Should I buy my daughter a car? (girl, chores, natural)
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She is a high school senior this year. Not every hs student has a job. The car is for getting to and from school.
There are issues - parking at the high school, insurance for her on a car (but she would have to be covered to drive her parents car too). Mom is homeschooling a younger sibling, so driving dd to school takes time away from that and means the other child has to go with them for the drive too.
While she may or may not really need a car, her mom wants her to have one to relieve the burden of driving her places. Maybe dad needs to talk to mom and not be asking this on CD.
she stays at home. exactly how is she busy? they live less than a mile away. in any car this is 10 minutes top one way, 20 minutes total.
My oldest daughter, who is 17, will be a HS senior starting in a few weeks. She is a straight A student and takes college classes as well. She is not working yet, but helps in the house.
She hasn't gotten her drivers license yet, but should in September.
We live less than a mile from her school. There is no bus service, no sidewalks and she has to cross a busy road with no crosswalks. Which is why we have driven her for the past three years.
My wife (stay-at-home mom plus teaches my youngest at home) really wants me to get my daughter a car. Since at the moment my daughter is not working and may not the entire senior year, I'm balking at buying a car. My daughter works hard on her studies, so when she is at home, she is mostly studying. She would only need a car to drive the 2 mile round trip to school and back and occasionally meeting up with friends (who have cars but live farther away).
So besides a limited need for a car, I don't see a reason to pay higher insurance which in my area would be over $180 a month just for a car that needs liability. Not including I will have to buy her a car. The car will be sitting in our driveway or parking lot over 90% of the time.
My thinking is to continue to drive her to school for now (or let a friend pick her up) and let her drive one of our two cars when we are not using them. Normally there is always a car available - one car is a minivan. Then towards the end of HS, I will get her a car, then right after HS she can get a part-time job before college and help pay some of the insurance costs. (She is planning on going to a local college to finish up her associates degree first).
My daughter actually agrees with my side. My wife is the one giving me grief. I don't see a reason to have 3 cars right now.
I agree with you completely. I remember being 17 clearly. No third car.
Buy her the car. She sounds like a great kid who studies hard and does the right things. A car to a kid is more than point a to point b, it is part of the growing up process.
When my twin sons were 14 we started building together their two first cars so they would be finished by the time they turned 16. Those cars were their status symbols and their love. My one said, as we were starting to see his car come together, "This car is going to change my life !" They kept those two cars for years, even after they had enough money to buy brand new cars. Mine too were good kids and it kept them away from drugs and trouble because their money was going into little things for those cars.
You wife is the same as my ex wife , she was the negotiator in the family. She would slip me hints about what I should do about some issue and urge me to be soft when softness was needed. Listen to your wife, she is right, and it is only money.
Buy the damn car, your daughter deserves it and will always remember her first car. It will also make you feel great.
I bought my own car at 17 by working summer jobs and insured it under my name. A kid at 17 doesn't "need" a car they just want one. If you want something that costs that much you need to get a job and buy it. Why are so many parents these days concerned more about being cool and liked vs teaching responsibility? It doesn't matter if you do good in school that is what you are supposed to do.
My oldest daughter, who is 17, will be a HS senior starting in a few weeks. She is a straight A student and takes college classes as well. She is not working yet, but helps in the house.
She hasn't gotten her drivers license yet, but should in September.
We live less than a mile from her school. There is no bus service, no sidewalks and she has to cross a busy road with no crosswalks. Which is why we have driven her for the past three years.
My wife (stay-at-home mom plus teaches my youngest at home) really wants me to get my daughter a car. Since at the moment my daughter is not working and may not the entire senior year, I'm balking at buying a car. My daughter works hard on her studies, so when she is at home, she is mostly studying. She would only need a car to drive the 2 mile round trip to school and back and occasionally meeting up with friends (who have cars but live farther away).
So besides a limited need for a car, I don't see a reason to pay higher insurance which in my area would be over $180 a month just for a car that needs liability. Not including I will have to buy her a car. The car will be sitting in our driveway or parking lot over 90% of the time.
My thinking is to continue to drive her to school for now (or let a friend pick her up) and let her drive one of our two cars when we are not using them. Normally there is always a car available - one car is a minivan. Then towards the end of HS, I will get her a car, then right after HS she can get a part-time job before college and help pay some of the insurance costs. (She is planning on going to a local college to finish up her associates degree first).
My daughter actually agrees with my side. My wife is the one giving me grief. I don't see a reason to have 3 cars right now.
If there are 2 cars available at some point and the 3rd one will be dormant 90% of the time it doesn't make financial sense to have the third car at this time.
Just my two cents.
Just as a side note one my of my FB friends is out car shopping with her daughter as I type this. LOL, strange little coincidence.
she stays at home. exactly how is she busy? they live less than a mile away. in any car this is 10 minutes top one way, 20 minutes total.
Drop off lines at schools can be VERY long. The ones around here stretch out into the street. If you don't want to get stuck at the end, you have to get there early, which means waiting. I'm guessing you've never had to drop a child off at school.
Drop off lines at schools can be VERY long. The ones around here stretch out into the street. If you don't want to get stuck at the end, you have to get there early, which means waiting. I'm guessing you've never had to drop a child off at school.
A high-schooler doesn't have to be dropped off in front of the school. A block or two away is fine, therefore avoiding the line.
A high-schooler doesn't have to be dropped off in front of the school. A block or two away is fine, therefore avoiding the line.
We get reminders every year not to use side streets for school drop off and pick up. It isn't fair to the people who live there. This would have worked where I grew up, and a lot of places, but not where I am now.
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They kept those two cars for years, even after they had enough money to buy brand new cars. Mine too were good kids and it kept them away from drugs and trouble because their money was going into little things for those cars.
