For me, and my own journey, I think you have to make the cost feel more tangible. For starters, young people are never taught about "what is money?"/ money in general, or often talked to about it. I'd recommend doing what my parents did when I was ~13 and make a spreadsheet of the cost of their future life. We plotted my average salary, taxes, rent, trash bill - everything. Then, assuming I would stop working at age 67, how much would I have left? (assuming save 20% of my salary/year and invest (with conservative estimates)). I could only afford to live to age 79. And, each year, my expenses way exceed my income. They told me when I turned 22 I was on my own (which I interpreted as a sign of confidence in me), so I had to figure it out.

Here's 2 pieces that might be interesting:

Happy to chat more!