Story Behind The Stats: When Money Starts To Matter As A Teen
Posted by meredith on 11-09-2009Today's Ypulse Youth Advisory Board post is from Caroline Marques, an American teen in Switzerland who puts an international twist on this month's story behind the stats with her experience of starting to receive (and manage) a regular allowance from her parents.
Ypulse Insights (our research division) just released new data on American college students and teens' spending habits in our October Ypulse Report as well as in our abbreviated October Ypulse Monitor product, and found that, despite concerns over the economic crisis, teens are still spending an average of $277 a month and among discretionary funds, teens are more likely to be spending on clothing, fast food and movies (vs. college students who are more likely to prioritize food in the form of groceries, restaurant visits, and fast food). Additionally, about one third of teens are frequenting and spending money within large name-brand retail stores or local boutiques and at least one in three is shopping online at least a few times a month.
Broken down by gender, our research found teen girls, not surprisingly, spend more than teen males on clothing, cosmetics and accessories; while guys spend more on electronic equipment, video games, and sporting goods.
As always, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment below.
Story Behind The Stats: When Money Starts To Matter As A Teen
Your teenage years: the golden years when your parents finally trust you with an allowance and you can choose to spend your money wisely… or blow it all on a few unnecessary items.
This new school year was my first time with a "real" allowance because my parents wanted me to learn the value of money. After all, we are in a recession and dealing with money is important your whole life. Since my new allowance I’ve started thinking about saving and budgeting a bit differently.
At my school, for instance, you don’t have to eat lunch on campus, but even if you do eat at school you pay in cash. It’s different than the US system where it seems like everybody eats in the cafeteria. Here, there are popular restaurants and delis that many teens go to, requiring you to make a choice on how to manage your own lunch money.
Most teenagers I know get regular allowances, but each case is different. Some only get money for going out and food, others get allowances for everything (food and clothes). Allowances here almost always include lunch money, but most popular teen hang outs are priced pretty reasonably so that helps.
Being on an allowance has definitely opened my eyes and made me pause before something as simple as going to get some candy at the vending machine. It made me feel more responsible to be treated like an adult and think about the future where getting your pay check means you have to take care of paying rent and budget money reasonably… or find yourself in trouble.
Only recently I also started taking on a few odd jobs and it really puts things in perspective. You start making decisions like asking yourself what’s more important: a new pair of shoes, a concert ticket, going out for dinner with your friends, etc.?
Personally, I’ve started cutting down on spending my money on my Starbucks Frappucinos as well as the occasional Snickers bars between classes. I don’t go to concerts or movies that often, but when there’s a really good movie playing, or a cool band in town (such as The Virgins last week) I won’t hesitate to splurge on that. I probably spend the most on clothes and accessories, though I do most of my shopping sprees when I’m in the US or order some American clothes online. When I do shop at stores here (a few boutiques, European versions of department stores and name-brand retailers most of the time), I don’t tend to over spend. I use cash because I don’t have a credit card yet and don’t really need one. Also, I have a US savings account that I don’t use, but no checking account because again, I don't really need one. I know how much I get per week, how much I need if there’s a special event/party that week, and I often talk with my parents about how saving is important. I’ve always loved shopping for clothes and going out and having an allowance has made me think about how to be more responsible and aware of how much I'm spending on what I buy.
I've realized that managing money is really important, and it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to cut back on everything; you just need to be responsible. I used to cringe when people would say "spend money responsibly", but that was pretty dumb because having an allowance doesn’t stop you from shopping. Also, it prepares you for college when you’re going to have to think about things like managing money for living expenses. Combined with making some of my own money, and the allowance I get, I definitely feel older and think twice about buying another pair of shoes I don’t really need.
About Caroline
Caroline is an American student in eleventh grade in Geneva, Switzerland and enjoys it a lot. This year will be her second year serving on the Youth Advisory Board, which she loves because she’s currently an international student and she likes keeping up with the numerous U.S. trends in various departments. Between YAB, sports, school (as well as traveling, trying to master several languages, spending a lot of time on the computer, writing long papers, music and watching American TV), she doesn’t have a lot of time on her hands, but always finds time for the two passions she’s always had: reading and
writing.
Categorized under: Youth Advisory Board, Ypulse Research
