How do they do it?

[DizBelle]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

 

[summerblue]

For most kids, their insurance will amount to $50-$75 a month, a part time job, even babysitting or mowing yards on weekends would cover that. As far as a car, you start saving before time to get your license and buy something affordable, not brand new. Colleges do look at extra curricular so but not exclusively, you just have yo put that you worked instead of participating.

When I was in high school I worked 2 sometimes 3 jobs, bought my own car, paid my insurance, paid all my own expenses, sr pictures, class ring, etc. I was done at 2 and 12 my junior and senior years and went to work immediately when school was out, I worked my sophomore year too. I participated in a few extracurriculars like choir, drama, and some clubs. I maintained a 3.5 gpa. Was it hard sometimes sure, but I did it.

My daughter will be expected to work if she wants a car. We will likely buy her car for her, but she will be responsible for insurance, gas and her own spending money, which she should easily be able to make without having to sacrifice extracurriculars or grades.

 

[wvjules]

My DD paid for her insurance beginning 6 months after she got her license. I paid the first 6 months. She also made car payments (to me). She worked and went to school. She gave me $300 per month. It didn't seem like too much to me. She still had plenty of money to blow on fast food. (When I see her bank statements it is all that is on there, taco bell, mcdonald's, wendys, popeyes, etc. ) Her car is now paid off and so all she gives me is money for car insurance.

 

[marmalade]

I got a job as soon as I was old enough. I bought my own car, paid for my own gas and was never on my parents car insurance. The thought to have my parents pay for me was something that never even crossed my mind, a car is a privilege and if I wanted one I was to pay for it myself and all costs that go with it.

I will expect the same out of my children when they are old enough to start driving.

 

[DWGal210]

I don't have kids so I can just speak to what my parents did with me - from the time my siblings and I were young, they raised us with a clear picture of what things we'd be paying for when we were teenagers. So with getting birthday gifts, Christmas money, babysitting, etc I saved for years. We put 50% in savings, tithed 10% and could spend the rest.

When I started driving (back in the mid-late 90s), my parents let us drive one of their cars and we were responsible for our own gas. They covered the insurance and we didn't buy the car from them, but were able to use it while living at home. Of course if we got in trouble for any reason, the car was the first privilege taken away.

They took care of things we needed (food and shelter) but anything above and beyond, we did ourselves. Movies, going out with friends, clothes (beyond the few we got at the start of the school year), gas, etc etc etc - we paid for that ourselves.

I did a lot of extracurricular things with music so I was usually at school about an hour before classes started, and then most nights an hour or so after class ended. With studying I was still able to babysit some evenings and on the weekends, and also do a full-time clerical / office job in the summers.

 

[soccerdad72]

I know things are different these days, but I worked when I was 15 during the summer so I could earn enough money to pay my parents for the bump in auto insurance once I got my license. And then worked a day or two a week during the school year as a lifeguard as well.

My 13-year old should be pretty well set up by the time he's 16. He's certified as a soccer ref now and will be able to ref games all fall for around $15-$25 a game, so he should be able to make $40-$100 a week, more for tournament weekends. Whether we charge him for the full amount our insurance goes up when he gets his license, we haven't decided yet, but he can contribute to it.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids every sleep?

I didn't work much during the school year, but I worked Summers begining at 14. I usually made plenty to carry my through the year, though I was always running low by April or May LOL I did not own my own car, but did pay insurance. I played 3 sports, was in marching, pep, and jazz band. Graduated 8th in my class and yes I slept.

 

[pryncess527]

I did not have to buy my own insurance, but quite honestly, I could have. My part time HS job was more than enough money to cover that bill and then some. Honestly, I probably should have been paying insurance because I probably would have been a bit better off with less available funds to blow . . .

My sister also did not have to pay for her insurance -- until she got in so many accidents it climbed sky high. Then my mom made her pay it. She has yet to get into another wreck . . .

Even as an adult, with 2 cars insured, we only have to save $90 a month to cover our bill every 6 months. Unless insurance in your area is drastically more expensive than it is for me, I don't see why a high school student can't save $90 a month, or less.

 

[sonnyjane]

I didn't work much during the school year, but I worked Summers begining at 14. I usually made plenty to carry my through the year, though I was always running low by April or May LOL I did not own my own car, but did pay insurance. I played 3 sports, was in marching, pep, and jazz band. Graduated 8th in my class and yes I slept.

This too. I worked during the summer as a lifeguard, babysitter, and swim lesson instructor while in high school, that way during the school year I didn't have to work, which I agree with OP would have been difficult since I was on the swim team (at least 3 hours a day) and editor of the school paper and yearbook (an extra hour a few days a week). I also would get money throughout the year (birthday and Christmas) and would put that into my account as well. I had a clunker car that my parents did pay for outright, but I was responsible for insurance and gas.

