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Guess who got a job!?!

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It is official. Princess has her first job. She turned 16 earlier this week. Applied for jobs the next day. Went in for an interview the day. And was hired on the spot. Score!

Princess turns 16

We are not sure how many hours she will get per week; although, she told them she would like to work full time. She will make $8 an hour at a local fast food restaurant as a cashier.  Unfortunately, there has been a delay in getting her drivers license due to logistics within the state so she won’t be able to drive until the end of the month.

A New Car in the Family

As a result of all this, History Buff is ramping up his plans to get his own car. I am not sure how this will pan out as I do not know how much he has saved.



And for now, there will be no other car for Princess, so she and I will share as originally planned. Her dad changed his mind about coming for her birthday at the last minute. And at this point says he doesn’t have the money for a car. All of which is fine, and not a complete surprise. Just disappointing since he told her repeatedly she would get a car for her 16th birthday and that he was going to come for her birthday. But frankly, neither of us was surprised when neither panned out. But I was disappointed for her.

The Increased Cost of Auto Insurance

I did call our insurance company to find out how much our auto insurance policy will go up when she becomes a licensed driver…

Wait for it…$1,898 for a 6 month policy. And that’s if we do not add a 3rd car to the policy. I’m not sure what it will be if we add another car. I also quoted removing one or both of the twins in case that would be cheaper, since they pay their own insurance. But since they are under 25 and still live at home, it continues to be cheaper for them to stay on the family policy.


31 Comments

  • Reply Anonymous |

    if princess will not have her own car, then she should wait on getting her license. That insurance rate is astounding and you can’t afford it. I had my permit until I was 18 and could afford my own car and insurance.

    • Reply Hope |

      I know that’s how some families operate, but Princess has been counting the days to getting her license and independence for years (just as I did at her age.)
      Not to mention, when/if school starts back up, her driving herself will free up HOURS of my day.
      I will not take that away from her or me…

      As for the cost, I can cover it. Just has I did for the twins when they each started driving. And as she begins working, she will begin contributing.

      • Reply Cynthia |

        Hope, may I remind you that you made the choice to drive Princess to school instead of using the bus service that is offered, which costs much in time and money. I imagine you could sign up for the bus in the fall, freeing up your time and some money in your budget to put towards your student loans.

    • Reply jj |

      if hope could not afford it, the driver’s license is still useful. unfortunate that her dad won’t even offer to help with the insurance costs, apparently.

        • Reply Cynthia |

          This post from Hope says that the dad is not following through with buying her a car.

        • Reply Laura |

          Hope said her dad is not doing that now, and with his track record I wouldn’t count on him ever doing it.

  • Reply Ellen |

    I don’t agree with buying children their first cars. I think that them saving to buy something themselves or having the parents match what they have saved is better. It builds character to have them save for their first big purchase rather than have a sense of entitlement that mommy and daddy will get me what I want. I truly believe this is why you see these videos of these entitled brats unhappy with the car their parents do buy them. All of my kids bought their first vehicles, cash. They knew it had to be used, they knew it would probably be older, but as long as it got them to where they needed to go, then it was good. All but one had the money saved by the time they got their licenses. They all paid for their own insurance, maintenance and gas. If you want the responsibilities of an adult, then act like one.

    As far as your ex not getting her car or coming for her birthday, I have to wonder if he is holding up ok. I lost my father last year and it killed my siblings and I. My oldest brother who is never one to show emotions, because “men don’t do that,” has been a mess. Everyone grieves differently. Some hidden, some openly. But losing a parent is traumatic and heart wrenching. Not that I expect you to know, but it could be that he had to pay for his mom’s funeral; which is not cheap. Also, there are tons of people on unemployment, lowered wages, and just struggling financially. He might actually be telling the truth he says that he can’t afford it right now. Playing devil’s advocate I guess. As I stated before, I have spent years with a man who did everything he could for his kids, and it was still not enough. He was made out to be something he wasn’t many times. So I guess I try to see both sides of stories for truth.
    Either way, I hope she had a good birthday. What did you end up doing to make it special? You had asked for advice, and then never updated us.

