Is Money A Necessity?

Have we ask ourselves this question; how much money does one need?

Money is always and has been a big deal in our society. It buys us what we need and what we want. It defines who we are.

Most teenagers depend primarily on their parents for support in terms of their house, food and even clothes. No matter where your money comes from, it’s a necessity need to get through the day.

It’s easy to overlook how much you spend during an ordinary day on things you don’t even think about – a can of coke, bus fare, and food. Little things add up; if you think about it you might find that you spend more than you realize.

We the teenagers occasionally think about what it would be like to move out of Mom & Dad house and get a place of our own. Wouldn’t it be great! A little apartment somewhere far from your parents place with nobody tell us what to do, to clean up our room and what time we need to be home and best of all to what we want.

Maybe life on our own is fantastic but it would be super expensive. What are the expenses we will incur if we support ourselves?

RENT - Take a look at the classified advertisement in the newspaper and find the section that lists properties (house & apartment) for rent. You will read something such as “2R 1 bath apt fully furnished for rent. Rental – $700.” Sounds cool, right. You can look for somewhere cheaper and but the place might not be so desirable.

FURNITURE - Assuming you wouldn’t want to rent with a fully furnished apartment. You‘ll need a furniture. Like a sofa, couple of chairs, a coffee table and maybe a TV. Of course you need a bed. All this will cost a thousand dollars. Fortunately there are a lot of used shops so you can get everything for maybe a Thousand.

PHONE & CABLE TV –Unless you want to walk to a pay phone, you need a telephone or a handphone. Cable TV is great but expensive. Figure about $50 a month for a basic package plus $100 to install it.

Electricity and water- Usually this is not included in the rent, we need to add this cost of living.

OTHER STUFF –Sheets and blankets for the bed, towels, a couple of lamps, dishes to eat from, silverware, pots and pans, some glasses, toilet paper, toothpaste… you need a lot of stuff and it will cost money.

These are only some of the cost if you live on your own. There are other important to think about like food, clothing, entertainment, etc.

Now, think about it and ask ourselves does it cost us a lot if we live on our own?

Your teen financial consultant

Christina

www.realsmarteens.com