Encouraging a balanced attitude towards money
If you’re worried that your teens might be leaning too far in one direction, we’ve compiled a few ideas that might help with encouraging a balanced attitude.
A balanced human being
Ideally, we want our kids to grow up appreciating the value of money and not spending recklessly. On the other hand, we don’t want them to worry or feel bad about every penny they spend. Having a balanced approach to money is all part of being a balanced human being.
In a fascinating study using the Spendthrift-tightwad Scale, researchers found children as young as five already have emotional reactions to spending and saving which translate into real life behaviour.*
Whichever side they fall on, neither of these attitudes are necessarily ‘bad’, but like we said, it’s all about having a balance - so it doesn’t start to impact their lives. So, if you’re worried that your teens might be leaning too far in one direction, we’ve compiled a few ideas that might help with encouraging a balanced attitude.
For the “Spendthrift”
Hopefully your kids aren’t spendthrifts in the true sense of the word - the term is used to describe someone who spends money extravagantly, or even irresponsibly. However, if you are worried that they aren’t as thoughtful as they should be when they spend, these tips could help:
For the “Tightwad”
A tightwad, on the other hand, is usually somebody who refuses to spend money to the extent of seeming cheap or miserly - certainly not something we see in most children! As parents, what should we do to help?
Money isn’t everything
But what we do with our cash and how we look after it can still have a pretty big impact on our quality of life. Learning to be responsible with money is a crucial skill and one of the most valuable lessons we can teach our kids.
Hopefully some of these tips can help you encourage your teens to have a more balanced relationship with money – whether they’re spenders or savers!

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