by Hope
I’ve had an idea rolling around in my head the last few weeks and I want to get the BAD community’s feedback. Princess will be starting a job soon. But she will really only be able to work one or two short shifts a week for now. So she will only be earning spending money for the time being.
She will continue to participate in cheerleading through the basketball season and then will be participating in track and field as well. She will be throwing the discus and shot put for the first time ever. (Her choice.) And of course, carries a heavy load of school and all that comes along with that.
And she will become a legal driver come May.
With that back history, I have been thinking of offering to pay for her auto insurance through the summer IF she will take a full load of college classes through the summer. That would be a full semester of college completed for free under Georgia’s dual enrollment program. Another way to cut back the financial obligation for her to complete a 4 year degree.
She would still have to work, and I believe would be able to work more than 1-2 shifts. So she will still be earning her spending money and saving some. But it will take the financial pressure off. And allow her to get another semester of college done before graduating next Spring.
(The car situation is still up in the air. Her father is still insisting he will purchase her a car so we are making this plan with that in mind. If he doesn’t, she and I will share our current car as planned.)
So in essence, I am offering to pay her auto insurance in exchange for her to go to school time through the summer. I believe it’s a good bargain. What do you think?
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
What does princess want? A full course load the summer of senior year or some time to be a teenager? Last you mentioned she wanted to get a welding certification. I’m afraid this girl never gets anytime to explore and be a kid unless it’s related to school.
I realize you’re in a drastically different financial place than before. But remember when the twins shared a clunker (some times with you too), paid for insurance, phones, toiletries, and drove princess and gymnadt around. Meanwhile she gets a car promised to her before she can drive, with another promised, plus car insurance, spending money, extracurricular and trips, private school, etc. Seems you give the boys tough love but give princess whatever she wants because it’s related to “school. ” I get you feel you have the money and flexibility now but I’m sure your other children have some feelings about it. Tread carefully.
I could not agree more!
I think this is a bad idea. If she’s as bright as you say, and looking at private colleges on full rides, that kind of thing, then whatever classes she takes this summer might not even transfer and the whole enterprise would be wasted. At a minimum, she should make sure that whatever she takes will transfer to the top public schools in Georgia. But anyway, I think she should rest her brain a little bit this summer. By all means work and make some money, but also relax with her friends and gear up so she doesn’t get too intellectually burned out during her senior year.
If she says no, she is on the hook to help you pay the car and for her insurance? I hope she says yes!!!
To be fair to Princess before she was the kid who was expensive, Gymnast was taking $600 classes and essentially costing an arm and a leg. It’s funny because back then I said I thought there should be more parity for Princess and her volleyball and Hope insisted that Princess did not mind that her brother got $600 lessons and that she had little to nothing spent on extracurricular activities for her. Guess we can chalk that up to wishful thinking on Hope’s part since now Princess is into volleyball, track, and cheerleading. It seems she’s making up for lost time.
I feel bad for History Buff. This poor kid wanted a computer for his birthday and gets told that’ it’s too much money. Meanwhile his parents are fighting over who will give his sister a car. Talk about getting the short end of the stick.
Actually, Princess “extra-curriculars” are not costing me anything as they are covered by the high school she is attending.
And for the record, Princess’ father is not History Buff’s dad. Princess father is my ex-husband and we are certainly not fighting over giving her a car. He says he is going to. If he doesn’t, we will be sharing the car we now have. Just like the twins shared a car, she will share a car but with me. (If Gymnast hadn’t moved away, he and Princess would be sharing a car too.)
And yes, a $1400 computer is well outside my birthday budget…especially when he has 3-4 desktops already in his room (my old work computers from years past.) Please don’t try to make it seem like there is any type of favoritism or jealousies between my kids because there certainly is not. They are all individuals with individuals needs and wants and have always been treated and equitably treated from a financial point of view.
It’s not costing you anything except for the $6000 in tuition.
Hasn’t working hard at school and doing as much as possible in coursework been an expectation for your children so far? Why are you now looking to reward what has previously been the norm? Can she not handle it?
Also talking about this without having any numbers as to expected contribution for insurance, car payment, etc that she would be paying is just an exercise in spitball.
This isn’t a bad idea, especially if she can complete the dual enrollment courses and selects courses that are valuable towards a degree. My only hesitation is the working and college-summer courses are scheduled funny and can be overwhelming in their requirements. She seems to be excelling though so I say full speed ahead.
You are putting a lot of pressure on her. It’s one thing to take maybe one course and work – it’s another for her to have to take a FULL load in one short summer AND work. Let her have a little summer, for God’s sake, before her last year.
Maybe just let her be a kid for her last summer. Work and hang out with friends, low stress times.
Let her work more hours to get some spending money and pay for her own insurance, like you made your other kids do. Let her spend some time with her friends. Sounds like she is already doing very well academically, no need to push her harder. You may be doing better financially but you still have a ton of debt, are in your 40s with zero retirement savings, and your own college to pay off.