can be outrageous. Some will cost you
close to $100 in annual fees, not counting ATM charges.
Shop Smarter
TO KEEP COSTS DOWN, YOU CAN
enlist adolescents in the hunt for
shopping discounts. Have them scour
price-comparison sites such as Pronto
.com or Google Shopping, and don’t
forget online coupons: CouponCabin
.com offers more than 100,000 coupons and deals on everything from
peacoats to toboggans. When possible, buy used (with your money
or theirs) via craigslist, eBay, and
neighborhood parent and teen online
bulletin boards. More tips for pricey
teen essentials:
•Braces If you don’t have dental
insurance, search for a plan at dental
plans.com that, for an annual fee of
$100 to $200, will discount at least
some of your orthodontist’s bill. Prices
vary from practice to practice, so shop
around for orthodontists, too. You
can save for these bills pretax in your
flexible-spending and health-savings
accounts. For big savings, find a col-
lege or university near you with an
orthodontics program. You can get
great care from orthodontic residents
supervised by experienced ortho-
dontists for about half to two-thirds
the cost of a private practitioner. To
find a program at one of the 5 2 dental
schools throughout the United States,
search the Web for “orthodontics pro-
gram” and your city or state.