 

[wilkeliza]

I had a job. It was called chores and keeping good grades. I also showed animals in FFA, was an officer, student council representative, and was in JROTC for there years of four in high school. All of my extracurricular counted as monetary value of some sort. My mother would count everything we did in school towards allowance. Then she told us how much our insurance was and took that out. After that the money could be used for car payments, gas, going out etc.

My brothers didn't have as many extracurricular as I did and were told you have 2 options join a club, sport, band, JROTC, volunteer or something to help you resume and you get more allowance or get a job. Both my older brother choose the get a job route and worked on weekends and the summers.

This system worked so much better than what we lived in once my mom died. My father's idea was just to have my older brother pay for it all (older brother had graduated by that point and was trying to keep me and our middle brother fed and clothed) and just yell about how we were lazy bums.

 

[luvsJack]

Situations are going to be different. So, for some kids it is going to be next to impossible, for some not a problem at all.

DD's school is 45-60 minutes away from the closest town in which to hold a job. With choir and the 3 ensembles she is in plus the training she does, it would be really hard.

She gets out of school at 3:15 so could get to a job about 5 and she could work the maximum allowed on those nights. BUT, she would have to be off on the nights of practice and Saturday nights for training. Plus there are 10 performances scheduled now in the first semester and more being added to the calendar that would all require her to be off. District and State will both require her to be off work. And spring break the choir will travel so will require a week off there plus all of the performances in the second semester.

Due to all of this, we sat down with a calendar and "guess"timated at how many days in one semester she could actually work. And how many hours she would get vs the cost of gas getting from school to work (we live about half way in between) rather than to home and it just wouldn't really pay for her to work. And it would depend on her getting a very understanding boss.

So, we came to an agreement that we will pay all expenses on the vehicle she will get when she gets her license through the school year. Next year, when school is out, she can work full time through the summer and she will need to put enough back to pay her insurance and extra gas (I will pay for gas to and from school) through her senior year.



We did the same thing with both of our sons. Oldest ds played baseball and had practice every single day. It just would not have paid for him to try and work during school. It was hard during the summer but he mowed yards so he could rearrange things himself when he needed to be off for baseball.

Younger ds worked his junior and senior years. He wasn't involved in anything those years.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Forgot to mention, driving also wasn't a "right" for me. I did a lot of begging of rides, car-pooling, taking the bus, etc. I once burned my entire paycheck filling my dad's truck with gas. You can bet I tried to make that last as long as possible!

 

[wenrob]

When my 17 going on 18 year old was little people would give cash/checks (back before gift cards were the norm) for birthdays and I would drop them into a savings account. When she started wanting to spend the money I'd have her save half. Learning to save she became (and is) a saving machine. So, at 16 and a half she got her first job, saved and bought a used car outright. She pays for her gas and 3/4 of her insurance. But now, she pays for just about anything she wants to do out of her own pocket. She has started paying to get her hair done because she doesn't want to wait until next payday when I'd pay for it. Ironically it's the same amount I give towards her insurance. She went to a career and tech high school so was ALWAYS busy with extra curriculars, events, competitions, a social life etc. We barely saw her Senior year. She graduated with an Advanced Diploma and High Honors all while working and going to school. She'll continue to do so in college. As to sleep, teenagers have infinite energy it seems. DH and I talk all the time about back in the day when we'd stay out all hours, get up, go to work and do it all over again. It was no big deal to us, I imagine it's no big deal to my DD either.

 

[ReneeA]

I worked on my parent's farm and I worked full time in the summers at my uncle's hardware store starting at 14. I worked weekends during the school year. I saved most of my money to buy a car. My parent's paid half of the cost of insurance. I had time during the school year for homework & sports.

 

[plutotek]

I couldn't get my license until I got my first premium payment (can't remember if it was 6 mos or a year's worth). It was my mother that got a 'new' car and I was relegated to the family beast to haul everyone around. Once I had the first insurance payment, it was just a matter of having an "escrow" account that I paid into. Never actually bought a car until I was married as I would get hand-me-downs that were on their last leg.

 

[MichelleVW]

My parents paid my insurance until I was out of the house and on my own and we pay for our kids insurance...oh and their cars. Yes they are spoiled....but we have a heck of a lot more money than they do so it's not a big deal.

 

[EMode]

I was reading the thread on when you have your kids start paying their own car insurance and some people were saying as soon as they got their license.

