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What person doesn’t like to spend money? Since we are still young, our parents pay for what we really need like food, shelter, and clothing. When we earn money, most of us can spend it any way we want. If you are like most kids, you earn it and then spend it all right away. This leaves you with no money until you earn more. Then you might borrow money from friends or your parents so that you can go to the movies. You pay them back the next time you get money which means that not much of the money you got is left and soon you are ‘broke’ again. This sounds like us. Does it sound like you? There is a better way.

The trick to spending money is making good choices. Good choices aren’t always the EASY ones; they are the RIGHT ones. Since most of us don’t have all the money we need, the best thing you can do is:

Make a budget. A budget is a plan, usually written out on paper or in the computer, that shows how much money you earn and what you plan to do with it. Click here for budget help.

If you want to buy something, whether it costs a lot or a little, follow these tips:

Be patient. Think about it awhile.
If you don’t have enough money to buy what you want, save for it. Start a bank savings account and watch your money grow!
Once you have enough money to buy what you want: WAIT! That sounds silly, but if you take the time to check out sales and compare prices between stores, you can save LOTS of money. For example: Let’s say you want to buy a photo printer for your computer. You have saved enough money to pay for its full price of $250.00. You can’t wait to use it! Instead of rushing out to buy it immediately, you go online to visit web sites of stores in your area. You check out (and write down) all of the prices for the printer. You can also call the stores in your area for prices. Many times there are big differences in what stores charge for the same thing. That printer might be sold for $250.00 in one store and $200.00 in the store next door. It is worth the time to check!
Know the general price for what you want to get. For example: You want to buy a box of baseball cards. Maybe you check it out online, call ahead, or know they are $35.00 because you have bought them before. Some stores make deals like buy one box and get one free. Instead of charging $35.00 for the deal, they charge $49.00 and you might think that this is what they charge for one box. Sometimes people see that they are being overcharged for one box but figure that they would normally have to pay $70.00 for two boxes and now they would be getting two boxes for $49.00. What a deal! It is NOT a deal if you only wanted one and you end up paying $14.00 more than you planned to spend. Stores do this so that you spend more money there.
Buying for the right reason: When you buy something, it should be something that will be useful to you or that you will enjoy for a long time. It might be something for a hobby, sport, or fun activity. Sometimes we buy things for the wrong reason like getting a special sports team shirt because you want to fit in with kids at school. Buying anything because you think it will help you be more popular or noticed does not end up making you feel good about yourself or your purchase in the long run.
Look for value. Value is what the product costs compared to what it is worth. Here are some examples of value:
- Example 1: You buy the latest, greatest sneakers for $220.00. You buy them because they look great or your favorite basketball star wears them, but you soon find out that they get worn out more quickly than usual. Instead of buying your regular pair that doesn’t look as great but wears much longer, you end up wasting a whole lot of money on a less well-made product. Look over how things are made. Parents are great for noticing things like this and it pays to get their opinion before you ‘invest’ in something that costs a lot of money.
- Example 2: Value can also mean a product’s value to YOU. Let’s say you buy a video game to play on your best friend’s game system. Soon you realize that he is not playing with that game system very much anymore or the friendship could be over. In either case, the video game ends up having no value to you. You can’t play it and you can’t get your money back. Even though you can’t think of everything that could happen, you do need to try to think ahead.

Earning money is not usually an easy thing to do so spending it should be done with a lot of thought and planning. Consider this: You work all day weeding your parents’ garden under the blazing, hot sun. Your parents pay you $10.00 for doing it. Without stopping to think, you take that money and run to the ice cream shop and buy three sundaes for you and the friends who watched you pick weeds all day. In the end, what have you gained? You could have stayed inside, not picked the weeds, not received the $10.00, not gotten hot enough to spend all the money on cold sundaes and been less tired than you were at the end of the day. Make your money count! Make a spending plan!