As I drove home, I wondered, how could I teach my children that a credit score is vitally important to far more than just getting that credit card? Not only do these credit card lenders use them, but also they are large elements of everyday life for most people. Everyone from your insurance agent to your potential employer could use your credit score to determine if they will work with you. As I thought further about this, I realized that there simply was too many future investments riding on the coattails of the decisions my kids could be making now and in the next few years.

Talking to the Kids about Credit Scores

I decided it was important enough to talk to my kids about this sooner rather than later. What I wanted to find out is what they already knew about credit scores and what they were lacking in knowledge. I brought up the topic of borrowing money. In order to help get the conversation going, start out by asking your kids a few key questions.
What do you know about your ability to borrow money?

The goal here is to determine if your children even know about credit scores and the value of them. Your children may bring up a variety of other important factors too, such as having a job and enough money to pay the monthly bill. However, zone in on the credit score.

Credit scoring helps lenders determine if they should extend credit to the individual, based on the amount of risk the individual poses to the lender. The credit score is comprised of a variety of factors, including the way that you pay bills, the amount of debt you have and the types of debt you have. The combination of your credit usage experience is placed into a complex algorithm that determines what your experience looks like in a number form.

Who uses credit scores?

Once you have established what credit scores are and how they relate to an individual, the next step is to educate your child about who will use this score to make decisions about them. It is often easy to see that lenders are going to use credit scores. To buy a car or to buy a home, you need to have a good credit score, after all. Be sure they are able to correlate the benefit of having a high credit score and getting the right loan (lower interest rates and easier acceptability.)

However, others use this credit score, too. Ask your child if they have any idea who else is able to get a copy of your credit report detailing your credit use and who can use a credit score to make decisions about whether or not to work with them. They may be surprised to learn that more than just lenders use them.

One example that they may not know about is insurance agencies. When you purchase a vehicle, the insurance company is likely to pull a credit report and they will use your credit score to determine if they should provide a policy. Insurance companies often call this a credit based insurance score or insurance scores, but it is very similar if not the same as your credit score. The insurance companies use this information to determine how likely it is that the insured individual will file an insurance claim and the amount of that claim.

In addition, employers sometimes use credit scores, too. There is some controversy over whether or not employers should use credit scores as a tool to determine if they should hire someone, but many do so through the background check. The logic here is simple. If you are having trouble managing your credit use, you may have trouble managing the business’s money or lack responsibility.

It is amazing just how vital a credit score can be, even to those who never actually fill out that application in their student lounge of their college campus or answer the emails they get.

For more information regarding credit scores and your rights, visit the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC’s website at www.FTC.gov.

Hybrid vehicles have an electric motor assisted by a standard gas powered engine. Hybrids get good gas mileage because they need far less gas to run since the electric motor does most of the work. I was intrigued with the opportunities that were possible and decided to start looking into some of these vehicles in the hopes of purchasing one.

The bottom line is that most people want an affordable vehicle, one that provides you with reliability and gas mileage is important. It is critical to teach your kids how to buy an affordable car, especially with the average sales representatives willing to sell them the most expensive vehicle on the lot.

How to Save on Hybrids

No matter if, you are buying a hybrid or you are teaching your kids how to buy one, the following are some of the most important characteristics to look for in these vehicles. You can save with hybrids, but you do need to know what to look for and how it will help you save money either on the purchase price or in the long-term use of the vehicle.

1. Do your research before heading to the dealership. Learn which of the latest makes and models have been rated as the best available. Use third party websites and research companies to help you to determine this.
2. Learn about gas mileage. Each hybrid is unique in terms of how much gas it can save you. Newer models are improving in gas mileage even more than those hybrids out just a few years ago. However, you do want to compare the fuel economy of each of the vehicles. The United States Department of Energy provides fuel economy ratings on their website, www.fueleconomy.gov.
3. Check for tax deductions. This deduction may be in place for the next few months or longer if extended. Hybrid vehicles purchased after December 2005 are eligible for up to a $3400 income tax rebate. However, these rebates are limited.
4. Get a great loan if you are financing the vehicle. Even though you can save a few thousand dollars here and there, you will save much more by purchasing a vehicle loan that is a few percentage points lower. Be sure you focus on putting as much down as possible on the purchase.
5. Shop around. Hybrids are becoming more popular with car manufacturers. There are now SUV’s down to economy sized vehicles on the market from many of the top car manufacturers in the world to choose from. This also means that the average city will have numerous dealerships available to shop at.

