How to teach frugality to teens and young adults? I foster…
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How to teach frugality to teens and young adults?
I foster older teens, and have sometimes helped kids transition to living independently. There is some financial support from the state, but they need to live frugally to get by on generally low earnings plus the stipend. I try to model frugal living and teach them the basic skills that help: how to keep utilities lower, budget grocery shopping, basic cooking. But a couple of kids have been terrible with budgeting, and just spend a ton of money on DoorDash, Uber, etc. I tell them how expensive it is, help them run the numbers, but it still ends up being a problem and they can't afford rent or run out of money for food between paychecks. The issue is maybe more mindset/impulse control than information/skill. They are already starting life with so many handicaps, I hate to watch them make financial mistakes that make things more difficult for years (e.g., evictions, credit card debt).
Is there a way to help make frugality more appealing to teens? Are there influencers or something to get them to follow that might help? I'm also open to budgeting tips/plans that might be easier to follow.
And just to give full info: we're in a fairly low cost area, so rough budget: $2200/mo, $650 rent, $200 utilities, $150 transportation (mostly bus, occasional gas for friends/Uber), $400 grocery, $200 miscellaneous personal. I typically gift a year-long unlimited cell phone plan with hotspot before a kid leaves my home, so they don't need either a phone plan or cable/internet.
#finance
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I foster older teens, and have sometimes helped kids transition to living independently. There is some financial support from the state, but they need to live frugally to get by on generally low earnings plus the stipend. I try to model frugal living and teach them the basic skills that help: how to keep utilities lower, budget grocery shopping, basic cooking. But a couple of kids have been terrible with budgeting, and just spend a ton of money on DoorDash, Uber, etc. I tell them how expensive it is, help them run the numbers, but it still ends up being a problem and they can't afford rent or run out of money for food between paychecks. The issue is maybe more mindset/impulse control than information/skill. They are already starting life with so many handicaps, I hate to watch them make financial mistakes that make things more difficult for years (e.g., evictions, credit card debt).
Is there a way to help make frugality more appealing to teens? Are there influencers or something to get them to follow that might help? I'm also open to budgeting tips/plans that might be easier to follow.
And just to give full info: we're in a fairly low cost area, so rough budget: $2200/mo, $650 rent, $200 utilities, $150 transportation (mostly bus, occasional gas for friends/Uber), $400 grocery, $200 miscellaneous personal. I typically gift a year-long unlimited cell phone plan with hotspot before a kid leaves my home, so they don't need either a phone plan or cable/internet.
#finance
source
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