I'm wondering how a high school kid who is in school can work enough hours making minimum wage to earn enough to pay for a car, car insurance, and gasoline like some parents ask them to do. On top of that, how do they have time to do homework and study? I guess extracurriculars are out? Do colleges these days put a fair amount of weight on extracurriculars when considering a college application?

Do these kids ever sleep?

We all managed, they will too.

 

[MissManda]

We have a 16yo that recently got his license and now we are looking for a car for him. At first, I had made up my mind that if he wanted a car, he was going to have to work to pay for it. However, that is not what is going to happen, for several reasons.

Mainly, he is very involved in after school activities, which I think are important. When I was his age, I went to school and worked. I wasn't invovled at all in any sports or after school activities. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun high school memory making moments because all I did was school and work. I see how important those activities are to him. I don't want him to miss out. It would be difficult to fit in a job that would work around his school hours and give him time during the year to get homework done. He does do "odd jobs" for friends and neighbors and they pay him a little something. He's helped a few people move this summer and earned some cash and he house sits for people when they go on vacation. So he does what he can to get himself some spending money on his own.

Our agreement with him is that we will count his extra curricular activities as his "job". He also has chores that he has to do around the house that he is "paid" for. As long as he keeps those up, we will buy him a car (a reasonably priced used car...nothing brand new) and we will pay his car insurance.

Due to his good grades and other discounts, insurance didn't go up as much as I thought it would. He did get one really good discount that he gets to keep until he is 25 or until he gets a ticket or in an accident. He has been warned that if he does anything to lose his discounts he will be at a minimum paying the difference on the insurance, if not all of it. If he drops his school activities, that will count as losing his "job" and he will then have to get an actual job to pay for his car or we will sell it.

Its not how I originally envisioned this happening, but for us this is what is working. Honestly, him having a car will help me out tremendously. I was constantly running him back and forth and it was taking up a lot of my time. I recently found out that I was having a baby (yes, I will have a 17 yo and an infant at the same time....crazy) and just this week my dad was diagnosed with cancer. So, life is pretty crazy right now. Anything that cuts back on my running and stress is really helpful. Also, he plans to go to a military college and won't be allowed to have a car at all (except maybe his senior year). So the plan is for him to use the car his Junior and Senior year in high school. Then we will use it as an extra car when he is away at school. So, after a couple of years it will be for our use as well.

 

[luvsJack]

We have a 16yo that recently got his license and now we are looking for a car for him. At first, I had made up my mind that if he wanted a car, he was going to have to work to pay for it. However, that is not what is going to happen, for several reasons.

Mainly, he is very involved in after school activities, which I think are important. When I was his age, I went to school and worked. I wasn't invovled at all in any sports or after school activities. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun high school memory making moments because all I did was school and work. I see how important those activities are to him. I don't want him to miss out. It would be difficult to fit in a job that would work around his school hours and give him time during the year to get homework done. He does do "odd jobs" for friends and neighbors and they pay him a little something. He's helped a few people move this summer and earned some cash and he house sits for people when they go on vacation. So he does what he can to get himself some spending money on his own.

Our agreement with him is that we will count his extra curricular activities as his "job". He also has chores that he has to do around the house that he is "paid" for. As long as he keeps those up, we will buy him a car (a reasonably priced used car...nothing brand new) and we will pay his car insurance.

Due to his good grades and other discounts, insurance didn't go up as much as I thought it would. He did get one really good discount that he gets to keep until he is 25 or until he gets a ticket or in an accident. He has been warned that if he does anything to lose his discounts he will be at a minimum paying the difference on the insurance, if not all of it. If he drops his school activities, that will count as losing his "job" and he will then have to get an actual job to pay for his car or we will sell it.

Its not how I originally envisioned this happening, but for us this is what is working. Honestly, him having a car will help me out tremendously. I was constantly running him back and forth and it was taking up a lot of my time. I recently found out that I was having a baby (yes, I will have a 17 yo and an infant at the same time....crazy) and just this week my dad was diagnosed with cancer. So, life is pretty crazy right now. Anything that cuts back on my running and stress is really helpful. Also, he plans to go to a military college and won't be allowed to have a car at all (except maybe his senior year). So the plan is for him to use the car his Junior and Senior year in high school. Then we will use it as an extra car when he is away at school. So, after a couple of years it will be for our use as well.

Know just how you feel on the bolded. Had an infant, a 16 year old and a 14 year old. Life did indeed get crazy for a little while!!

 

[mom2rtk]

We have hung onto an older model car we probably should sell just for the purpose of insuring one of our teen boys. If they have good grades and avoid tickets/accidents, the cost can be minimal. I think the 19 year old added only $22/month to the premium because we have liability only on that car.

Maybe that's part of the reason your dad gave you an older model car......