Save Money

25 Best Reasons to Save Money as a Teenager & Tips to Help You

February 18, 2023

There are lots of important reasons to save money as a teenager!

This article reveals up to 25 of the very reasons and tips for saving money as a teenager that can really help you.

Importance

In his book, the Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg talks about success by transforming our habits.

A short book review would reveal that if you were to look at the success that people experience in their lives the one thing that they have in common is focusing on the successful patterns or the habits that they have formulated and have become part of their successful DNA.

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These patterns of success or the habits that we develop can revolutionize all aspects of our being including losing weight, stopping bad habits, getting in shape, working towards being successful at the workplace, etc.

Even in our young lives, we have developed habits and those habits empower our thinking and our subsequent actions.

Our formed habits also create our patterns of spending.

Interactions with money and thinking as it relates to finances in our lives as well.

Sometimes our habits are learned from our parents and their teaching about money or lack of teaching about money to us as their children.

Often, we observe their spending and this becomes our learning and experience as well.

Even our attitude about money can also be influenced by our environment if we think we will never have enough money or that it should be spent today day and not worry about tomorrow.

As we are in our teenage years let us take a look at ways that we can save money and reasons why this is a good strategy when we are young adults.

25 Best Tips & Reasons to Save Money as a Teenager

1. Know the Importance of a Bank Account

A good tip to embrace to save money as a teenager is to open up a savings account or a high-interest-bearing account.

By putting the money in a financial institution, you will not be tempted to spend the money as it will be in an account that in order to access that money will take a few steps and hopefully those steps will cause you to delay that action.

Also, by putting money in an account that will provide you with interest, you can begin to learn the investment process and earn money provided by others for the privilege of using your money.

2. Learn to Budget

A great tool to begin to learn how to utilize and adhere to is the formulation of a budget.

A budget is a financial tool in which you list on one side of the ledger all of the income that you are realizing and then on the other side of the ledger, all of the expenses that you may have or how you wish to spend your money.

For example, on the income side, you would list any jobs that you perform to create revenue and on the expense side, you would list money that you wish to spend on entertainment, dating, use of your vehicle if you have one, etc.

The income side of the ledger should at least equal the expense side of the ledger but ultimately, you should have more money coming in rather than what you are spending.

Another important expenditure is the habit of saving money that should be realized on an ongoing basis.

A good goal to shoot for is a savings of 10% to 15% on every dollar that you earn.

3. Savings Goal

Another important part of having good financial habits and saving money is to have a goal in mind.

An example would be if you earn $500 a month and you want to save $50 a month as part of your savings plan, then you would need to save 10% of your earnings for that timeframe.

This can be done automatically by setting up a banking transaction that is recurring and automatically sends to your savings vehicle $12.50 every week.

4. Good Money Habits

A great way to keep track of your spending is to log or record each expense whenever something is purchased.

This can be a notebook and every time that you make a purchase, you record the date, purchase made, the amount of the transaction, and any comments.

At the end of the month, go over your itemized list of expenditures and look at ways that you may have possibly spent and not been thinking about and add up those expenses.

You may be surprised as the amounts add up quickly and if those purchases had not been made or purchased, that amount of money could have been set aside as part of your savings.

5. Use Coupons

It’s never too early to start to learn cost-savings measures that are available to the consumer when they are purchasing items.

One of those cost-savings measures is the use of coupons or rebates.

For example, if you enjoy video games and you have budgeted the purchase of a videogame every month, then it is important to look for possible rebates, use coupons or even buy that videogame used to help save your money.

This is money that is not expended and can be part of your savings process.

6. Delay Spending

Sometimes, consumers get into trouble when they spend in a spontaneous manner.

If you see something advertised on TV or if a friend of yours has purchased something that appeals to you, rather than buying the item in the excitement of the moment, a good idea is to delay the purchase of that item for a set period of time.

A good period of time to delay the purchase would be one month and then after that one month has passed and you still wish to buy the item then by all means do so.

This is a discipline that you can get into the habit of exercising and delay your gratification for a period of time and then if still want to purchase then you can do so.

7. Use Student ID

Another way that you can receive discounts on your purchases is by utilizing your student ID.

Often retailers understand that money for certain age groups, teens, seniors, military, etc. is limited and therefore, provide special discounts if proof of your status can be demonstrated.

