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The best that you can do is get a very part time job (no more than 10 hours a week) and concentrate on studying hard in school to get into a decent college. It'll be worth it in the long run.
I applaud this young person that appears to be w/o the entitlement issues that so many teens/young adults/heck even some grown adults have. They want everything, yet they want someone else to pay for it. Sure this young person wants a lot, but wants to do it him/herself.
But, you can't sacrifice school for it. Take a part time job/mow lawns/babysit if you can keep up your grades. School must come first. But if one can work and still maintain good grades, then by all means I see nothing wrong with taking on the responsibility. You will appreciate what you have so much more if you work for it yourself. Hubby and I both worked in high school (even 2 pt jobs at once but I would just recommend one ). We worked our way through college, supported ourselves. What we have, we worked for and we appreciate it so much more than my sister who had everything handed to her.
You don't necessarily need an Acura. Hubby purchased a used Honda Civic for $1500 that got him through college. And once you get a job, you must set up a budget. For your bills, make sure you have AT LEAST a couple months worth of payments set aside before you go shopping. Make sure you always keep that buffer in your account. You must think ahead. Just because you have money today doesn't mean you don't a bill due tomorrow. And balance your checkbook. I used to work in banking and I was so shocked to see the number of people that didn't even know what a check register was. You must record everything. In the day of internet banking, people just think you can log and see how much you have. That only works IF you take into account the checks that haven't cleared. Those overdraft fees will eat you up.
So, as you can see, it's not easy to take on the responsibility but if you feel you're up to the challenge, I'm sure you'll reap the rewards (car, insurance, a bit of spending money) and feel very satisfied that you did it yourself.
I applaud this young person that appears to be w/o the entitlement issues that so many teens/young adults/heck even some grown adults have. They want everything, yet they want someone else to pay for it. Sure this young person wants a lot, but wants to do it him/herself.
But, you can't sacrifice school for it. Take a part time job/mow lawns/babysit if you can keep up your grades. School must come first. But if one can work and still maintain good grades, then by all means I see nothing wrong with taking on the responsibility. You will appreciate what you have so much more if you work for it yourself. Hubby and I both worked in high school (even 2 pt jobs at once but I would just recommend one ). We worked our way through college, supported ourselves. What we have, we worked for and we appreciate it so much more than my sister who had everything handed to her.
You don't necessarily need an Acura. Hubby purchased a used Honda Civic for $1500 that got him through college. And once you get a job, you must set up a budget. For your bills, make sure you have AT LEAST a couple months worth of payments set aside before you go shopping. Make sure you always keep that buffer in your account. You must think ahead. Just because you have money today doesn't mean you don't a bill due tomorrow. And balance your checkbook. I used to work in banking and I was so shocked to see the number of people that didn't even know what a check register was. You must record everything. In the day of internet banking, people just think you can log and see how much you have. That only works IF you take into account the checks that haven't cleared. Those overdraft fees will eat you up.
So, as you can see, it's not easy to take on the responsibility but if you feel you're up to the challenge, I'm sure you'll reap the rewards (car, insurance, a bit of spending money) and feel very satisfied that you did it yourself.
I uinderstand admiring this kid's fortitude, but I think this is a too much for a high schooler (this is not a college age kid) who has a full day of school, chores, and homework. It will be a losing game. A car cannot be maintained by mowing lawns, particularly an older car that can have a $500 breakdown anytime. I suspect meeting the car obligation and the "desires" let alone a cellphone, will become the focus. If this were my child, I would not want energy that could go to good grades and scholarships diverted for these rather expensivte "wants". Getting an excellent education is in itself a worthy endeavor and will pay off in spades.
I uinderstand admiring this kid's fortitude, but I think this is a too much for a high schooler (this is not a college age kid) who has a full day of school, chores, and homework. It will be a losing game. A car cannot be maintained by mowing lawns, particularly an older car that can have a $500 breakdown anytime. I suspect meeting the car obligation and the "desires" let alone a cellphone, will become the focus. If this were my child, I would not want energy that could go to good grades and scholarships diverted for these rather expensivte "wants". Getting an excellent education is in itself a worthy endeavor and will pay off in spades.