Teaching Your Kids to Save at the Dealership

Even if you are purchasing a hybrid vehicle for yourself, bring along the kids. This is the perfect opportunity to see you save some money and to get the best deal. One of the first things you should do is to negotiate down the price as much as possible. Know what the competition is selling the vehicle for and ask for a lower price.

Teach your kids how to get a good price for your trade in, too. To do this, research the value of the car in advance, in the condition it is in. It may be better to try to sell this vehicle on your own, if you can do so, since trade in costs are often far less than what you can get if you sold it yourself.

As mentioned, be aware that the car dealership is not necessarily the best place to get the lowest priced car loan. In fact, you are likely to find a better loan price at your credit union or other financial institution. Find a credit union near you.

Each of these steps is a lesson that your children should be part of. After all, they will have to buy their own vehicle at some point.

It is because of this lack of understanding of the costs that I sat my children down and looked at some of the costs associated with traveling during spring break this year. We worked on creating a basic list of expenses and estimated the costs for each of them. I wrote out a list I thought was accurate while they worked on a list of their own, estimating the costs along the way.

Here is what the two lists looked like. First, look at my own.

• Airfare costs: between $250 and $300 a person
• Hotel and lodging: $90 to $200 per night, depending on where they stay
• Meals for a week: $400 on up, depending on the types of meals they were eating
• Travel throughout the city: $100 to $300
• Shopping and spending money: $200 on up

Now, look at my college kid’s estimates:

• Food: $350 (not too bad!)
• Flying: $89 (she thought she saw a sale on air travel, but after looking into it, we found out these were one way tickets only)
• Hotel: $40 a night
• Shopping: $400

As you can see, there is some difference in what my kids thought it would cost to take a week off and spend it lying on the beach. So, this got me to thinking a bit more about spring break and what options our kids have for affordable, but fun travel.

Consider Less Expensive Options

As I sat with my kids going over these costs, I asked them if they could find a few ways to save money and they immediately suggested different types of travel that would be less expensive however, just as fun for them.

Here are some ideas that we came up with along the way.

• Rather than going out of the country (we didn’t even figure on the cost of passports and extended travel), stay in the United States. This in itself will save half the cost of travel. Instead of Cancun, try Fort Lauderdale.
• Even better, consider less expensive beach cities if you are heading to the beach. For example, it would cost $200 approximately to fly to Miami for spring break, but if my kids drove a few hours instead to Myrtle Beach, they would save considerably. Not only is the city less expensive, but they do not have to fly to get there.
• Go camping. Camping, especially if you have the equipment already from family trips, can be a very inexpensive option for teens for spring break. It allows them to get the experience they need of being on their own, but it keeps things far more affordable.
• Choose charity work locally. Our family does a great deal for charity right now, but when my son heard that we were talking about ways to spend your spring break, he mentioned that he hoped to help with another Habitat for Humanity home building project. It may not be the typical type of spring break activity, but it does offer some key rewards including a feeling of helping someone in need.
• Indoor water parks are another great choice. At this time of the year, most amusement parks near us are closed for the winter months. However, there are a few affordable indoor water parks nearby which make for a lot of fun during the cooler spring months.
• Check out local national parks and their offerings. Depending on where you live, you may be able to go skiing and stay at a cabin. You might be able to go on a backpacking trip through the mountains or even spend some time whitewater rafting.

After a good deal of time talking about these options, it dawned on my kids that they could do much more if they choose one of these activities rather than spending all of their savings on the traditional spring break. Even more importantly, one of my children mentioned that it would make them just as happy to stay home and work rather than taking the time off.

Last blog post I delved into what President Obama had to say during his first State of the Union Address–specifically the education issues, because it directly affects both teens and college students. I zeroed in on college tax breaks.

Now let’s move on to student loans. This is an important money lesson, because kids come to understand that taking out a loan is one thing, but paying it back is another entirely.

There were eight education-related points Obama addressed, and four of them were about student loans. So half of what he talked about was student loans and the affordability of college. That sounds like an important issue. Discuss the four student loan issues with your kids. They won’t forget the lesson, and they’ll pay more attention next time that tuition bill arrives.