8. Money Attitude

It has been often said that attitude is everything.

When it comes to saving money, embracing the proper attitude towards money will go a long way in respecting, honoring, and appreciating this commodity.

If you were to think in terms of the money that you earned as life energy that is expended, it may help with your attitude towards money and being more respectful and spending more wisely as it relates to the hard-earned money that you have received.

9. Avoid Fees

Nothing can be more counterproductive than trying to save money or watch your spending than paying money to banking institutions for fees that are assessed.

You may or may not have a credit card and if so, paying on time will help you to avoid any fees.

Another way that financial institutions collect fees is if you utilize a checking account and are overdrawn on the checks that you write.

A fee will be assessed for only having a negative balance but possibly writing a check that is classified as insufficient funds.

Also, if you have a savings account set up, the institution may require a minimum amount of money in the account so that you will earn the interest that they are providing.

If you fall below that balance, the banking institution may assess you a fee for not maintaining the terms of the contract.

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10. Cut Spending

A tip to save more money is to take a look at the expense side of your budget and cut your spending.

If there are items that you are spending money on and can reduce that spending by even a small percentage, that is less money that is going out to others and can be saved by you.

For example, if you are dating, rather than going to a movie twice a month, possibly cut back on going out to the movie for one week and then being entertained by renting a movie in a family home.

The same strategy can also be applied to eating out or other possible expense line items.

11. Pay Yourself First

A powerful tip to incorporate into your financial strategy is to make sure that you pay the most important bill first.

That most important payment should be 10% of your earnings to yourself and put that money away in your savings vehicle.

Reasons to Save Money

12. Invest

An important reason to save money as a teenager is to get into the habit of practicing the investment of your money and realizing the importance of investing.

Investing is not only about saving money for your future but it is also an important component and action item to make your money work for you.

It is important to understand that you work hard for your money and that your money should work hard for you.

An investment strategy can be in high interest-bearing money market accounts, possibly buying precious metals, etc.

Also, there are investment firms that have programs in mind for young investors to help them learn about money and investing.

One such website is www.fidelity.com/go/youth-account/overview.

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13. College

Perhaps your goal once you graduate from high school is to continue on to college or acquire some technical trade.

You should commit to fully developing yourself as an individual but realize that this comes at a cost.

Therefore, by saving money now, you can be self-sufficient and pay for your own schooling or at least help out as it relates to other potential resources to help you with your education goals.

It is also important to realize that the more education you receive will equate to the greater potential yourself and increase your earnings power as it relates to your chosen career.

14. Buy a Car

A good reason to save money as a teenager is that many young people dream about having their independence by buying their first car.

If you save money, you will be able to have money for a down payment or perhaps enough money to buy the car outright to help with your dream of being an independent teenager.

15. Retirement

To talk about retirement while you are still a teenager may sound rather humorous.

However, ask any individual who is now approaching retirement or is retired and they will often indicate that they wished they had started their retirement strategy earlier so that they had a good start on obtaining enough money for their retirement years.

16. Business

Another good reason to start saving money as a teenager is to begin your journey as a self-employed individual and operate your own business.

The best strategy for becoming financially independent is to own your own business rather than work for others.

Ask any individual today who is successful and they most likely will talk about the importance of running your own business and eventually earning money off of the assets that you have accumulated.

17. Control

Another great reason to save money as a teenager is to have as much control over your life as possible.

In the financial world having control over your life means that you have the financial resources to provide for yourself and your loved ones and not have to worry about taking out loans, utilizing credit cards, buying on time, etc.

Having money is a significant step towards achieving financial independence.

18. Foundation

Having money saved as a teenager will build a financial foundation that will be rock solid for the other things that you plan on doing and trying to achieve.

As with any building, so it is with life that you have a solid foundation and for the individual, that solid foundation equates to having money saved.

When unplanned things happen, you have the needed resources to see you through those situations.

19. Emergency Fund

Many financial gurus indicate that an individual should have an emergency fund set up when things happen.

It is important to note not if things happen but when things happen.

Many knowledgeable individuals indicate that the emergency fund should equate to three to possibly 9 months of monthly income that will see you through any emergencies.

Most likely, you have been aware of or have experienced emergencies possibly within your own family when an individual may have lost a job, been ill, and unable to work, etc.

