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Generation Z will soon make up about a quarter of all consumer spending in the world, but there is little detailed information on how teenagers actually use their money. This paper makes two main contributions. First, we study the Kaggle Student Spending Habits dataset [1], which is a sample of 1,000 university students. We examine patterns in income, spending, and payment choices of university students included in the sample. We calculate averages of important characteristics, compare groups such as male and female students, different class years, and majors, and check for connections between spending categories. The results show that 1) tuition and housing take up most of the budget, 2) overall spending does not depend much on income, and 3) many students use mobile payment apps even though their incomes are not very high. Second, we leverage these results to design a new study of teenager spending behavior in Knoxville, Tennessee. Recent research shows that Gen <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{Z}$</tex> is becoming more careful with money [2], is very comfortable with digital tools, and values the environment [6]. Studies also suggest that sustainability and trust in brands affect what they buy [8], and that certain factors shape the use of digital payments [11]. Based on these previous findings, we outline a plan for surveys and interviews to collect more data for answering in-depth research questions. The plan focuses on three things: saving and splurging at the same time, the role of social and digital influence, and the balance between caring about the environment and watching prices. By linking this first data analysis with a clear plan for future work, this paper provides both immediate insights and a guide to understanding teen consumer trends.