How to save money for teens? Life hacks that’ll change your teen’s spending and saving patterns.
I’ve never seen or heard of a teenager bragging about how much money they’ve saved.
They brag about what they wear, who they’re with, what they did last weekend…maybe about their pet.
But how much they squirreled away into their savings last month? Nah.
And yet…we need to get them interested in saving money.
Excited about it, maybe, even.
That’s what I intend to help YOU and YOUR teen do with these ideas.
I want to give your teen a bunch of teen life hacks to save more of their money (and to actually, at least, SEMI-enjoy the process).
Because we want them to seal in this essential Money Habit now, before they need their emergency savings lifeline as a young adult.
How to Save Money for Teens Life Hacks
How do you save money as a teen, with an income situation that changes faster than who’s in your teen’s friend group (seasonal work, fluctuating money responsibilities, etc.)?
These teen life hacks around saving money are SPECIFIC to teens and their financial situations.
Read through, make a note of ones that get you excited, and have your teenager read through them as well.
In fact, I’m going to pretend like I’m talking straight to your teen.
Let’s crack on!
Teen Savings Life Hack #1: Have One Short-Term and One Long-Term Savings Goal
You’ve got some big purchases and transactions on the horizon. Things like first cars, college books, first/last months’ rent on an apartment, expensive class trips, testing and application costs, etc., are all just a handful of years away.
Yet, saving for something long-term is not motivating for many of us.
That’s why one savings life hack for teens is to save for both “now” and for “later” at the same time.
Psst: here are 100 teen goals to choose from.
This means dividing part of your money you’ve got to save for something you can get within the next three months (a short-term teen savings goal), AND part of your money for something you won’t attempt to purchase for years to come (a long-term teen savings goal).
Two other resources:
Go ahead, take a few minutes to brainstorm what your next short-term and long-term savings goals are going to be.
Then, move on to the next savings hacks to help start fulfilling them.
Teen Savings Life Hack #2: Get a Savings Space Set Up
You’ve got to separate the money you intend to spend from the money you intend to save.
Set up a Savings Space that is goal-based. This means clearly identifying it for the goal it’s there to meet.
The best way to do that is to have a short-term savings goal and a Savings Space where money for that goes, and a long-term savings goal and a Savings Space for that.
Typically, this looks like a savings account, and then another savings space where you can get to your money quickly (like a pocket pouch in your Money Binder, a Mason Jar, a savings challenge envelope, or a Piggy Bank).
To set this up even more, add a quick reminder for what the Savings Space is going to get you.
You could:
- Put a visual reminder on the outside of the space for the specific savings goal you’re working towards now (like this mason jar savings sticker)
- Name your savings account your savings goal
- Writing your goal on the outside of your money envelope
- Etc.
Teen Savings Life Hack #3: Save 50% of All Gifted Money
There are some key gift-giving moments in a teen’s life, and these are great opportunities to pull ahead, faster, on a savings goal.
Such as graduation, holidays, your birthday, etc.
Set a Money Rule for yourself to automatically save 50% of ALL gifted money to you over the next months and years.
This can really add up!
Hint: here are 7 smart ways to use graduation money.
Teen Savings Life Hack #4: Play How Long Can It Last?
Take a specific amount of money that comes in – say, half of your next paycheck, or that $20 you got from mowing a lawn – and play a little game of “how long can I make this last?”
This can actually be pretty fun, and a challenge for sure.
Fill in little circles for each day that the next amount of money that comes in doesn’t get spent.
Can you make it last 2 days? 5 days? One whole week? Two whole weeks?
Teen Savings Life Hack #5: Limit the Money You Take With You
Are you the kind of teen who brings all their cash in their wallet or purse whenever they meet up with friends or go somewhere?
If so, it can be causing you to spend more.
When you purposefully limit the amount of cash on you…you spend less.
The next time you meet up with friends or go shopping, take out part of your money and don’t bring it along.
Teen Savings Life Hack #6: Play the $5 Bill Savings Game
For the next month, every time a $5 bill comes across your wallet, you immediately put it into your Savings Space.
Got it?
These add up.
Hint: Is $5 too much? Do this for $1s then.
Teen Savings Life Hack #7: Downsize Something to Upsize Your Savings
What’s something that you semi-consistently spend money on that you can downsize so that you can use that saved money to put into your savings account?
For example, if you consistently order a grande or venti from Starbucks, order a tall instead and put that extra $1.00-$2.00 into your Savings Space each time you don’t spend it.
If you order from fast food restaurants, instead, try to order from the dollar menu and take the unspent money and put it into your Savings Space.
These $1s and $3s might not seem like much, but if you consistently downsize your spending on habitual purchases, then you’ll build your savings.
Teen Savings Life Hack #8: Boost Your Cash
Sometimes, a saving money problem is actually an earning money problem.
Meaning, you simply aren’t bringing in enough cash to set any of it aside.
That’s where this hack comes in.
Find a way to, at least temporarily, boost your cash.
Some ideas and resources:
- Ask for a raise at work, or take on more responsibilities at home, and ask for an allowance/chore commission raise
- Open up weekend time slots to babysit, clean a neighbor’s yard, scrub outside garbage cans like these two teens, or do other services for your neighbors
- Choose a way for teens to earn money online
- Sign up for Swagbucks.com, and search the internet through them. Periodically, you win Swagbucks, which you can then redeem for actual cash (via PayPal). For every 5,000 points, you can get $50 in PayPal cash, or you can cash in at 2,500 or 10,000 points. Stick this money into your savings account!
Teen Savings Life Hack #9: Start a Monthly Savings Subscription
What is ONE monthly subscription fee you’re paying for that you can give up to divert that money towards your Savings Space instead?
Could be a streaming service or app (here’s how to quickly see and manage your app subscriptions on your iPhone or Android).
After 5 months, how much more money will you have saved (multiply the subscription amount by 5)?
Teen Savings Life Hack #10: Replace Something Paid for Something Free
Take one thing that you spend money on consistently, and replace it with something you can do/use for free.
For example:
- Take a reusable water bottle each day with you instead of buying Gatorade from the vending machine
- Grab a snack from home instead of buying from the vending machine
- Ask the library for the newest book you want to read (you can use interlibrary loan to get it from anywhere in the U.S., if your own library doesn’t have the exact book you’re looking for) instead of buying it
Teen Savings Life Hack #11: Play Don’t Break the Bill
The next time you get a $20 or $10 bill in your hands, play the Don’t Break the Bill game.
Keep it somewhere by itself (to remind you not to spend it), and see if you can go 4 days without “breaking it” (i.e., spending it).
You get to reward yourself if you meet this challenge – just choose a reward that doesn’t cost money!
Reward ideas include:
- An extra 30 minutes of video game play
- Have a friend over for movie night
- Reading a non-academic book you really want to
Then…put the bill into your Savings Space.
Choose one of these how to save money for teen life hacks, and you should start to see a difference in the amount of money you're able to save instead of spend. Use two or three of these hacks at the same time? Well, there's no telling where you'll get to this time next year.
Amanda L. Grossman
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