It can be incredibly difficult to teach teens how to use credit. No parent wants to see their child in financial problems, but you want them to be able to use credit in a responsible fashion. How do you do this in a safe and affective way? We all know how easily you can fall into the buy it now and pay later trap. I know I've learned this lesson the hard way thorough personal experience and would do whatever I need to teach my children so they can avoid this.

A good option for teaching teens about responsible credit use ids through prepaid reloadable Mastercards. If you haven't heard of these read on.

By using a prepaid reloadable debit card from Mastercard you can easily and effectively teach your teens how to use credit responsibly. They acquire the skills of budgeting and financial independence without the pitfalls of traditional credit cards. Once they have mastered the basics here they can start with their own credit cards and hopefully build a good credit history from the beginning.

These types of cards are especially good if your teen is about to leave for college and you're looking for an easy way to make cash available to them within a monthly budget. Simply get them a reloadable Mastercard and transfer their budget for the month to it at the beginning of each month. Make sure that they know this is all they get and that they need to make it last. Of course, the cards also make it easy to get them cash in case of an emergency.

There are several important benefits that come with a reloadable Mastercard:

- Everyone can qualify so there is no need to worry about being declined. And there are no credit checks involved.

- Since the card is prepaid there is no need to worry about overspending or racking up large debts. This also avoids the high interest rates charged by the credit card companies, especially for new borrowers.

- Your money is safe if the card is stolen. Just report it to the card company and they can not only turn off the existing card, but also issue a replacement.

Of course there are also some disadvantages that come with reloadable prepaid Mastercards:

- The cards will charge you an application fee as well as a monthly fee for accessing the cash. Typically this can still be cheaper than what you would pay in interest on a traditional card though if you carry a balance.

- While ATM withdrawals are allowed you are still charged a fee for each withdrawal. This eats into your available cash, but the fees vary with each company so shop around for the best fee structures.

A quick search will how you that there are many companies now offering prepaid reloadable cards. You'll get the best deal by doing some research to find out which ones have the best features and lowest costs for you. Make sure that the card you choose also allows for ATM withdrawals.

You can safely teach your children how to budget their money and get them started on the road to credit independence by using these reloadable Mastercards. I wish they would have been around when I was younger and I could have avoided the hard personal lesson. Give yourself the peace of mind knowing your child can manage their finances and that they are covered in case of emergency while away at college.