Want to save your family a boatload of money while making your kids feel eager to fill out scholarship applications? Read on.
If you’ve got a child between the ages of 14 and 26, you know how difficult it can be to motivate him or her to want to apply for college scholarships.
Try this entertaining strategy, one that other parents are using with great success.
Many parents in my TRIBE Membership use this strategy with kids starting when they’re in 9th grade. Not so much because of scholarships, but because it teaches teens real-world money management, reduces parent headaches, and saves money every week.
1. Give your son a meager allowance.
Make sure it’s just barely enough to cover his bare minimum life expenses. Set up an automatic bank transfer so this amount goes into his bank account reliably, every two weeks.
2. List for your son all the purchases this money will have to cover.
Be kind and empathetic as you say, “Son, we’ll expect you to use this allowance money to buy all your own school lunches, cell phone service, clothes, shoes, gas, football fees, school activities, and all your personal spending.” Add anything else to this list you can think of.
Post this list on the inside of a kitchen cupboard door so it’s clear at all times what this money has to cover.
3. Then, wait for an emergency.
Teenage son: “Mom! Prom tickets are only available through Friday, and I forgot to buy mine! Can you please lend me $150 until the 20th?”
Mom: “Oh no! You’re out of money and can’t afford prom tickets? That’s awful! Mia will be so disappointed if you have to call off prom. I’d say this calls for breaking into your emergency fund!”
Teenage son: “Mom, I, uh—I don’t have an emergency fund. I haven’t saved up for that yet. Could you please just lend me $150? Just until the 20th?”
Mom (genuinely sad for him and wanting to help): “Well, we don’t want you incurring debt for this—but how about this? I’ll pay you $50 for every scholarship application you fill out in a quality manner. Do you think you could fill out three scholarship applications by Friday? I bet you could!”
4. Consider starting this allowance system when your child’s in 9th grade—or as soon as possible after that.
If you do this, you’ll likely save your family a boatload of money. How so? Because when your kids live on a limited, meager income, your family ends up spending far less on teen life expenses. You can pocket the money you save and bring it out when you need it to pay for completed scholarship applications.
Genius.
You may find that when you do this and your kids start to actually grasp the value of a dollar (rather than looking at you as an unending wellspring of money), they actually go out and get themselves part-time jobs. This saves your family even more money—and it helps kids develop professional confidence that will pay off for a lifetime.
5. This allowance system allows your child to learn valuable life skills that will pay off for decades into the future.
You’ll help your kid develop skills that can turn him or her into a brilliant frugal money manager.
You’ll also free yourself from having to respond to whiny requests for money every day, because your reply to every request will be, “Sure! Sounds fun! If you’ve got enough money to pay for that, I’m all for it!”
There’s more detailed info on exactly how to carry out this allowance strategy in chapter 11 of my book: LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward.
6. Tell your child, “Don’t worry about writing a bunch of scholarship application essays. I’ve got a great idea that’ll make that easy.”
Join my TRIBE Membership for just $34.99 the next time the doors open, and I’ll provide you and your kids clear instruction on how to write one scholarship application essay that can be used over and over again to apply for more than 100 scholarships.
Learn more and get on the waiting list to get into my TRIBE Membership here. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)
Remember, getting scholarships is just one small piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting kids through college debt-free.
Learn all the non-saving, non-financial aid, non-scholarship strategies in my book:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.
You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:
Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
Let's you and I walk together toward the goal of debt-free college for your kids.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, as well as on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.
This article was updated on February 10th, 2026.