  • Reply TENN |

    I’m confused. What was the increase for adding Princess to your policy? Was it $1800 or is $1800 the total cost for the 6-month policy? Do you bundle your insurance policies, have automatic bill pay, get discounts for full time students, etc. to maximize your savings?

    • Reply Laura |

      That is my question too. Is that additional just for Princess? Total for you and Princess? Total for all 4 of you then the twins pay you back their part?

  • Reply Cheryl |

    You will be paying over $300.00 more a month for car insurance without even a third car right? You expect your daughter to help pay her insurance and not even a couple of posts ago you said she can’t work too much because she does 3 extra curricular activities and has a heavy school load. I don’t understand how any of this is even possible.

    • Reply Hope |

      Yes, the insurance cost will go up. But that will be offset by the work hours I will get back by not driving her.
      And yes, she will contribute to paying her own bills as she begins working.

    • Reply Cwaltz |

      The car is a 5 figure vehicle which the bank has a lien on. She is a new driver with no experience. It would not surprise me that the insurance for the household would increase by hundreds a month.

      My kids got to learn on cars that were paid for and they still cost over a hundred a month when we first added them.

  • Reply Deborah |

    Hope,

    Since your daughter has secured herself a job while she still be recieving 140 dollars in allowence each monthfor her personal spending? If she is going to be working I would suggest that she use her own earned money for her personal expenses and put the 140 dollars towards your student loan or the extra costs of the car insurance.

    • Reply Hope |

      Agreed, as soon as she begins to receive a paycheck, her allowance from me will cease. She is well aware of that.
      And depending on what happens with her working during the school year…how much she can work while maintaining her grades and any extra-curricular activities she chooses to pursue, she will begin paying some of her own bills…cell phone, insurance, just as the twins did at her age. It’s a gradual process, adding these financial responsibilities.

  • Reply Meghan1227 |

    I agree with the others. It does not make sense for her to get her license at this time, as the PARENT you have the right to make that choice even if it causes disappointment.

    What could you do with an extra $3,796 this year? (The full year cost of her insurance). That would wipe out more than 10% of the loan you have carried for 17 years.

    For her to pay her own insurance by working her new job would require her to work 475 hours; and that excludes accounting for any taxes that would be taken out. Does Princess feel that working +20 days of her year (that is 24 hour days, not 20 shifts) is worth the cost to drive for one year?

    • Reply Drmaddog |

      Well, it sounds like Hope expects her daughter to pay that insurance herself, so it wouldn’t come out of Hope’s budget,

      But for the sake of argument, lets take the $3796 for insurance. AT $8/hr with…oh…a 10% tax rate to be conservative and place her on the low end, thats. $7.20 net. at best. into $3796 a year? That is 528 work-hours, or 66 8-hour shifts. That would be working an 8-hr shift every day for over two months, with no day off. To drive. and have nothing left over for anything else. No savings, no personal expenses, no fun money, nothing. just to pay for insurance to drive a car. doesn’t even account to make the payments like hope said she would have to when they bought it. shaking my head.

  • Reply SMS |

    How much contact with the public will Princess have? Will she wear a mask? I would be extremely concerned about that. I bet there are plenty of such dangerous jobs available, also in grocery stores and the like.

    No offense, but I feel you are way too focused on Princess getting a job and paying for auto insurance and way too little focused on the big picture of Princess having a successful senior year, choosing a good college and getting into one with an excellent financial aid package. And wasn’t she going to take two college courses this summer? How can she do that if she works full time? They probably won’t give her full time, but they will change her schedule constantly and make it hard to do other things.
    Nothing wrong with working and earning some money on her own, but the priorities have to be right.

  • Reply Jennifer |

    I’m confused is the $1,898 the total premium cost for your family or is that how much it increased by for adding your daughter????
    Please say that isn’t how much the insurance cost is just for her

    • Reply TENN |

      I asked that above and Hope did not answer. I know that young drivers are expensive and that there have been multiple accidents recently, but it’s time to shop around for insurance, esp. if the $1800 increase is only Princess’ part.

