sense most online business are having black friday is it worth buying something or should i pass and try to save my money. im a teen i have around 200$ but i would like to limit myself to 100$ or less. im probably posting this in the wrong place but im not sure, i just want to make a smart choice when it comes to money.
also i will not be investing in stocks or crypto so please dont suggest it.
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If you really want to buy something invest in a hobby of yours. Buy an instrument, used camera lens, whatever you need to do something you like. Stuff like this may last you a long time if you stick with the hobby.
If you already have a hobby, invest in that. Otherwise try something new.
Or don’t participate in Black Friday and save it.
A great rule of thumb I have adopted as an adult to save money, is anytime I wanna impulse buy something I write it it down.
Then I come back to it 2 weeks later and if I still really want it then, I buy it.
But so often after 2 weeks the novelty has warn off and I look at the list and go “ehhh, meh, nevermind I dont want it that bad actually”
As a male, Octopussy Guybrator. Never let sex dictate your decision making capacity.
Surprised nobody suggested condoms.
Buy one for fun. Buy 144 and be gross.
It’s going to expire! Chicks are hard to get in teens.
Well, the question was “What is something worth buying as a teen?”
Condoms only cost a couple dollars, but can save you the much greater cost of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy or an STD. If the time for the seks comes unexpectedly, and you have a condom around, you’ll be REALLY glad you have one. Plus, they’re always a fun topic of conversation: “woah, what’s that?” “well, you know how I am, heh heh…” “oh yeah then why’s it almost expired?” etc.
They expire after 3-5 years. Then you can open them and inflate them and use them for a prank or art installation or something, and go get some more.
Most of the “stuff everyone should buy” is stuff you really don’t need as a teenager, like cast-iron cookware or a stand mixer. If you have hobbies you want to pursue, you should find a specific group around that hobby and ask them. A lot of black Friday “deals” aren’t really deals, though - some companies will actually produce lower quality product lines specifically for black Friday sales, so if you end up buying something big like a TV or something like that make sure you do a little research.
If you want general financial advice, I wouldn’t put it in a retirement account like the other guy said. You have plenty of time for that, and you probably have milestones coming up that you’ll want money for - buying a car, graduation celebrations, going to college, getting your own place, whatever. So saving it for that kind of stuff is never a bad idea.
Fireworks
Unless you have something specific you want, I’d advise not to spend money just for the sake of it, even for perceived savings from deals. That’s part of the trick with Black Friday deals - marking things down to get people to buy things they wouldn’t even think to get in the first place.
Some wisdom I remember reading a while ago: if you’re looking at something that is 75% off, just remember you can save 100% by not buying it.
That’s a good question. It’s hard to go back to my teen years but I’d suggest:
- buy a musical instrument and learn to play it, really doesn’t mater which one. Especially during college years everyone who could play anything was suddenly a superstar
- buy some book to learn some skill, again doesn’t matter that much what you learn. I don’t know, like mixing cocktails? Sounds fun. For example by accident I learned “reading of hands”. I quickly learned that it’s bullshit but boy, was it an interresting thing to perform during parties in college
- Nothing really comes to my mind regarding of profesional development. Really at your level most of the stuff you can learn is free online and you don’t need anything expensive
Neither. Save your money.
As a counterargument: spend your money. 200 dollars means a lot more to a teenager than a college student (with an on-campus part time job), then when you find yourself at your first full time job you may sometimes be spending 200 dollars like pocket change.
As a result, you will most likely cherish what you buy now for 200 USD way more than what you can buy down the line. That console you need to save up 6 months for right now? It becomes a lot less sentimental when you can afford it every other month. So spend your money on something that you’d like right now. 200 dollars won’t change your life in college much, but it can change your life significantly right now.
It won’t change your life, but the mentality of not spending just because you can will
I’m not advocating that teenagers should save no money. I’m just saying you don’t have to save “all” of it.
Good financial planning isn’t just not spending every cent when you can, it’s also figuring out how to get the most out of your money. There is plenty of expensive stuff that I’ve spent thousands of hours with, which makes them totally worth the investment. There’s no way a teenager would be able to figure that out without some trial and error.
I’d say it’s better to get that out of the way now than later. If you make a bad purchase decision as a teenager, at most you’re short 200 dollars. Maybe that startup idea isn’t exactly what you imagined it to be, but at least you figured that out now than after sinking 20k into MLMs.
Don’t spend your money because it’s a " good deal". In theory your guardian(s) are covering the expenses the rest of as as adults just accept. Therefore take advantage and spend your money on what brings you joy.
Great advice. This way they’ll never learn how to handle money!
It’s $100. In 2023 that does not even cover groceries for a middle class household of four for a week.
If you want to advocate absolute austerity to someone who has no expenses yet - go for it. Me? The world is shitty enough as is - of something’s going to make you happy, and you have no other expenses, go for it.
Agreed.
Good shoes are priceless as a teenager. As an adult shoes don’t seem to be half the problem they were as a teenager.
For example, applying for jobs is insane as a teenager because a lot of people are extremely judgy on mere whiffs of superficial appearances. Not cool enough, or too cool can sway some HR people. Don’t expect to be vetted by rocket scientists!
Argh! Nightmare memories. I tried to pull off some casual looks that backfired horribly with various employers and interviewers.
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So here’s the deal, you can buy a bunch of little trinkets and cool things that won’t affect your quality of life in the long term, or you can save up for a few big life changing things.
My suggestion would be to save up a few paychecks for a four season canvas bell tent as your first big investment. I recently moved into one as part of my offgrid prepping and wished I got one as a teen.
Its essentially your own room outside the house (provided your parents backyard is big enough for a small tent). Why? A reliable long lasting portable shelter that you can live in and or have a place for your friends to hang out/ socialize. If your parents are the loud argumentative never stops fighting kind that get on your nerves, being able to just leave the house and go to your own personal sanctuary is a godsend. If you get comfortable enough with tent living it will open up to you the possibility of saving up money for cheap land and owning your own property somewhere nice and scenic. without ever getting into financial debt.
If you are a smoker particularly of pot invest in a nice dry herb vaporizer from arizer. The smoke is a lot less harsh on the lungs, there’s practically no smell (my parents HATED the smell and chewed my ass when they caught a whiff)