Rather than having to scramble for money during these situations, an emergency fund will help to cover the monthly costs and eliminate needless stress and worry.

20. Independence

There will come a point in time when you will no longer be considered a dependent not only for tax purposes but as it relates to your family relationship,

As such, being independent, you will be encouraged to manage your own life which means living arrangements, buying food, paying bills, etc.

By developing good savings habits now, you are creating a powerful process in which you will achieve your full independence and not rely upon the assistance of others.

21. Credit Score

One of the powerful reflections of an individual ability to handle credit and receive low-interest rates as it relates to buying a car or a house is the reflection of a good credit score.

By saving money, you will rely less upon borrowing money, your credit score will be good to excellent due to the limitations of outstanding balances, requests for credit, and other factors that determine your credit score.

22. Power of Money

Many individuals have an unhealthy relationship as it relates to money.

Often they think that money makes them who they are and the more money they have the more important they are.

The reality is that money is power but does not define who you are as an individual.

By developing good savings habits and saving as a teenager, you will put the value of money and its power into proper perspective and realize that it is just a commodity or a tool that society and government have placed value on.

23. Helping Others

Another opportunity that will be provided to you when you have saved money as a teenager and learned good savings habits, will be your ability to help others.

Money is a tool and it is good to use that money to help others in your life.

By having money, that you have saved, you will be in a position to help others.

24. Developing Financial Habits

Saving money as a teenager is one of many good financial habits that you can develop during your young adult years.

In addition, to saving money, the money that you save will also instill other financial habits such as investing and honoring yourself by expending your life energy for money responsibly.

25. Avoid Extra Work

Many individuals find themselves in the unenviable position of having to work long and extra hours due to the reality that they have not earned enough money or are not in a position to care for themselves financially when emergencies occur.

Often, they have to take on extra jobs and work extra hours to make ends meet due to financial difficulties that occur in their life.

By learning how to save at an early age during your teen years, you will help to earn that money and have money set aside when these events happen in your life and you don’t have to worry about doing extra work.

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Personal Story

The reality is that bad habits can be broken and new and good habits can be formed.

Even though we may have learned from others about money, it is not fair to lay the blame squarely on the shoulders or at the feet of others.

It is important for us as individuals and especially as teenagers, to learn good habits about handling money and valuing this tool to enhance our lives and the lives of others.

Growing up in the Midwest and after the ending of World War II, my father relied heavily upon buying things that he wanted and utilized credit.

Certainly, this attitude and habits that he created got him the items that he wanted but also burdened him in a sea of debt that not only affected his life but the lives of his family.

As I grew, I fell into the same traps that I observed but eventually realized that the road of indebtedness and extended credit was not conducive to the lifestyle that I wished for.

Therefore, thinking about money needed to be challenged, and monetary habits needed to be broken and replaced with new and empowered ones.

All of this came as a result of my marriage and involvement with a spouse that had the complete opposite thinking about money due to restraints and her family always making sure that the proper bus fare was available for the return trips home.

Her frugality countered my spontaneous spending and balanced my life with new financial habits.

How to Save Money as a Teenager FAQs

As a Parent What is the Best Way That We Can Teach Teenagers About Saving Money?

The best way that we can teach our teenagers about saving money is by example.

Verbalizing lessons is important but the best way for any individual to learn is by observing someone else and analyzing the outcome of the “teacher’s” example and actions.

How Do We Teach Teenagers About the Proper Use of Credit?

Again, the most powerful way to teach a teenager about money, and in this case credit, is by example.

One of the best ways is that when purchasing items, take sufficient amounts of cash and then have the teenager pay for those items utilizing cash rather than pulling out a plastic debit or credit card.

It would seem that the power of handing cash over to someone for a purchase made would be more impactful than utilizing plastic.

You Can Do It

As a young person, you are in an enviable position as it relates to learning and saving your finances.

You have the opportunity to develop good habits as it relates to saving money and these habits will carry you well into your future years.

Conclusion

It is understood by many that it takes 30 days to develop a habit.

The habits can be good habits or bad habits.

In either case, a habit is formed.

Habits can be maintaining a diet, exercising, trying to develop a different lifestyle, etc.

Perhaps, with your teenagers, a program of developing good financial habits can be a process in which all members of the household are involved and therefore, as it relates to finances, good habits can be developed within that commitment of 30 days.

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