  • Reply shanna |

    Congrats on the new job!! on another note, are you sure that was the correct amount, could you have misheard them? That is more than it cost for me to add all 3 of my older drivers AND they each had their own car and we are in one f the most high cost of living areas in the country. She should be max about $50-60 month more since there are less cars then drivers on your plan. She should get a good student discount as well. And I agree, if it is that amount, the allowance should be removed and put towards the insurance and half of what she wears if hers to keep for spending and half should go in savings. As for insurance, I would both get more details and call around for new insurance. That is crazy!

    • Reply Cwaltz |

      The household has a car that cost over $20,000 and still has a bank lien on it. She’s a new driver. My kids got to learn on paid for cars and they still cost over $100 to add per month to our insurance.(Although I will say this the cost for them to be on their own insurance is cheaper than what Hope is quoting, again paid for cars though.) It would have been wiser to put Princess in an old Buick or Caddy. Those things were built like tanks and are affordable enough to buy outright thereby eliminating a good portion of risk that insurance will have to payout tens of thousands should a first time driver get in an accident.

      • Reply Melissa |

        My son age 17 after an accident in a major city was only $50 a month.

        • Reply Cheryl |

          Her insurance may be high due to a couple of accidents earlier. My daughter paid $75.00 a month to be on our insurance and we had no accident history.

          • Drmaddog |

            Also, a car with a bank lien would have to have collision coverage, not just liability. As a middle-aged woman with no tickets in the past 7 years and no accidents in the past 18 (knock on wood), and a 16 year old car on which I still have collision coverage (for the free roadside assistance that comes with it, mostly. a few other insurance perks as well), my insurance is still $90 a month.

            For hope, her two sons, and her 16 year old daughter (no info on gymnast), with a brand new car with a loan, and as many wrecks as they have had in the past 3 years, I can see their insurance being astronomical. It might be worth it for the older twins to get their own policies at this point, since any more accidents on their group policy could raise the premiums for them all, possibly.

  • Reply Walnut |

    Hopefully you’re shopping around a bit for car insurance after that quote??

  • Reply Drmaddog |

    I do see the benefit for a teen to have a summer job, IF they are not devoting their time to summer classes which would allow them to take more advanced classes that might qualify for more scholarships/college credit, take concurrent enrollment classes, or score higher ACT/SAT classes.

    However, what I am seeing is that your household is going to spend hundreds a month for items related to car ownership (payments, gas, insurance, maintenance), when your budget is just over $3K.

    Unless you are already a wealthy, wealthy person, no one can expect to be able to build wealth if they are spending that percentage of their budget on depreciating assets that can disappear in a moment in an accident. Nevermind while if they also carry almost as much in debt as they claim to make.

    This is so unnecessary, and so much poor person thinking. Instant gratification over delayed benefit. I hope your daughter is not seduced by the paychecks she earns, if she works full time, and thinks that she is well off because she has ‘so much’ to spend (relative to her allowance anyway). More than one high school student has made that mistake, and it is a bad one.

  • Reply jj |

    Even if she cannot afford insurance, getting her license is still a good idea – means she has another form of photo ID, and it will surely help as she gets older, to have had a license for so long.

  • Reply Den |

    Congrats to princess!!! Having a job as a teen is a wonderful experience and teaches so many great lessons!

  • Reply Emily N. |

    Congratulations to Princess on her job! I do wonder if it’s worth the risk at this time, though. Fast food jobs tend to not pay much and I don’t think I’d be comfortable with the potential exposure to a deadly disease when having her work isn’t strictly necessary.

  • Reply Nancy |

    I’m not sure if I understood correctly, but it should cost a fraction of the amount you stated to add Hope to your car insurance, especially with proof of her grades. My kids are the same age as yours, Hope and I recently added my 16 year old daughter and my insurance is a fraction of what you are paying, plus I drive a much more expensive vehicle. Please do more shopping around.

So, what do you think ?