Unison Parenting Blog: Money Management for Older Kids

My oldest child wanted a mobile phone. We had a family policy to pay for a phone and its service plan when the child reached driving age. They were allowed to have a phone by sixth grade if they would pay for the phone and service on our account themselves.

To help the child make the decision, I created a spreadsheet that mapped their income (allowances plus accumulated savings) to the expenses of a mobile phone. The results indicated the child could afford a phone and the service plan increase in our family phone bill – if they spent no other money on anything else.

No video games. No amusements. No nothing. Just a phone.

The child decided not to purchase a phone yet, although they did in eighth grade. They had saved up more money by then.

Interestingly, each of our three children made the same decision: no phone in sixth grade, but a phone in eighth grade, when it became a higher priority for their social life.

Instead of arguing with an older child over money, present them a budgeting exercise. It’s great training for their future teen and adult spending.

Not that our kids were interested in cigarettes, but I worked up a spreadsheet showing the cost of smoking. Again, they could easily see the large impact of cigarette spending on their overall budget. That spreadsheet was an extra motivator in preventing smoking and other vices.

Budgeting leads them toward another worthwhile activity when they’re old enough: a teen-appropriate job. All our kids worked jobs outside the home for extra money at some point, though one focused mostly on extracurriculars instead. They all worked in the service industry or in coaching/umpiring younger children.

While this concludes my series on chores and allowances, I will pivot to a natural next step in my ensuing post. I will discuss how to help your teen craft a resume to land a job despite inexperience.