I agree. Education should come first. But I'm just saying that it can be done. It is not necessarily a losing battle. How do I know??? First hand experience. I had all honors classes and I was able to maintain straight As while working 1 (and sometimes 2) part time jobs in high school. I finished 3rd in my class of over 150 kids. Perhaps I could have finished 1st if I hadn't worked but I still did very well. My parents couldn't afford to pay for college so I worked during that as well, all while maintaining and graduating with a 3.9 GPA. Hubby, I won't go into detail but he basically did the same - worked through high school (and graduated in 3 years BTW) and worked through college (AA, AS, BA, and two professional degrees).
Now, do I want the same for my children??? Of course not because at times it wasn't easy but we will be able to do the things that my parents couldn't afford. But if I was in the same financial situation as my parents were in and they were good students, I would let them try out working. If they could maintain good grades and they didn't burn out, I would let them continue if they wanted to. Even though they won't need to work, I will have my children volunteer while in high school. I feel they need to have some responsibility outside the home before being set free.
Again, not saying all children can handle it. But to give a blanket statement that they will fail??? A good deal can handle and some even handle quite nicely. Also, maybe I feel this way because where I came from, it was the exception to NOT work in high school.
I agree. Education should come first. But I'm just saying that it can be done. It is not necessarily a losing battle. How do I know??? First hand experience. I had all honors classes and I was able to maintain straight As while working 1 (and sometimes 2) part time jobs in high school. I finished 3rd in my class of over 150 kids. Perhaps I could have finished 1st if I hadn't worked but I still did very well. My parents couldn't afford to pay for college so I worked during that as well, all while maintaining and graduating with a 3.9 GPA. Hubby, I won't go into detail but he basically did the same - worked through high school (and graduated in 3 years BTW) and worked through college (AA, AS, BA, and two professional degrees).
Now, do I want the same for my children??? Of course not because at times it wasn't easy but we will be able to do the things that my parents couldn't afford. But if I was in the same financial situation as my parents were in and they were good students, I would let them try out working. If they could maintain good grades and they didn't burn out, I would let them continue if they wanted to. Even though they won't need to work, I will have my children volunteer while in high school. I feel they need to have some responsibility outside the home before being set free.
Again, not saying all children can handle it. But to give a blanket statement that they will fail??? A good deal can handle and some even handle quite nicely. Also, maybe I feel this way because where I came from, it was the exception to NOT work in high school.
Discussions of getting through college with part-time jobs, in response to a 15 year old's inquiry about jobs while he is still in high school, seem to me to be very off-topic.
I worked during high school - at a fast food franchise, which paid enough that I could shop a couple of times a month and buy the clothes I needed for school. And I had "pocket money" for daily expenses, school expenses and to pay for most of my food. (Parents didn't provide anything - an aunt provided a place to live and sleep.)
Buying a car during high school is unrealistic - unless you have parents or an uncle who buys it for you - which lots of teenagers do - but that's not for those like you or like I was.
Do the best you can with what's available. Don't fret or dispair because others have much more. Once you grow up, you have the potential to achieve so much and outdistance all of them.
I agree. Education should come first. But I'm just saying that it can be done. It is not necessarily a losing battle. How do I know??? First hand experience. I had all honors classes and I was able to maintain straight As while working 1 (and sometimes 2) part time jobs in high school. I finished 3rd in my class of over 150 kids. Perhaps I could have finished 1st if I hadn't worked but I still did very well. My parents couldn't afford to pay for college so I worked during that as well, all while maintaining and graduating with a 3.9 GPA. Hubby, I won't go into detail but he basically did the same - worked through high school (and graduated in 3 years BTW) and worked through college (AA, AS, BA, and two professional degrees).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gill O'Blarney
Discussions of getting through college with part-time jobs, in response to a 15 year old's inquiry about jobs while he is still in high school, seem to me to be very off-topic.
