Untitled Document


My Homepage The link above will take you to my homepage.

Fact 1: There are close to 50 Million Tweens/Teens (ages 8 - 18) in the U.S. today (Derowitsch, 46).

teens

Fact 2: Tween/Teen buying power is around $50 Billion dollars, while about $2 Billion dollars is spent on advertising, targeting children via their parents and vice versa, each year (Emerson, 1).

Fact 3: Teens have over half the influence of their families spending, whether it is what to buy for dinner or what they can talk their parents into buying for themselves, to planning on where they go on vacation.

Fact 4: Marketers pay a lot of attention to teenagers' spending, because of their high influences on friends and family. They find things that are unique, exploit them, and they soon become unpopular again, because they are no longer unique.

http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/

english/at_school/trainingcamp/ff/play.php

Follow the link above to bet your money-handling skills on a computerized football game!

The following website was created by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) to give out information on money habits. This particular page focuses on teen spending and saving habits, offers tips and advice, and other management skills:

http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/

consumer/news/cnsum06/sum_06_bw.pdf

Finances & Monetary Power

The Buying Power of

Teens and Tweens

$

$

$

money

$

$

$

In 2003, families spent an average of $451 for back to school items. That translates to about $14 billion , based on survey findings from the National Retail Federation. Another $750 million came directly out of the STUDENT'S Pockets!

An Average of: $206 was spent on clothing

$85 for shoes

$86 for electronic products

$74 for school supplies

The food industry determined that kids between ages 5 and 14 have considerable influence over the $30 billion spent on food and beverages each year.

Teenagers and "Tweens" (those between 8 and 14) account for $6.9 billion in cosmetics sales for hair and skin products.

(Emerson, 1)

Responses:

1. Totally like me	4. A little like me
2. A lot like me	5. Not like me at all
3. Equally like and unlike me

Spending Techniques:

	1. Each time I receive money, I usually put a small amount of cash aside as savings.
	2. Each time I receive any money, I usually deposit it into a checking or savings account.
	3. I keep track of the money I receive from all sources.
	4. I set aside a pre-determined portion of my money for regular weekly expenses.
	5. I set aside ten percent of the money I receive for savings.
	6. My money is managed (both spending & savings) according to a written spending plan or budget.
	7. My food and grocery spending is planned in advance and done with a list.
	8. I rarely make less than two trips a week to the grocery or convenience store.
	9. Grocery and other coupons are utilized whenever possible.
	10. Comparison shopping for quality, value, price, etc. is something I do for practically every purchase, large or small.
	11. I have comparison shopped for food and clothing in the last year.
	12. I don't dine out (breakfast, lunch or dinner) more than two times a week.
	13. I account for all my cash spending by collecting receipts.
	14. I am saving money towards my college education.
	15. I have given food/money to needy persons in the last two weeks.
	TOTAL OF ALL RESPONSES

Scoring

After totaling all your responses, how did you do?

Check your results with this scoring chart:

17-27	VERY PERCEPTIVE. Time to teach others how to do it.
28-42	PRETTY GOOD Concentrate on improving a few weaker spots.
43-58	AVERAGE An hour-a-week on improving spending = Savings.
59-75	LOUSY Immediate change required to avoid financial disaster.
75+	IT STINKS! You need to re-evaluate all your spending habits.

REFERENCES:

Derowitsch, Rachel. CE & the Tween Years. First Glimpse Article. (March 1, 2006) Vol 3. Issue 3. Pgs. 46 - 48 in print issue. http://www.firstglimpsemag.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2006/y0303/16y03/16y03.asp&guid=

Emerson, Jim. Special Report: Marketing to Children. (2007) Penton Media, Inc. http://directmag.com/exclusive/specialreports/2004 may 12 direct list line 0/

Irvine, Martha. 'Tweens' becoming the New Teens. Campaign for a Commercial - Free Childhood. (11/25/06). http://www.comercialexploitation.org/articles/tweensnewteens.htm