MONEY MATTERS 411
Teens & Money
QUESTION:
Great website. I have a questions or two for you. What is a fair amount of weekly allowance for an 11 year old girl? Should the amount of chores she does around the house be taken into consideration?
Thanks,
Donna
ANSWER:
Dear Donna,
First off, I would just like to say congratulations, you're my first question! Second, I don't think there really is a 'fair' amount of weekly allowance. What my parents used to do when I was little was give me the amount of money that equated to my age, for example when I was 11, I would recieve 11 dollars. But, once I got to age 13, 13 dollars a week was not suffice for my teenage spending capacities. Third, yes I completely agree that the chores she does around the house should be taken into consideration. You should label each chore with an amount of money that goes along. For example, taking out the trash could be 5 dollars per week or washing the dishes could be 7. If she did both then she would get 12 dollars that week. Well, I think you get the point. Thank you for your question, and I hope it all works out!
Signed,
-moneymatters411
QUESTION:
How much allowance should a 15 year old girl that has everything get?
-Michael Custode
ANSWER:
Dear Michael,
Well, I assume you are talking about your daughter, and although I've never met her, she sounds great! 15 year old girls like to spend, and if you don't give her money, I'm sure she'll find another way to get some. I would say depending on the chores she does would reflect on how much money she should recieve, please read the answer below to Donna's question.
Hope this helps, keep reading!
Signed,
-moneymatters411
QUESTION:
I wanted to know your opinion on the amount of cars a person should own before they turn 21.
Thanks,
Concerned Older Brother
ANSWER:
Dear Concerened Older Brother,
In my opinion, your parents should pay for your first car. Once you decide you want a different car, then that's your problem. You cannot depend on your parents for all of your financial problems. Therefore, if you want 100 cars before you turn 21 that's fine, as long as you are willing to pay for 99 of them.
Hope this helps, keep reading!
Signed,
-moneymatters411
QUESTION:
Wow, I love your website! Great blog as well! Anyway, I'm traveling abroad soon and I need to get euros. Where should I go and what do I do?
Thanks,
Mary
ANSWER:
Dear Mary,
I'm glad you enjoy both my website and my blog! (For those of you who haven't checked out my blog, just click the link titled 'blog' in the navigation bar).
Now, let's get down to business. When trading American money for European money, you must go to a bank where you have an account. If you do not belong to a bank, you need to, pronto! Banks will not allow you to exchange any type of currency without setting up an account with them. Once you have done that, you simply give them any amount of American money you wish. The exchange rate between the dollar and euro is at $0.78 right now. That means, for every dollar you give them, you will recieve €0.78 in exchange. I reccomend also setting up a debit account to bring to Europe with you just in case you run out of money and you are in an emergency situation. You should test it in America before you use it in Europe, no matter where you are going. Also, you must call the credit card company up and tell them you are going to another country so they don't see the usage as unusual if you do decide to use it in said country. Once you get back, you can go back to your bank and exchange your euro paper money for dollars. But let this be a warning! Banks cannot exchange 1 euro, 2 euro, or any other coinage back into American money (If you didn't know, in Europe, their 1 and 2 euro come in coins). Barely any people know that you cannot exchange any coinage back for American money once you get back, so I reccomend spending all your coins while you are in Europe still!
Hope you have a great trip and I hope this helps! Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. Keep reading!
Signed,
-moneymatters411