For review, before we get into the student loan issues solely, here are the eight education-related topics Obama urged Congress to:

• Renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• Revitalize community colleges
• End taxpayer subsidies to banks for student loans
• Award a $10,000 tax credit for families for four years of college
• Increase Pell Grants (need-based Federal grants for low-income college students)
• Reduce compulsory student loan payments to only 10% of income
• Legislate that all student loan debt forgiven after 20 years, after 10 years if they choose a career in public service
• Cost cut at colleges and universities

The third item, ending taxpayer subsidies, was covered in the last post (LIVE LINK HERE) in detail. The most important thing for kids to remember about it is that families who need student loans shouldn’t help foot the bill for offering student loans.

Pell Grants, the fifth item on the list, are Federal government grants designed to help low-income families afford college. They are very important loans that need more funding. Go to the website and take a look, discuss with your kids what income levels qualify for these grants. Give them a sense of how impossible it might be to try to pay for college with that level of income, if there aren’t grants available.

You can do this by talking about household expenses: rent or mortgage, monthly food, utility and insurance bills. They’ll get the idea quickly.

The 6th and 7th items are perhaps most pertinent to kids in college, who might already fear the stress of having to pay back loans.

The 6th item means that when kids are out of college, and have a full time job, they won’t have to take too big a chunk out of their paychecks to pay back student loans. It’s hard enough to get started as an adult, working and paying living expenses on starter salaries, without having debt hanging over your head. By limiting the amount they have to pay to 10% of what they’re earning, it helps reduce the stress.

Now, the stress reduction is only worthwhile in the long run when it’s combined with the 7th item on the list: The forgiving of the loan. Tell kids this means if you’re paying 10% of your income for 20 years, your obligation is over, even if you haven’t paid off the whole loan.

This seems like a long time, but if you go to an expensive school, and take out a lot of loans, your payment can be steep.

You see, you pay interest on those loans, so in some ways it’s not worth paying very little over many years. If the interest is accruing, the amount of the loan is actually increasing over the long term. So if your loan is never forgiven, you’re only sinking deeper into debt.

Having a cap on paying off the loan makes that low payment worthwhile. You need not take responsibility for racking up interest over your lifetime.  And if your teen is interested in a career in public service, it becomes an even sweeter deal.

If your kids have interesting comments about Obama’s call to Congress, please share them.

Two weeks ago, President Obama gave his first State of the Union address. It is an historical occasion, and naturally what I loved best were all the teen money lessons crammed in there. My students are still moaning about having to analyze and write about what it all means.

Today’s lesson, about tax credit for college costs, is pertinent to our teens’ lives, so they’ll remember it, but it also can be generalized to understand taxation altogether. And it’s the most important–or at least the most exciting–aspect of taxation: the tax break.

First, have your kids watch the Obama State of the Union Address. Just Google it, and it will appear.

Second, hone in on the part of the speech about investing in the skills and education of our people. There were eight points Obama addressed. Obama called for Congress to:

• Renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• Revitalize community colleges
• End taxpayer subsidies to banks for student loans
• Award a $10,000 tax credit to families for four years of college
• Increase Pell Grants (need-based Federal grants for low-income college students)
• Reduce compulsory student loan payments to only 10% of income
• Legislate that all student loan debt be forgiven after 20 years, after 10 years if they choose a career in public service
• Cost cut at colleges and universities

Third, ask them if they understand what the two tax items mean: Ending taxpayer subsidies, while increasing the tax credit to $10,000 for four years of college. Make note of their answers, whether they answer correctly or not. Understanding how they perceive these terms will help you explain other related issues later. Then give them workable definitions.

Subsidizing: Explain first that the word subsidizing means to help pay for something. As the recession hit, student loans became harder to get. People, otherwise known as taxpayers, had to help foot the bill to keep student loans available by paying extra taxes. The irony of that won’t escape your kids. What is the point of having the people who need the loans to begin with contribute to the pot of available loan money?

Well, not a lot of point, especially since there’s no way to guarantee that wealthy people, who could afford helping to subsidize the student loans, would be the ones contributing. So the call to end subsidies for student loans means that the tax burden, in theory, will be lessened for the average taxpayer.

