more and are often smarter spenders.

Don’t give allowance

Don’t give your children an allowance.  Allow them to earn money for doing various things for you around the house, etc.  However, personally I wouldn’t pay my child to keep up with their own responsibilities – cleaning their room, making sure clothes are in the laundry room so they can be washed, etc.

Teach them about budgeting

There are some great budgeting tools out there to help you teach your kids the correct way to budget their money.  I use an awesome expense tracking app to show Vayda how budgeting works.

Give them room to make errors

Sadly, we all must make mistakes, they are by far the best way to learn and we must give our teens enough room to make mistakes.  One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is by setting Vayda up with her own Amazon login that is connected to my account. This allows her to have her own freedom to shop and purchase items but before anything is purchased I can review and approve the order.  This leaves room for GREAT teachable moments.

Tips for Teaching Teens The Value of a DollarGive them their own Amazon logins

Giving Vayda her personal Amazon login has been one of the best ways to teach her about the value of money, budgeting, and learning to become a savvy online shopper.

Did you know that Amazon has introduced an excellent way for teens 13 to 17 years old to shop?  Yes, they get to create their own login and can use the Amazon app anytime they want and just about anywhere they are, and parents are able to approve all orders and even pre-approve their spending limits.  This is AWESOME, it gives teens a customized amount of autonomy that changes and grows along with them.  You can sign your teen up at Amazon.com/forteens.

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarVayda’s birthday was not long ago, and I was able to give her a $100 Amazon gift card so she could get herself something. It was one of the coolest gifts she could have gotten because I don’t know what it is about turning 13 years old but man she suddenly craves more independence.  She keeps telling me, “but mom I’m older now.”  Which yes, I get it, but in all actuality, you are only 12 hours older than the last time you said that lol.

Tips for Teaching Teens The Value of a DollarHaving her own Amazon login and gift card to spend her way was something that she loved.  She spent about an hour looking at different things and finally decided to get a new pair of boots.  Which was what I was planning on getting her before the Amazon gift card.  I was so proud of her, she told me, “Mom since you were going to get new boots I picked out some new boots.”  YES, maybe just maybe she is a little more responsible too.  The 12-year-old Vayda probably would have spent it all on candy, lol.

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarThe process is super easy and it’s simple to set up a login for your teen by visiting amazon.com/forteens.  You can give your child a spending limit, view their recent orders, set their payment address, send them gift cards and more.

Depending on whether you used your child’s phone number or email address to sign them up, your teen will receive an email or text with a link for them to click on and create their login using the Amazon app. The login only requires their name, phone number or email address used, and password. It’s super quick and easy for them to set up a login that is attached to your account.

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarNow your teen can start shopping!  Setting up an Amazon login for your teen is SUPER easy and takes a few minutes.  I was honestly surprised how easy it was for me to set up, and even more surprised how easy it was for my daughter to get signed up and start shopping.

Teens Shop on Their Own, Parents Stay in the Know

Here a few more excellent benefits to setting up your teen with their own Amazon login.

Tips for Teaching Teens The Value of a DollarReview and approve orders via text message

I love this, teens cannot go crazy.  I honestly trust my kids, but you just never know.  Plus, this is an excellent opportunity to teach them about smart online shopping.  Maybe you can find it cheaper elsewhere on the site, a different brand, etc.  Being able to review and approve orders via text message is convenient and still allows room for those teachable moments while protecting ourselves and our teens.

If for some reason you do not wish to approve your child’s orders, not a problem.  You can skip the approval step and opt for an itemized notification when they place an order.

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarManage how your teen pays

If you are like me, you probably have multiple credit cards listed on your Amazon account.  Thankfully we can manage how our teens pay.  Yes, we have control over which payment, and method our teens can use to shop.

 

Tips for Teaching Teens the Value of a DollarEnjoy your own account again

OMG, parents this calls for a celebration!  We can finally enjoy our personal accounts again because our teen’s preferences and recommendations will be associated with their own login.  We get to keep gifts a surprise, and our recommendations are ultimately just that, our recommendations.

Share select Amazon Prime benefits for no extra costs

I have Amazon Prime, love the service and find it extremely beneficial for my family, especially now that I can share many of those benefits with my teen on their own login at no additional cost!  Yes, if you are a Prime member you can share your benefits such as Free Two-Day Shipping, access to in-game loot with Twitch Prime, and Prime Video.  You can also add an additional adult to your household so they too can enjoy the benefits of Prime.

Manage what your teens are watching on Prime Video

We all love Prime Video, right? I know I sure do, and my kids enjoy it as well.  Well parents, if you have Prime all TV show and movies that are included with Prime are available for your teen as well, but you can limit the content your teen can access (so you can block mature content).  You can change the settings at any time.

Manage where their items are shipped

We also have control over which address they send their purchases too.

I love that Amazon has thought about our teens.  It’s an excellent way for me to teach my children Independence and help them start putting smart shopping decisions into play while still allowing parents a way to manage their teens online shopping.   Thanks, Amazon, this new service is incredible and super easy for both parents and teens to use.

To set up your teen’s Amazon login, you’ll want to visit Amazon.com/forteens and follow the directions to get your teen set up and the profiles linked.  You’ll be amazed at how a bit of independence will help your teen start to learn about smart shopping online while still giving you just enough control to guide them along the way.

related articles

5 comments

Elizabeth O November 14, 2017 - 9:21 pm

These are great tips for teaching kids the value of dollar. It is important that they need to understand about money, the budget, and where to allocate them when they are young. That’s what I told to my twins before. and now they know the value of dollar.

Reply
Rosey November 14, 2017 - 5:26 am

I didn’t even realize that Amazon had such options. I agree it’s got great potential to help your kids learn how to manage their money.

Reply
Belinda Alban November 13, 2017 - 11:56 am

So important to start them learning to manage money quite young. Great list.

Reply
justin orkin November 10, 2017 - 10:56 am

Good list. It’s an interesting idea to have approvable of online shopping, but I wouldn’t over-manage them, just like as recommended for real life.

Reply
Amber Ludwig November 9, 2017 - 10:08 pm

So important!! I wish someone would’ve done this with me!! I ended up turning 18 and maxing out a bunch of credit cards. It was awful!

Reply

Leave a Comment

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out or learn more if you'd like. Accept Read More

Skip to content

Adblock Detected

Please support us by disabling your AdBlocker extension from your browsers for our website.