We all want to save more, but we know that can be hard.
Luckily, there's a local program that teaches children to prepare for adulthood.
When high school student Krista DeFini isn't in school, she's working one of her three jobs and paying a few bills of her own.
"I work a lot, so I get all this money and I'm really not sure what to do with it," she said.
A senior at Independence High School, she said she's saving up to pay her way to college.
"I'm particularly a picky person when it comes to spending."
But she and her friends aren't always so responsible.
"I'll see something that I want, I'll be like 'oh my gosh, treat yourself' and I'll buy it. And so many other people do that too," DeFini said.
Financial coach Mike Pasko says that's typical teenage habits.
"A lot of times they want to spend the money to get."
A recent study done by Piper Jaffray's investment firm found clothing accounts for 21 percent of teens' spending, and food is a close second.
"I do have a budget for coffee because I'm a coffee addict."
That's why Pasko speaks to students about money spending and saving through Junior Achievement, a program helping kids become financially literate as young as kindergarten.
"It gives the students an idea how they can budget their money, how they can work with different things like credit cards and the future," said Pasko.
A good rule of thumb to follow is to start your child out at age 15, saving $30 a week, and increase by $3 every birthday. That way, by the time they're 30, they'll have almost $40,000 saved up, enough to buy their own house.
"Kids, as you know...they can't see 10 years, they can't see 20 years, sometimes it's so far out for them, so I try to make it more relevant," Pasko said.
Pasko and other financial experts say it's also one way millennials can beat the odds of having to live at home with their parents after graduation.
"If there's anything that I want them to remember, it's pay yourself first… and they have to learn, and it's something that's not natural for them," he said.