On the other end of the tax problem: The average taxpayer needs a tax break, not simply being absolved of paying more. Explain that a tax break is when you get out of having to pay certain taxes. This either happens by lowering your taxable income by a certain amount, or by taking the tax you would be paying and subtracting a designated amount. Lowering taxable income tends to be for wealthier people. Actually getting a refund tends to be for people who have no more deductions to take and who already get a refund.

In Obama’s proposal, he is asking to lower the amount of taxable income a family pays by $2,500 per year for every student who finishes four years of college. So if a family has a taxable income of $120,000, it would be reduced to a taxable income of $117,500 each year for four years. The total after four years is $10,000.

Incidentally, families stop being eligible if they’re too wealthy. The tax benefits start to fade when the family income is $160,000.

But the tax credit also helps families with much, much lower incomes who need the cash back. If a family spends at least $4,000 per year on college, then they can actually get a refund of 40% of that $2,500–$1,000 back in cash. So the taxable income is lowered, but the refund is also real.

Have your teen or college student look up these Acts. They should be informed at a detailed level. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included a scaled-back version of the American Opportunity Tax Credit as a modification to the Hope Scholarship tax credit. The legislation increased the maximum credit to $2,500 (100% of the first $2,000 in tuition, fees and course materials and 25% of the next $2,000) per year, expanded it to four years from two, and made the tax credit partially refundable.

In addition, the income phaseouts were expanded and the tax credit is no longer subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). To date, these improvements are temporary, for the 2009 and 2010 tax years only. However, in his speech, President Obama has proposed making the improvements permanent in his FY2010 budget.

It’s important because of course it saves money. But it also shows kids how when we budget for life expenses, we have to look at the big picture to see what’s affordable. In some cases, this type of tax credit could mean the difference between being able to afford college and not being able to.

Also, there is a growing number of college students–many of mine included–that take five years instead of four to graduate. This is a thorny issue, because sometimes it’s very difficult to schedule needed classes on campuses where budget cuts are translating to fewer class offerings. (I will do a post on navigating the college and university advisor and registration system, to help ensure that your kids get the classes they need to graduate in four years.)

By pointing out to your kids that there is no tax credit for a fifth year of college, they will understand on a whole new level that it’s critical they register early and remain organized.

In his speech, President Obama said: “No one should go broke because they chose to go to college.” And he’s right. The tax changes are designed to live up to that message. So are the changes in student loans, which we’ll talk about in a future blog post. Stay tuned.

We live in a big drafty house, naturally the worst setting for heating bills. And of course everyone prefers to walk around in T-shirts and bare feet, cranking the thermostat.

The only way to stop this is to put teens in charge of the heating bill and challenge them to save money on it every month.

First things first. Show them the heating bills for the past year. Show them the seasonal difference, of course, if you have gas heat and electric air conditioning (if you even use air conditioning.) Then show them the bills for the last few winters, and how the prices have escalated.

Have a discussion about what they think causes this rise in prices. Do they think we, as a country, don’t have the reserves? Are we really at OPEC’s mercy? This is such a great civic conversation because it had global implications, and next time they see oil prices as a hot topic on the news, it will sink in a little bit.

Now the actual two-month game plan:

1. Have teens set an achievable goal for the first month: February. Whatever you set your thermostat on, lower it by 5 degrees, if you can. Make sure you make it even lower at night–maybe 7 or 8 degrees. The idea is to see how much this saves. If people are screaming at the end of Day 1, try lowering it 2 or 3 degrees at first, then work your way down.

2. Okay, it’s going to be colder, so the next step is to maintain the heat the house has. With sweater and socks on, have your teen go room by room, seeing where the drafts are and what can be done to prevent warm air from leaving the house, and cold air from getting in. They should make a list of drafts and possible solutions: Towels rolled up under drafty doors, to seal in heat, a little caulk on older window frames. In my kitchen, there’s actual breeze if you stand near one of the windows. Basement ceilings often need insulation stuffed up in the air.

3. Let your teen go after these drafty areas. Do have them keep track of what you need to spend to fix the problem–a tube of calk, insulation, etc. That way they can see how long it would take to get a return on their investment. Warning: When working with insulation, make sure they wear gloves and goggles and are supervised.

