My friend Leo recently asked his teenage daughter why she never asked him for lunch money.

“I don’t need lunch money, Dad,” she told him. “The boys take me to Starbucks every day and I munch there.”

Are your kids hooked on Starbucks? Many teenagers have picked up on the coffee craze, and they think nothing of spending $4 for a Frappucino topped with whipped cream.

At a time when kids are weighing more and spending less time outside, an expensive thousand-calorie treat is a bit much as a daily ritual.

But beyond the waistline, there’s an important lesson you can teach your kids about the value of a buck. Have them add up the monthly and yearly cost of that $4 a day habit. They’ll soon see their coffee craving is costing them upwards of $1,000 per year.

What if they saved that $1,000 bucks instead of drinking it away? If they saved $1,000 per year for the next 50 years, kicking the coffee habit will give them a whopping $350,000 at age 65.

With practical, informative consumer advice, I’m Ilyce Glink, News-Talk 750 WSB