Teaching teens to save money should ideally begin long before your teens land their first jobs. Talk to them about the value of money, let them observe your money habits and allow them to participate in family finances. This way, they are familiar with money management while they are still young and can avoid money mistakes when they become adults. If you make it fun for them when they are teens, they are more likely to do well and be independent later on. “Here’s what you can do:

1. You are the best example for your teens. Learn about money yourself and manage it well. Teaching teens to save money is a constant guiding process where you lead by example.

2. Avoid negative comments when they spend, but praise and celebrate when they save. You will never teach a teen how to save money by nagging them about the things they enjoy. Your opportunity to teach and praise is when they only have a few questions about investing, checking, money management and their personal finances in general.

3. When you talk about your own cash flow, as much as possible, try not to not show stress or anxiety about your finances in front of your teenager.

4. If things in your household aren’t going well financially, involve your teens in frugal decision making. This is a good way to teach them how to budget and save money.

5. If someone in a game show wins a million dollars on TV or if your neighbor recently purchased a new car, avoid negative comments. Your goal should be to teach your teen that earning and saving a lot of money takes a lot of hard work.

6. If your teen wants to purchase something big, don’t nag. Just talk to them to make sure that they really know what they’re spending on and if it’s really worth it.

7. After you’ve taught them about personal finance, encourage them to save up for what they want to buy. Once they achieve this, praise them and be happy that they did it all by themselves. You can even go to the store with them and share in their excitement. This is a form of encouragement, as you are celebrating the fact that they saved the money.

8. Be available when they want to talk about their finances. Occasionally, talk about how they’re dealing with money management so that you are also updated on their progress.

9. If you and your spouse are planning ways to increase the household budget, ask your teen’s opinion on business or investing ideas. Be open to their suggestions, and if they are wrong, explain why.

10. Encourage entrepreneurship. If they are thinking about starting their own business of any kind, be their biggest cheerleader.

11. Thoroughly explain how credit cards work, as well as the pros and cons of having one. Tell them about the possibility of getting into debt with poor credit card use. Explain the concept of paying interest and how much it actually costs in real dollar terms.

12. Introduce them to financial calculators on the internet. Show how much their money will grow over time with compound interest. The idea of making money while they sleep is very compelling!

13. On special occasions, agree about what you can get for them and what they will buy for themselves.

14. When they ask why you are doing all these, tell them that when they are adults, they will spend a great deal of time dealing with their own money, so it’s best to start early.