Capital One teen money is great, no fees. I get texts anytime the spend money. We gave them a certain amount every other week and now pay for things themselves.

Anonymous wrote:For those who use Greenlight, can you tell me more? It looks like there’s a $4.99/month charge, is that per kid? Any other fees you pay? Can money be transferred from the card back to the parent, like if the kid has to reimburse me for something I paid for when he didn’t have his card on him? Thanks!

Yes, you can transfer money back. We do that when we buy something on DS’s behalf from Amazon, etc. The money moves out of DS’s account and ito mine, but stays within Greenlight. You set how much you want in your Greenlight account, and it pulls from your bank/credit card when your balance goes below that. I assume Greenlight makes money by holding onto your funds, too. I like the chore feature - DS started saving for an Oculus Quest ($$$$!) and he started furiously working through the list of summer jobs I had entered, no prodding from me needed.

Until the end of middle school, I think cash is best. Keep them away from anything virtual as long as you can. I still believe a $1 bank note remaining in your wallet/envelope says more on what you can spend than some random number on an app. Couple this with a monthly allowance (ours increase with age) and discussions about how to save, how to plan for spending, etc.

Also: if you want to teach your kids how to budget, have a budget yourself and spend money like you want them to spend money. They observe what you (parents) do and learn from them, consciously or unconsciously ...

New poster. Thanks for mentioning green light.