Bill My Parents

[Sam_2.0]

www.billmyparents.com/startt1/?ref=AffInc1_

Anyone else get annoyed with things like this? What's wrong with letting your kids have cash - they can't spend more than what's in their pocket. I really don't like the CC idea...especially with the name "Bill My Parents" - it just implies that the kids are not responsible, that mom & dad will just take care of it.

[mizbear]

I am finding that I have to make sure that my nieces- particularly the younger one are given correct change. I am not talking teens not giving correct change- I am talking adults.
But I agree, CC are a bad idea and the name stinks.
Now a debit card isn't so bad- they can only use what you give them, have to keep track of what they have and some give interest on the account.

Btw- Congrats on the baby!!

[thyme4change]

Cash is quite difficult to use online. Most websites don't even have that as an option.

[Clever Username]

Like the name or not.... it's catchy.
Your moral outrage is hypocritical.
Sure cash only works well as a money training 101 class.
Think of this as money training 201. Maybe this is the tool parents will use to teach their kids the difference between a credit card and credit card debt.

[reeneejune]

If you read the details on this, it's just a pre-paid card with a stupid name. There are plenty of other ways to teach a teen to use plastic responsibly that don't charge you $3.95 per month plus.

FWIW, I do think the name sends a horrible message.

[twinmama85]

Sounds like when the kardashians tried to do this....besides kids shouldnt be shopping online anyway

[thyme4change]

When I was in high school my boyfriend was an authorized signer on his mother's credit card. We went out of town, and my car broke down. We had to walk 10 miles to a shop, who came out and towed it, and then fixed it (easy fix, but nothing we knew how to do.) We had another 2 hours to drive to get back home. This was long before cell phones, and long before free long distance. I'm not exactly sure what we would have done had he not had that credit card, which pre-paid for the tow. I would hope they would have taken a credit card over the phone - but if they hadn't the shop would have closed long before anyone's parents would have gotten there. I paid every penny back to his mom, and got on my knees and kissed her hand to thank her.

I'm not 100% against teenagers having access to emergency credit. Could he have taken the card and racked up thousands of dollars in damage - sure! But his Mom didn't count on the tool to do the teaching - she was talking with him constantly about all that kind of stuff.

A few months later we went off to college, where I was given a t-shirt for every credit card I signed up for. Within a few years I had $10k worth of credit card debt (in 1990) and he continued to use credit responsibly and leave college with no debt.

The tool isn't the problem. It is the knowledge of the kid.

[Sam_2.0]

I have no problem teaching responsible credit use. But this is just a pre-paid card. Why not get a checking account with a debit card? Seems a better way to learn. I just think all these cards are scams. And I hate the name

[jeep108]

I started my daughter off with cash and gift cards. When she starts to work next summer I will have her open a savings and checking account.

[thyme4change]

The problem with debit cards is you can overdraw them. I'm under the impression if this card is out of money, they will decline the purchase. Debit cards are notoriously bad about letting your $8 purchase go through and then charging you $38 in fees because of it. Maybe you have found that your bank is better at that. I've never overdrawn at my current bank - but my last bank did let me just keep on going, and then charged me $5 for each purchase. Assholes.

[blackcard]

$38 fee for an $8 purchase. Sounds like legal loan sharking to me.

[blackcard]

Come to think of it, I bet that is exactly what this new Bill My Parents card is aiming for!

[mizbear]

The debit card I have through my bank does not allow purchases to go through over the amount in your account. You can arrange to have it set up for that (complete with the $25 OD fee, $28- whatever it is now- I've never OD my account, so I wouldn't know), but I choose not to- if I don't have it- I can't spend it.

[Sam_2.0]

Btw- Congrats on the baby!!

Thanks

[misplacedbrit]

Both my children, when they were children, enrolled in VisaBuxx. My sons is on Wachovia (my bank) so transfers are free. School Police said this is a great way to give them an allowance, as long as you don't set them up with a PIN number for ATMs

[zibazinski]

I wish ALL banks would not let you overdraw with your debit card, period, but that is how they make their money.

[blackcard]

<<I wish ALL banks would not let you overdraw with your debit card, period, but that is how they make their money.>>

I can just see the Bill My Parents debit cards, with novice adolescent card users, raking in those huge fees. After all, I believe that most kids will not be checking balances before swiping the cards.

[rmtvbrooks]

Aug 8, 2011 16:55:26 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

The tool isn't the problem. It is the knowledge of the kid.

AMEN! My DD has a prepaid card through USAA, where I bank (no fees unless she overdraws). She went on a youth trip last week, and I put her food money on it (for fast food dinners out). She came home with $6.18 still left on it. She kept track of what she'd spent really well. DS, on the other hand, will not have his card in his possession for quite awhile (he has developmental delays from birth mom's drug use).

I think our world is increasingly going to using plastic for payment. At least with a debit card, the money has to be there BEFORE you spend it. I also gave DD the prepaid card for her trip because my bank will replace the card if it's lost or stolen as long as I call them as soon as I know it's missing. If she lost her cash, I'd be out that money plus the money to replace it. I hardly ever carry cash, and I want to be sure she understands how it works. This is the same child who wanted something at Walmart one time, and I told her I couldn't afford it, and her response was: "Just use your card, Mom." I've been working to show her how there has to be money to back up that card. She's only 12, but it's never too early to start teaching her those things.

BTW...I do HATE the name on this card. "Billing" someone implies that they are required to pay it...not really liking the idea of "billing" one's parents!

[Clever Username]

Aug 10, 2011 21:45:34 GMT -5 @rmtvbrooks said:

Aug 8, 2011 16:55:26 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

The tool isn't the problem. It is the knowledge of the kid.

AMEN! My DD has a prepaid card through USAA, where I bank (no fees unless she overdraws). She went on a youth trip last week, and I put her food money on it (for fast food dinners out). She came home with $6.18 still left on it. She kept track of what she'd spent really well.

Sounds like a great kid being raised well.
I bet you could teach her how to use a credit card without creating credit card debt too.
Neglecting this second step of training is what creates a risk when offers start coming in the mail.

[alabamagal]

Maybe it's just that I have a hard time understanding those who can't get bank accounts and learn to use them. I bank with a regional bank (used to be credit union, but growing bigger than that). My kids all have free checking with free debit card, free ATM (although they don't use it). They can not withdraw more money than they put in, the charges will be declined. They have online access to view the balance. Since I am co-signer, I can see online what they are using their money for. Even though two of them are now over 18, because we are working together to fund their college, I monitor their finances (this is not an issue with them). We have NEVER paid any fees for this.

[newmummy]

Umm....I guess my kid's only 5, so it's not such a big thing, but I've opted for I guess what you'd call the Berenstain Bears method. The new "Dollars and Sense" has fake checks you can use....you pay but they keep a little checkbook. That, and three piggy banks - one for saving, one for spending, and one for church. A dime has to be pulled out when he gets his dollar allowance for "taxes" too (it really goes to savings though). This is what my folks did with all of us, and it's worked fine for my siblings since they didn't wipe out their savings. I just got hit with so many bills at once it nearly killed me, I'm going to require my son to have a true EF before he moves out of the house. Now the "external stressor" is out of the equation, I'm slowly moving toward actually paying some things down.

[mizbear]

Several people have brought up the very valid point of follow through. Kids know when you don't take things or them seriously.