This is the stage at which young people need to start thinking about how they’re spending their money, and whether they’re making value-for-money purchase decisions.
This is also the stage to start introducing adult financial responsibilities as concepts and ideally getting teenagers started with a current account and debit card.
Young people with a debit card need to know to report any loss of the card immediately to their bank. Get them to store the bank’s number in their phone.
Here are some resources/challenges that can be used at level 3 to introduce some of these issues:
You could start introducing the idea of budgeting for young people at this stage, with cash in envelopes for different things, e.g. lunch, socialising). Once it’s gone, it’s gone, but anything left over can be added to next week (or saved).
Challenge your teenager to help you with the family grocery shop – making the shopping list and keeping track of the costs as you shop (staying within a set budget). Get them comparing brands and prices to pick the best value item (where quality also matters).
