Budgeting can be hard. Especially when you’re young and surrounded by distractions. You know the kind— the kind that convinces you that spending $20 on a digital outfit for your video game character is a perfectly reasonable choice. (Spoiler: It’s not. Your character looks amazing, though.)
Middle schoolers have a unique ability to spend their life savings— AKA, the $40 you got from grandma for your birthday. One week, it’s fancy erasers you’ll never end up using. Next, it’s a mystery box from Temu.
Before you know it, middle schooler or not, you’re broke, staring at an empty wallet, and surrounded by useless items. You frantically Google, “How do I make money fast?” The answer? (Heck if I know.) Just kidding! Budgeting.
I know, I know, you’re already rolling your eyes. But, hear me out- Budgeting isn’t as bad as it sounds. Think of it like that monthly allowance your parents might have given you when you were jobless. Remember how that pocket change made you feel like you’d won the lottery? And what did you do with it? That’s right! You spent it immediately.
Then, just a few days later, you’d start complaining about being broke. And shockingly, the cycle would repeat itself next month. It doesn’t have to be that way! (Unless you want it to be). Here are a few simple tips to help you start budgeting.
- Set Spending Limits
Setting limits to how much you spend weekly can be a game changer. Without a clear limit you may go way over the pay grade. Senior Kaitlyn Berrett shares, “Money doesn’t come back, and when it does, you have to earn it.”
- Embracing Logic, Not Flawed Math
“Girl math” has become a funny trend among Gen Z- it’s the way of justifying expenses with amusing logic. For example, spending $20 on a Big Mac meal somehow “doesn’t count” because it wasn’t on your card, and since that digital total in your online bank account didn’t drop, it’s okay. While it is fun to joke about, focusing on real logic can help you save. Senior Dakoda Bird shares her amusing way of focusing slightly on logic. “Sometimes, when I’m about to go out during the weekdays, I decide not to because it means the weekends are free.” If you put off going out to eat or to the movies for special moments, you’ll save more money and it will mean a lot more.
- Divide your spending into categories
Knowing where your money is going is crucial. By dividing it into categories, from ”Need” items to disposable income, you can categorize what’s important. This strategy helps you avoid overspending on the things you don’t need and focus on what will be most useful in the future. On bank apps they have a way you can categorize your spending habits completely suited for you. If you spend too much money on food like every teenager you can set your new limit $20 shorter, cutting those extra fries and hashbrowns at McDonalds.
- ”Do you really need this?”
We’ve all been there- You buy a cute sweater on impulse, and two hours later, you’re wondering why you even bought it. Now it’s sitting in your closet collecting dust, unworn since your 7th-grade birthday party. Senior Trey Davis shares his approach to avoiding unnecessary purchases: “Going out for lunch is always a tempting way to spend my money, but I try to ask myself if I really need to.” Consider taking 10 extra minutes out of your day to cook that Mac and Cheese at home instead of an impulse stop at Warren’s for a milkshake. More importantly, consider how you can get almost that exact same outfit if you wait until there is a deal or you can find something similar at the D.I.
Using a budgeting app to help categorize your needs and wants can be a game changer, or deciding not to go out to that really overpriced clothing store with your friends once or twice can leave you in the positives. They say being “young, dumb, and broke” is all a part of growing up. But, with a little effort and self-control, you might just end up a few cents richer than the teenager sitting next to you.
