Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“Has there been a money thing you've had to figure out on your own, like saving up or deciding what's worth spending on?”
What to listen for
A specific story about saving for something or regretting an impulse buy shows they're building their own relationship with money, which is a meaningful piece of growing independence.
If they mention comparing themselves to friends who have more or spend more freely, that's worth taking seriously and gently, without turning it into a lesson about gratitude.
If they haven't had to think about it much yet, that's fine too, it just means this kind of independence is still ahead of them.
What this tells you
How they talk about money decisions shows how much ownership they feel over choices that are genuinely theirs to make.