Here come the holidays…there goes your money. Soon you will hear the sucking sound of the giant vacuum emptying cash from your wallet and then feel the sting of the slicing sound every time your credit card swipes through the cash register. It is hard enough disciplining yourself, but now you have teenagers constantly pestering you for holiday shopping funds. Here’s an idea – take this opportunity to teach them the value of a dollar and how to live on a budget. Not only will it provide your teen a life lesson, but when January rolls around, you just might be in a better mood. There are several teen prepaid cards available that can help you accomplish this monumental task.

Certainly, there are several methods you can employ with your teens (assuming they don’t already have their own funds) during the holiday shopping season. You can give them cash, but it always seems to disappear into thin air, and they’re never really sure where it went. Or you can hand over your credit card…good luck with that. Maybe you can actually take them shopping and purchase gifts with them. I don’t know about you, but I would rather spend the time listening to fingernails on a chalk board. Besides, how are they going to get YOUR present if you’re with them? Why don’t you take some time beforehand and research setting up a budget with a prepaid debit card?

There are some real advantages for prepaid:

• You can use a card locking or unlocking feature like you might find with a BillMyParents reloadable prepaid MasterCard.
• Monitoring balances online and receiving real-time email and text alerts is a function of several prepaid debit cards.
• You can teach your child some online money management and budgeting skills and actually get them “Financially Certified” through an online assessment with the American Express PASS card.
• With available network-branded cards such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, your teen can take advantage worldwide card acceptance be it retail or online merchant.
• You can continue reloading the prepaid card through high school and into college all the while keeping tabs on your child’s spending routines.
• There is no credit check and no adverse impact to your child’s or your credit since the money you load is already yours to begin with.
• With a teen card like PAYjr Visa Buxx, you also don’t have to worry about overdraft fees or high interest rates on balances that come with a credit card.
• If you don’t like a “teen oriented” prepaid card, you can always participate in something like the Walmart MoneyCard family pack and load cash for you and get secondary cards for other family members as well.
• For the more financially advanced children who enjoy hip hop, you might want to look at the Young Money Prepaid Discover card.

If teen cards really aren’t your cup of tea, there are resources available to help you evaluate different types of prepaid cards that are competitively priced and can offer other desirable features and benefits you might be looking for. Be sure to always read the terms and conditions of any financial instrument you purchase.