When it comes to teaching your teenager how to manage money, the thought of handing them a credit card seems downright irresponsible. But that’s exactly what I plan to do.
We live in a cashless society, and financial literacy lessons need to be updated to reflect that.
When’s the last time you paid with cash? Maybe at a bar or at the farmers market. That’s why it's so important to teach your teenager about managing money in the real world.
Here’s how to start.
If you plan on giving your teenager money for a shopping trip consider a pre-paid credit card. This works best when they have to buy multiple items and would need to keep their budget in mind and a tally of what they have spent. This will help demystify the act of using a credit card. They may be asked to sign for their purchase, or use their pin code. Either way it will help familiarize them with what it means to pay with credit.
Once they've done a big shop and you see they stayed on budget, continue using their pre-paid card for any allowance or birthday money. Just like cash, they can hang on to it until the want to buy something special. This will teach them the art of delayed gratification. Having a credit card in your wallet means you can buy something whenever you want, but fighting that urge is something you can only learn once the card is in your possession. You’re not fighting temptation if there's no temptation there. Let them carry the card and start learning now.
Before your teenager heads off to university it's important for them to have a handle of the responsibility that comes with having a non pre-paid credit card. University campuses are flooded with credit card companies wanting students to sign up. It can be a great move for someone who wants to start building their credit early, but they can be dangerous for someone who’s never been taught how to use a credit card before. By giving them a joint credit card, with their name on it, you can help prepare them for when they have a card of their own. Set a smaller limit that card and make sure your teenager knows what they are allowed to spend each week.
My daughter is 4 years-old right and I am using cash now to teach her the fundamentals of how money works. I let her pay with cash, make sure she gets her change back and watch as she makes sure she puts the leftover money back in her wallet. It’s adorable. But when she's a teenager, these adorable lessons are no longer going to work. Along with teaching her how to save money, how to plan for a big expense and what it means to pay taxes, I also want her to be credit card savvy.
My lack of control lead me to $5000 of credit card debt when I was 23 years old. It took a loan from may dad and another year of paying him to get that debt paid off.
I don’t want that to happen to my daughter.
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Canadians spend more than a billion dollars on beauty products every year. A survey done by NDP Group Research in 2014 found we are spending $1.4 billion every year on creams, lotions, and potions to make ourselves look better. I'm guilty of overspending on beauty products too, especially when they claim to make you look younger. When it comes to personal care I don’t mind spending some money, but the cost of expensive beauty treatments have always bothered me. When I do get a facial, the bill is often more than $100 after taxes and tip.
As a lady who talks about saving money, this is one expenditure I’m always looking to cut back on. So, when I read that you could look 10 years younger by just drinking 3 litre of water a day, I was on board immediately. A cheap and cheerful way to look more youthful? Now that’s exciting!
Everyone knows drinking water is good for you, and studies show that most of us don’t drink enough. According to a 2013 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in the U.S. 43 percent of adults drink less than four cups of water a day, 36 percent drink one to three cups, and seven percent drink none at all. That means most of us are dehydrated for most of the day. Before I embarked on this journey I drank maybe one litre of water a day.
Part of my water intake has to do with my morning routine. I suffer from Hashimoto disease and have an underactive thyroid gland. For that I take a hormone replacement pill every morning that requires I drink a full glass of water. I usually start my day with 16 oz. of water, but often that’s all I will drink until I sit down for dinner at the end of the day. I knew going from 1 to 3 litres was going to be a challenge, but if I can look younger and save money on personal care, I was willing to give it a try.
I stared my journey on August 10th.
I’m essentially more than doubling my water intake. That is more of a challenge than I imagined. I’m never thirsty so I have to remember to keep drinking water throughout the day. I knew I would be going to the bathroom a lot, but this was more than I had anticipated. One day before noon I counted 7 bathroom breaks. One of the bonuses is the relief of going #1 when your bladder is full, is equivalent to a good #2. You feel so light right after. Drinking this much water means you have to always make sure there is a bathroom nearby, my best advice, when you're out of the house use a bathroom every time you see one, rather then when you feel the urge to go.
I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I have to admit I am feeling a lot better. More energized and my afternoon craving for sweets is disappearing. I’ve also dropped 2 pounds, which always makes a person feel more energetic. I’ve now developed a system to keep on top of my water drinking. Get the first litre out the way first thing in the morning and the second one by lunch. That way you are left with only one litre of water to deal with for the rest of the day. This is working well for me, as drinking a large amount of water towards the end of the day made me feel nauseous. Late night drinking, also meant I was getting up in the middle of the night several times to use the bathroom.
By this point I’m not feeling the burden of drinking so much water. I had dropped another 2 pounds and I'm keeping it off. No surprise that when you drink this much water you’re not as hungry and I feel like I’m also making wiser food choices. One surprising change is I have been constipated for a few days. I don’t think this has to do with the amount of water I’m drinking but rather the smaller amount of fibre and generally lower food intake. Whatever it is, it's making me bloated and uncomfortable.
I’m in the home stretch, but the way I feel I know I will keep up the water intake after the month is over. I now feel more relaxed and I always remember to take my reusable water when I leave home. I’m realizing free water is not always the easiest thing to find. Being a money saver I refuse to pay for water. But if for some reason I forget my reusable water bottle at home, finding free water is a chore. There are many water coolers in the work place, but as soon as you are out there are few places where you can find water for free.
I don’t see a huge change in my face, and I definitely don’t think I look 10 years younger. But I did drop 5 pounds by doing nothing bur drinking more water. I also feel like my skin is not as dry as it used to be before I started the challenge. The biggest bonus, I’ve managed to cut down on caffeine. I used to drink upwards of eight cups of tea a day. I now drink about three.
As I write this blog I have kept up my hydrating ways, but I have to admit now that I don’t think about it all the time I do find there are days I fall back into my old habit of just having a glass of water in the morning and then some more at night. It's important to note, I also did this challenge during a hotter than usual August in Toronto. With winter coming it might be harder for find the will to hydrate that much. From my perspective I feel better and less rundown. The other bonus, expect for tea and wine, I exclusively drink water. No pop, juice or any other drink. They just don’t appeal to me anymore. This month I did spend a minimal amount on any new skin care products. Usually once a month I look at my skin and feel the need to buy something to remedy an issue I see in the mirror.
With studies showing that most of us are dehydrated, challenging yourself to drink more water is not a bad move. Like me, you may even save some money because you will spend less looking and feeling better.
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