4. If you have a fireplace, put the teen in charge of building fires in the evening, to keep the heat in once you turn down the thermostat for sleeping. And bring out the extra blankets! If your house has a lot of windows, teens can learn about the money saving properties of solar energy. On weekends, if they light a fire first thing in the morning (hard to do on weekdays unless someone works at home), the house can heat up, preventing the heater from kicking on to live up to the thermostat’s promise.

That will bridge the time until the sun is at its warmest, and you open drapes and blinds to let the sun warm your rooms. If you don’t have a lot of windows, then the teen’s focus will be on insulating every room, and keeping the fire heat in.

Let them notice the difference and make note of it.

5. After one month, see what you’ve saved in heating bills. For March, try to lower the thermostat even more, if you can, especially when no one is home. The habit of coming home, turning it up a bit, and lighting a fire, is also quite a relaxing ritual.

By April, the challenge should let up a little bit, depending on where you live. But then your teen will be primed to fight the heat. We’ll get to that post when I can bear to think of wanting to cool off.

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But if they’re faced with, say, the dean, who has just raised their tuition again, many would be tongue tied if given the opportunity to ask why. They would think they don’t have the right to ask, and that they’re being rude.

That has to change before they’re in the workforce.

So, if your college student (or teen) has had a job for a while (six months is a good average), has performed well, the boss is enamored, and it’s not a fixed fee sort of job (like babysitting), teach them how to ask for a raise.

By the way, this same approach works for someone with an internship that’s coming to an end, if they want to ask to be kept on as a paid employee.

Here are the steps:

1. They need to believe they are a qualified candidate and have a right to ask. Have them write a list of the tasks they perform at their job. Next have them write a list of what they were hired to do. Does the second list contain more items? Have they done everything they were asked to do?

Usually, when someone is at a job for a while, and they’re doing well, they’ve added more tasks along the way. This is a good leverage point for asking for a raise. Remind them of that. It’s also a good reality check for a kid who may have more of a sense of entitlement.

2. Once they’ve established that they are a good candidate for a raise, make sure they understand that it is perfectly polite to ask. It is their right. Not only that, the boss will admire them for it. Say your kid wants to manage people, or move up in the company. The boss will think that someone who can take initiative, ask for what they need, is a strong employee.

3. Have them do research to find out how much others doing a similar job are being pad. They can Google it for some jobs, or ask people they know. See what the customary range of pay is. They don’t want to ask for a raise that is too much, or too little.

4. Have them think of extra tasks they can do at their job. When my daughter asks for a raise in her allowance, or she wants extra money one week, she always approaches me with an idea for an extra chore she can do. This principle is a good one to carry to the workforce.

Asking for a raise is a very important rite of passage for kids. It paves the way to asking for a promotion. And it will make them work harder, once they get that raise. Wish them luck!

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Ah, and that’s an interesting point for teenagers, who love stores. I think they should know about value and depreciation, and take those things into consideration when they spend their money, so they develop smart buying habits.

So, here’s a fun game–a sort of 21st century Price Is Right (I’m dating myself with that TV game show, aren’t I? So be it. Who am I kidding anyway.)

Go through each room in the house with your teen and a friend, if there aren’t siblings. It’s just more fun to play to win. Each kid should be carrying a clipboard. (In our house, my husband was the other player since he is clueless about what anything costs). Have them write two columns on a page: one for Original Price, and one for Online Market Value.

First, have each kid write down a guess for what you paid for each piece of furniture in the room. Say you’re in the living room: What did you pay for that sofa? Don’t tell them.

Do this for each piece of major furniture in the house, room by room. You can get as granular as you want. It will be an interesting side note to see if you remember the price of certain things, or if your spouse does, or if ultimately you have to look up the cost of the item new.

Once they have their Original Price list for furniture, see which kid came closest to the real numbers. See if there are patterns, such as if they know what electronics cost, but not lamps.

Give 1 point to the kid who comes to the closest to the purchase price. Give them 2 points if they come within 10% of the original price, and 3 points if they come within 5%.

Once they have the original price assessed, take a moment for it to sink in how much having a house costs. See which is the most expensive room to furnish.

Then have them write down guesses for how much each item is worth on eBay or Craig’s List. Just choose one for simplicity.

Then have them go online and score their guesses the same way you did the first round. If there is a range of prices, for, say, the sofa, pick the midpoint price for the category (e.g., a sofa in good shape; or a futon ravaged by cat claws.) Condition of the furniture is very important in the game–and a great way to nag about keeping things clean and in good shape.

