This Year Teens Want Cold Hard Cash for Christmas Parents Families.com

I think the teens in my life (kids, nieces, nephews, my kids’ friends) have been feeling the negative effects of the economy. Their Christmas gift request of choice has been a bit of an indicator.

Maybe it’s because we have been less free with money demanding more for the chore money and handing out less just because. Maybe it’s because there are things that they want that they don’t have the heart to ask us for. Perhaps it’s because they have learned to be thrifty shoppers themselves and know they can get alot more for the same money after Christmas. Maybe it’s because they are tired of being broke. Regardless of the reason, what they want for Christmas is Cold Hard Cash.

As a parent, it is hard for me to hand over a hundred or even two hundred to a teenager. I have to ask if they will spend the money wisely or if they will waste it away. I also worry that they could lose or misplace the money. As hard as buying a gift for teens is, giving them money just seems too impersonal, especially for your own children. As much as I want to satisfy their desire for cash, I also want to give them a gift that they will surprise and excite them.

Besides that, I have to intervene for parents whose Christmas budget it modest. You can get a greater impact with a well chosen gift that you have bargain shopped for than with the cash that you actually paid for it. If your Christmas budget for your kids is say $30.00 each, well, you can get a lot of excellent ideas from the frugal blog that will make it look like you spent $100.00 or more. If you are forced into giving cash however, $30.00 for your teen for Christmas might not cut it.

After some discussion with my husband and with other parents, we have decided that we have several options.

1. We could give them cash and hope for the best.

2. We could give them cash or a gift certificate to help them pay for a particular item they are already saving for.

3. We can buy an item we know they have been saving for for Christmas, and then give them a smaller amount of cash to add to their savings.

I won’t say which we are doing as they may stumble across this blog.

~If you liked this you should also read my other posts at the home blog, the homeschooling blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.