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As I was browsing, this article caught my attention: "50% of teenagers 'in debt' by 17." I wondered how a teenager, not yet of legal age could accumulate debt. A poll carried out by the Personal Finance Education Group in France reports that the majority of young people worry about money and tend to use bank overdrafts and credit card debt to live beyond their means. In fact, one in twenty of these young people do not believe they will have to pay back money borrowed on a credit card.

I can certainly believe this. My husband and I travel, so I gave my 17 year old son a credit card to "only be used for emergencies." I stressed how important it was that I trust him with the credit card and that I wanted him to have the card in case of emergency. He seemed to understand what I was saying and, as he is fairly responsible for his age, I did not worry overmuch about it.

We were on a vacation for a little over two weeks. When we returned, I asked my son how much he had charged on the credit card; which, by the way, was my business credit card. He said that he had charged about $100 on the card. I had approved him charging that amount, so I told him to keep the credit card. Again I stressed my trust in him and his judgment and he assured me that he understood.

Well, two weeks later, I received the bill for those two weeks we were on vacation and the two weeks I spent in ignorance! My son had charged over $750! You know what he spent it on? Pizza, delivered daily; this was in addition of eating out, also daily. Well, I learned my lesson about teenage credit and am trying to teach my son his lesson. His weekly living allowance is halved until the $750 in pizza is repaid.

For the latest money news, visit Lombard Direct, the sponsor of this post, and add the news feed to your bookmarks. I did, in hope that I can predict my son's next financial blunder. LOL