Of course see who wins. Also see if they scored any multiple points here–for coming within 10%. Or were they shocked by the depreciation and guessed way too high, based on the purchase price?

Another possibility, given their age: That teens will be more accurate about the market value online, and far less accurate about original purchase price.

I’d love to see the patterns. Have fun and don’t get too depressed. We all paid too much for everything if we predated eBay.

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Let’s at least seize the day and teach our kids what the government really does with taxes, and not just the federal government. Now, this could get sticky and political, so let’s avoid that; we’ll just turn the kids off. In this case, sticking to theory may be best. The idea is that they learn the concept. No doubt the moment they start paying taxes, they’ll form opinions about it.

In fact, this lesson, more than any other we’ve done so far, is a discussion lesson. The idea is to spark conversation about each tax topic.

1. Income tax

We’ve touched upon income tax before, but it’s an easy one to start with; the warm up. Show kids your W2s or 1009s if you’re comfortable. Show them that every penny you earn is taxed. (Let’s save deductions and write offs for another post. I will do a post on this, especially important for college students right now, because there are more college expenses considered deductible than ever before.

Try and have them guess what the federal and state governments do with income tax. Get them started with highways and police forces, and see what else they can come up with. This can be fun game. Give hints: fire trucks, ambulances, street lights, subway systems.

Ask them if they think it’s possible to track government spending with your tax dollars. Once they understand what taxes are spent on, this should create an interesting discussion. Go online and see if you can find state and federal budgets, and what the taxes were spent on.

Bring up this question: Do you think income tax money should be used for war?

2. Property tax.

Explain that this is the tax on both your land (if you own land) and your house, if you own one. (We’ll also explain in the future post that these taxes are actually deductible on your federal taxes). Explain that this tax is local and is supposed to go for local roads, local services such as snow plowing in winter.

Have them guess what else, and ask them if they think the local government, your town, does a better job providing for its citizens–spending the money better–than the federal government.

3. Retail tax.

If you’re state does impose retail tax, then here’s the discussion point: What do states use this tax for that’s different from other tax they collect? And can they guess what a state like Delaware, which has no sales tax, does to raise revenue? States need money, whether they tax or not.

The answer to the Delaware question includes: lottery tickets and a lot of parking tickets and moving violations and paid parking. See what else kids can come up with and write in. I’ll give more answers.

The whole idea of this lesson is for kids to understand that they have stake in the community, the state, the country. It’s a good reason to read the newspaper and pay attention to politics, both local and federal. It’s a good reason to vote.

They’ll look around their town a bit differently, wondering how certain services are paid for. Maybe it will even translate to your home and they won’t just think money grows on trees and that you magically provide everything.

I’m very curious about the discussions you have with your kids about taxes. Get them talking and write in!

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I can make up all sorts of games for my students to learn about paying bills. Or, for a change, just let them do it. If you use online bill pay, put your teen in charge of this duty for the next month, and without saying a word more, see what the experience inspires. What will they have to say after paying bills for a month? Please write in and tell me, I’m dying to know.

Okay, here’s what to do:

1. Your teen is responsible for getting and sorting the mail. You can choose whether they pay each bill as it comes, or if they pay all the monthly bills on a certain day. You don’t have to give them a reason for which way you want to do it, if say, you don’t want to reveal that you need to wait for checks each week.

2. To pay the bill, the teen looks at the bill, makes sure it’s okay. They may need to ask you whether it looks correct. If it is correct, they log on online, pay it. If it’s not correct, they’ll need to call customer service for, say, the phone company, and say there’s a mistake. Stay on another phone extension the first few times they do this. Great lesson.

3. Then the teen needs to create a filing system for the hard copies. Let them invent their own. The whole idea is to see what they’ll do. Give them a filing cabinet–or box–and some folders to label. Tell them that each bill should have the date it was paid written on it, and any other pertinent information.

4. Then they should log the payment information in Quick Books or whatever other accounting system you use, so they can see weekly and monthly expense totals.

Every teen will learn many valuable lessons from this exercise. If they like it, have them keep doing it. Most fascinating is the questions they’ll come up with, or ideas for cutting expenses. Do try and implement their ideas when they have them.

I think this is a great job to pay a teen for, in the form of allowance. Especially if they have to deal with customer service departments!

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