Obviously you just skipped over the part of me working through high school. And I never mentioned about working part time in college. That was just an assumption. I worked full time
If the young person is still looking at this thread-I agree with halcamcin he can work part-time without sacrificing grades and afford a car. Not every car out there will break down and why shoot down a person for wanting to work while going to school. In this day and age we are telling kids to go to college however once the children are leaving college they are finding out they have no experience in the work force and how to deal with day to day issues. This puts a burden on the parents that have been paying the child's way through college. If you are fortunate enough to have parents that can do this. We are assuming that this child does? If he does not then he will have to work for college and everything else and I did and graduated middle of the class never got scholarships like my sister whom dropped out of college and later regretted it. I knew that college cost and had to work for it and actually liked it and stayed with it because it gave me a sense of accomplishment. On the same note most children do not know basic life skills because mom and dad are hand feeding them. Maybe this child can go into skills trade instead of college in the beginning, had a friend whom did that then went onto college and is a 3 digit money maker-CPA for a large firm-worked all the way through high school-full time/honors student and college.
I believe Baskin Robbins will hire 14 and up, but they usually only hire during the summer time. That would be great because you could work more during the summer. Arby's possibly would hire you. Chikfila, Bruster's, maybe Dairy Queen. Fair warning, you're going to have a hard time. Don't get discouraged. Volunteer work definitely helps, and you're the age for most animal shelters will let you volunteer without a parent. There's other volunteer opportunities, too, that would be great.
If the young person is still looking at this thread-I agree with halcamcin he can work part-time without sacrificing grades and afford a car. Not every car out there will break down and why shoot down a person for wanting to work while going to school. In this day and age we are telling kids to go to college however once the children are leaving college they are finding out they have no experience in the work force and how to deal with day to day issues. This puts a burden on the parents that have been paying the child's way through college. If you are fortunate enough to have parents that can do this. We are assuming that this child does? If he does not then he will have to work for college and everything else and I did and graduated middle of the class never got scholarships like my sister whom dropped out of college and later regretted it. I knew that college cost and had to work for it and actually liked it and stayed with it because it gave me a sense of accomplishment. On the same note most children do not know basic life skills because mom and dad are hand feeding them. Maybe this child can go into skills trade instead of college in the beginning, had a friend whom did that then went onto college and is a 3 digit money maker-CPA for a large firm-worked all the way through high school-full time/honors student and college.
I completely agree with this. From personal experience, I had a part-time job in high school, played football, and maintained a GPA high enough to get a couple of academic scholarships. So it can be done. And if the OP is motivated enough to seek advice here, I'd say they can do it too.
I also worked through college (at one point in grad school I had 3 part-time jobs). I also participated in the "co-op" program where I took off from school every other semester to work a full-time job as a paid intern in my field of study. My ex-wife went straight through school with her parents paying for everything. When we graduated, I had a long history of work experience, including some in my field. She had none. I had no problem finding a job, she couldn't get one locally (lack of experience). So she started looking all over the country, and landed a good job out of state. After moving, I started looking and had a job within a few weeks.
The fact that I had documented work history was a HUGE bonus when it came to competing with all the other recent graduates out there.
Oh please to all of the people telling the kid to not get a job. You can still be a kid and have a job, what the heck is this country turning into?
I got my work permit when I turned 15 also, I got a job at McDonalds haha, I was a little embarressed at the time but really I got free food for me and my friends just about any time, and I paid for my car and my insurance and cell phone (yes when I was 15 almost nobody had cell phones.. feeling old)
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). We worked our way through college, supported ourselves. What we have, we worked for and we appreciate it so much more than my sister who had everything handed to her. 
Hmmm. 15 year old. Remember??
