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What is something worth buying as a teen? please explain.

sense most online business are having black friday is it worth buying something or should i pass and try to save my money. im a teen i have around 200$ but i would like to limit myself to 100$ or less. im probably posting this in the wrong place but im not sure, i just want to make a smart choice when it comes to money.

also i will not be investing in stocks or crypto so please dont suggest it.

66 comments
  • An electric toothbrush.

    • As someone in their 30's who didn't take care of my teeth for a while, I'm going to have to second this recommendation. It will save you a lot of grief down the road.

  • If you really want to buy something invest in a hobby of yours. Buy an instrument, used camera lens, whatever you need to do something you like. Stuff like this may last you a long time if you stick with the hobby.

  • Most of the "stuff everyone should buy" is stuff you really don't need as a teenager, like cast-iron cookware or a stand mixer. If you have hobbies you want to pursue, you should find a specific group around that hobby and ask them. A lot of black Friday "deals" aren't really deals, though - some companies will actually produce lower quality product lines specifically for black Friday sales, so if you end up buying something big like a TV or something like that make sure you do a little research.

    If you want general financial advice, I wouldn't put it in a retirement account like the other guy said. You have plenty of time for that, and you probably have milestones coming up that you'll want money for - buying a car, graduation celebrations, going to college, getting your own place, whatever. So saving it for that kind of stuff is never a bad idea.

  • I wish I was a teen with $200 to burn again.

    I have no idea what you should buy in particular but just have fun, you won't be a kid for long.

  • That's a good question. It's hard to go back to my teen years but I'd suggest:

    • buy a musical instrument and learn to play it, really doesn't mater which one. Especially during college years everyone who could play anything was suddenly a superstar
    • buy some book to learn some skill, again doesn't matter that much what you learn. I don't know, like mixing cocktails? Sounds fun. For example by accident I learned "reading of hands". I quickly learned that it's bullshit but boy, was it an interresting thing to perform during parties in college
    • Nothing really comes to my mind regarding of profesional development. Really at your level most of the stuff you can learn is free online and you don't need anything expensive
  • Good shoes are priceless as a teenager. As an adult shoes don't seem to be half the problem they were as a teenager.

    For example, applying for jobs is insane as a teenager because a lot of people are extremely judgy on mere whiffs of superficial appearances. Not cool enough, or too cool can sway some HR people. Don't expect to be vetted by rocket scientists!

    Argh! Nightmare memories. I tried to pull off some casual looks that backfired horribly with various employers and interviewers.

  • 100 isn't enough to really be worth anything too serious. The smart thing to do is either save it for something bigger or just have fun with it. Best way I spent 100 as a kid was on pizza and shit for me and my friends. A Minecraft server and some pizza is like 30 bucks, provides hours of fun

  • So here's the deal, you can buy a bunch of little trinkets and cool things that won't affect your quality of life in the long term, or you can save up for a few big life changing things.

    My suggestion would be to save up a few paychecks for a four season canvas bell tent as your first big investment. I recently moved into one as part of my offgrid prepping and wished I got one as a teen.

    Its essentially your own room outside the house (provided your parents backyard is big enough for a small tent). Why? A reliable long lasting portable shelter that you can live in and or have a place for your friends to hang out/ socialize. If your parents are the loud argumentative never stops fighting kind that get on your nerves, being able to just leave the house and go to your own personal sanctuary is a godsend. If you get comfortable enough with tent living it will open up to you the possibility of saving up money for cheap land and owning your own property somewhere nice and scenic. without ever getting into financial debt.

    If you are a smoker particularly of pot invest in a nice dry herb vaporizer from arizer. The smoke is a lot less harsh on the lungs, there's practically no smell (my parents HATED the smell and chewed my ass when they caught a whiff)

  • A lot of people in this thread are giving you weirdly specific advice about precise items to buy…

    I noticed you’re considering buying a 3D printer with that budget. I think the answer depends somewhat on how often you come across money and what else you might spend it on. It’s good to be careful with your money, but part of being careful with it is doing some research to figure out when an item is too cheap to be worth it for you. There’s no one answer because it depends on what you value. In terms of the 3D printer, consider how much it will cost to run it, how much you want to use it, and what you might get out of it. I don’t know much about 3D printers, but I suspect if most people are telling you to get a $200 one instead of a $100 one it’s likely that the experience with a higher end one is noticeably better and less frustrating. If the quality of the parts is important to you and you’re not willing to put up with frustration when prints don’t work, or the printer needs maintenance, the extra money is probably well spent if you do want a 3D printer (and cheaping out might get you a 3D printer you won’t be happy with, which could be a bigger waste of money than a safer but more expensive purchase).

    There are other options to consider. Libraries near you might have 3D printers you can use, and there are places to buy 3D printed models online (if you just want somebody to print them for you and are more interested in having some mini figures instead of the process of 3D printing). Buying 3D printed models from somebody else may cost less than getting a 3D printer, unless you think you’re going to make heavy use of it. It’s possible that you could also sell 3D printed stuff to recoup some costs if you do get a printer, but when making the decision I think you should assume you’ll make $0 from it and make sure you’re okay with the purchase in that case anyway.

    My general rule of thumb is to wait a week or two before buying anything and then I’ll buy it if I still have the itch and am obsessing over it. There are always more sales too (and Black Friday deals will be going on all month). A 3D printer seems like a good purchase for a teen to me. There’s some cool skills you can learn that go alongside it. If you haven’t already look into some of the free software for creating models for printing (tinkercad, blender, etc). That’s a hobby you can get into with no money and might influence whether the printer would be worth it for you (can you make the things you want to make, or do you want to print models that others have made?)

  • If you live somewhere wet, get a good quality waterproof coat. Like actually waterproof, not these fashion coats that really aren't. £100-200/but it'll last you at least 10 years. Assuming you're at the end of teenagerhood where you've finished growing.

    Otherwise I'd save to get a hifi system of decent quality. Something like wharfedale diamond 9.1 speakers and a second hand NAD amp, 3.5mm to RCA cable. Would set you up for a long time of musical enjoyment.

  • I was always onto this mindset in all my life. If I crave something for atleast 1-2 week I probably need it. For example playing VR always pops into my mind so I definitely need a VR headset.

    EDIT: There was one cheap thing that was really "useful" for me. My school had a merch shop where they sold pens with rubber onto it. With this I was able to play Hearthstone on my phone while class.

66 comments