Some people confuse greed with saving money and that gets on my nerves. You have to know when to save money and when to spend it. Save money on your bills and shopping but when you're out on the town or with friends, it's all about having a good time. I'm not suggesting you spend all the money in your wallet, don't worry too much about money. We all need to have a good time after a hard day's work.

Spend on those who spend on you.

Pamela, don't load up too much money on those pre-paid cards or else you are going to end up regretting it. No matter how much you try to teach them, they will only understand the value of the dollar when they earn the money themselves.

Amen to that! Eldarwen is an amazing mother and she obviously loves her daughter, but Coach Wooden said, "the worst thing you can do for someone you love is something THEY CAN and SHOULD BE DOING FOR THEMSELVES!"

And so it goes, and so it goes...

The only way I ever learned the value of a dollar...wait a minute...I never did. I still spend like it's going out of style. BUT, I did learn to save and I did learn to depend on myself. I also learned, after falling flat on my face into the FICO gutter, to HONOR MY DEBTS.

Oh yes, and SAVE SAVE SAVE. INVEST INVEST INVEST!

Same here, no one ever explained to me. In school, I didnt pay any attention. I was not interested in any credit cards because I knew what the consequences were if I didnt manage carefully. Then, 2 yrs later, I started working at Citicards/Citigroup and now that I finally understood them clearly and saw how they worked... I got my first one! Wooo hooo!

Oh and to anyone who cares or has read previous posts ive made on this Thread, which im very happy about... My younger brother, who is 18 yrs old right now finally got a job at... Radioshack... Better than nothing! Plus hes an electronic freak! SO that place suits him (we just got the news today and he starts tomorrow/full time)

My parents never really taught me about credit either. I got myself interested in credit because I heard how important it was to have good credit and wanted to get an early start on it to make sure that I will be where I want to be when I'm going to buy a house or a car in the future.

I wish my parents taught me more about money and learned more about credit cards when I was younger. Then I wouldn't have found out some stuff the hard way.

Thanks!

Also, remember how I said that BOA ratejacked me to 26.19%? I just checked my statement that cut yesterday and they brought it back down to the original interest rate of 15.99%.

That is great!

Great advice everyone!

Smcc, I also use my credit cards like a debit card. If I don't have the money for it, I don't buy it.

Also, remember how I said that BOA ratejacked me to 26.19%? I just checked my statement that cut yesterday and they brought it back down to the original interest rate of 15.99%.

They saw that I BT'ed the balance off to another card and stopped using the card for good, they regretted it. I am going to sockdrawer the card and maybe I will receive a nice CLI and a decrease in APR from them to earn my business back. I charged about $4.5k in a 3-4 month period.

When I got my first card thru BOA I taught my boys the meaning of a credit card in the following way:

• I told them that they could borrow any amount from me. I was basically a loan officer to them.
• The trick was that they had to pay me back on my terms meaning that they have to pay back whatever amount within 30 days or within the billing cycle.
• Since my repayment plan was more strict than the banks they truly had to think about the money they wanted to borrow and if they could afford the terms.
• This not only contributed to my payment history but they investigated how banks and Credit Cards work and realized that if they didn't pay me back the consequences I faced.
• Both now look at possible purchases like their father, If they don't see how they can pay if off they don't purchase the item

Good advice Meya!

My brother is the same way as your nephew. He bought a Flat HD TV $700 w/ my CapOne and he was paying off in increments of $100-200 once he saw Finance Charges building up and he paid in full. LOL. He didnt like that watsoever!

I tried explaining CC's to my brother and he got confused and said "Im never getting one"... Then, I explained why its important to build credit and he was like watever im still young. Hes pampered by my parents so I think he will NOT understand until hes out the house!

Good advice Rivas and HJM331. I will like to add one more in addition to you guys. Sis, I think you should sit down and talk with her prior to loading a card. Do the math and show her how finance charges occur, what happens when she pays the min balance constantly, and what happens when she is late. Kids think that paying the min balance is all they have to do. I told my nephew that min balances is for emergency or when you are running tight within that month. He saw with the target card, he was not paying the game he purchase off fast enough, and then understood what I was trying to tell him in regards to the price not being the same as purchased when paying monthly payments.

He did good for the first 5 purchases and then realized that he was not ready for credit and understood the value of a dollar from a responsible point of view. He is darn good at saving, and knows the difference in between wants and needs, I know this is going to change one day, but at least he will have some type of financial advice under his belt.

hi RivasGlo she 14 and Hjm you and rivasglo is right i should just load it for that much and see what happens and if she does ok go up 25.00 more. Thanks guys for the advice i will use it!!!

No matter how much you try to teach them, they will only understand the value of the dollar when they earn the money themselves.

YUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO TRUE! I learned on my own on how to budget and so forth when I made my own money.

Tell her to get a job[/quote]https://www.netspend.com/[/URL] . I had one before I had a checking account and I simply just used it to make purchases online. Yes, it charged $1 fee per each transaction but it made me responsible and made b capable or budgeting because with my "planned purchases" I have to always budget that extra $1 per transaction. I had it for a yr then i got a bank account. I left it open cause my brother was using it, he will put money in it and use it online. I was 18 he was 15/16 at the time.

Pamela, don't load up too much money on those pre-paid cards or else you are going to end up regretting it. No matter how much you try to teach them, they will only understand the value of the dollar when they earn the money themselves.

hey sis well my daughter still wants a card so i told her i would get one of the cards you can load and let her have that. When she uses all the money on the card within a month then her money is out until next month ( and this is bad to say but she will end up using all the money in a week if i dont watch what she spends) So i will see what happens and if she cant budget her money then i will sit down with and talk to her about how saving money and help her use a budget sheet to save money on what she wants.