Money is always fun to spend. Saving and keeping a budget? Not so much. Luckily, VOX has some practical advice on how to do both.

“Teen” and “budget” may not be mentioned in the same sentence often, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to manage money. The VOX teen staff has been giving up the game on how not to go broke for some time now.

Back in 2015 Dallas Gordon wrote up five “Back-To-School Shopping Tips” that still work to this day. One of them being:

Before you go shopping, always know your budget. With sales, clearance racks, and store updates, there is never a reason to overspend. Personally, I love to check out the apps Shopular and RetailMeNot. If the location setting on your phone is on, sales near you will constantly pop up, and I can personally attest to the fact that it is a money saver.

VOX contributor Alexes Harris’ piece “Savvy Ways To Save” featured a number of options on how to hold on to money, including this personal favorite:

Save your loose change

Almost every time I purchase something, I end up with loose change. One way I save is to keep my loose change. I made up my own system of saving special quarters and pennies but keeping dimes and nickels on me if I didn’t have change. This system may seem weird to you, but it helps. I encourage you to create your own system.

With “How to Be Frugal During and After High School,” Arlena McClenton advised that teens learn how to cook and not eat out so often. Feast your hungry eyes on this gem:

Your belly might thank you for eating out every day, but it adds up quickly. Learn to cook so that you can plan ahead both nutrition-wise and financially. I like to use a website called Budget Bytes, which totals up the cost of your meal within the recipe. Another site filled with pure variety of recipes is All Recipes. The website includes every recipe you could ever think of, as well as shows you the sales for ingredients in stores near you.

Arlena wasn’t finished there though. The follow-up piece “How To Make a Budget: The Fast and Easy Way” got right to the point with a number of tips and tools to help you watch every dollar you spend.

“Managing your money doesn’t have to be stressful or intimidating,” Arelena wrote.

Just this past June, our VOX Media Cafe team of  Victoria Akpan, Carlos Guzman, Chasity Starks and Gabby Whitaker produced the video “Thrifting: Ballin on a Budget” where they sat with some teen thrifters and got some real life, DJ Khaled-level #clothtalk on how to save money and look fly.