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	Money and Jobs
	Introduction A general chapter on money including discussions on allowances, my thoughts on giving teens allowances, how to get your teens to find a job, and an interview with a friend covering drugs, arms dealing and prostitution. Mmm can’t you just taste the juiciness? ------------------------------ Another subject that closely ties in with being spoilt, money is something that comes into nearly every argument in our household. As a child I was given £2.50 pocket money a week – when my parents remembered to give it to me, that is. My brother is 16 months younger than me and we always got the same amount, and started receiving pocket money at the same time. Of course, I always complained that I should have an extra 16 months’ worth of pocket money to catch up with the extra that Alex received because of this, but my luck never caught on. Now, at 15 years old, I haven’t received any pocket money for years – neither has Alex. This wasn’t due to a conscious decision by our parents to stop it, or to give us an allowance instead, but it just gradually wore off. Instead, mum and dad buy bits for Alex’s remote control cars, and dad pays for my website hosting/domain names, so that makes up for our missed pocket money more than enough times. If you don’t give your teens pocket money, support their hobbies instead. I mentioned allowances: some kids, when they reach their teenage years, are given allowances. I’m sure you’re familiar with allowances: when parents give their teens a lump sum every month (around £50) and they have to buy everything they want. I say want, not need – parents will buy them a new pair of trainers when needed, but if the teen wants a designer brand they’ll have to pay the extra out of their allowance. The same goes for clothes. Everything else – leisure activities, cinema, CDs, computer games, magazines – also has to be paid for by the teen out of their allowance. If you give your teen an allowance, set out strict rules for what they have to buy themselves. When I first pondered on the subject of allowances a few months ago, I thought that an allowance was good in the way it prepares teens for when they have to budget for themselves, but I thought it was all in a very false sense of security and is expensive for parents. Also, as a teen, I understand that even if I wash the cars, clean the house etc. and my parents give me money, I become ‘richer’ but my parents become ‘poorer’. Therefore, no money has been added to the overall household income; it’s just changed hands. Instead, I want to actually bring money into the house by earning it myself from the outside world. This will benefit us all at home: I’ll have extra money, and my parents won’t lose any by giving it to me so they can spend it on nice things – like TVs and holidays – that will again benefit us all (hah-hah I wish). Try and get your kids to realise that the whole household will benefit if they earn money from the outside world rather than live off pocket money from you. It’s on this basis that, a few months ago, I thought I would never give my kids an allowance; instead I would encourage them to work outside the household to earn their money. However, as I have travelled a little further into my journey of teenager-hood, I realise that this is not the only thing to think about when it comes to allowances. Recently, dad and I have been having lots of “discussions” (read, arguments) about money. Because there are some things my parents are happy to pay for when I go out – lunch, a £10 phone topup once a month, train tickets, books – I am forever asking them for money, giving change back, asking for money, giving change back… and sometimes I will use my own money for things like lunch and ask my parents to pay me back later. As you can well imagine, this gets rather higgledy-piggledy: “Where’s that tenner I gave you last week?” “What about lunch – you never paid me back!” “Did I ever get the change from that £10 I gave you for town?” “I paid for my topup last month as well!” So, how does having an allowance come in to this? Well, I think that if my parents gave me, say, £20 a month for things like lunch, train tickets, topups etc and said that’s all you’re getting, we wouldn’t get into any of the mess we’re in at present. In this sense, I would be receiving a sort of ‘leisure allowance’ – my parents would still buy my clothes, shoes, etc. when I need them, but the allowance would be a good idea to stop us getting confused with money constantly changing hands. Better still, if they did it as a direct debit into my account, they would never forget, and there would be no cash changing hands whatsoever. Perfect. If you find yourself constantly owing each other money try giving your teens a tailored allowance. Now then, what sort of things do my parents buy me? What am I made to pay for myself? Well, here’s a good example: my guitar. I bought my electric guitar and amplifier out of my own money. When the strings break, dad will buy me new ones (£5.99 for a set). When we were in the guitar shop the other day, buying yet more new strings, I mentioned that I could do with an electronic tuner. The cheapest one was about £15. Dad pondered for a bit, obviously trying to think of a reason why I didn’t deserve it – it was futile, I knew he’d say yes. But on what conditions? We struck a deal: I’d pay half. After speaking to the assistant about my constantly breaking guitar strings, we chose a thicker gauge but were advised to bring my guitar in and get it setup properly for a princely sum of £35. Dad immediately made it clear that I’d be paying for that. That little example sums up the sorts of things my parents will buy my brother and I: · We pay for big things ourselves (e.g. guitar and amplifier, £100) · Mum and dad will buy smaller items of maintenance (e.g. guitar strings, £6) · We’ll go halves on more expensive but beneficial things (e.g. tuner, £17) I think that’s pretty fair overall, but I do believe that parents should contribute to their means towards big items of an educational benefit, such as a guitar. As I go on to mention in the “Hobbies and Interests” chapter, if parents are worried about their children starting lots of expensive instruments, they could strike a deal along the lines of: child pays for instrument at the outset to show commitment, then if child sticks with it for set amount of months, parents will pay for half. Here’s an interview with my friend Carl, who also plays the guitar. I’ve interviewed him about money, the sort of things he has to buy, if he gets any pocket money, and – mum and dad this is for you – if he had to buy his own guitar. We also touched on jobs towards the end. jellyellie: Hi Carl! Carl: Good day kind woman! OK, OK, hi Ellie! jellyellie:Don't you think we tend to overuse exclamation marks a bit these days? Carl: No! They are awesome! jellyellie::-D Carl: But not used in their original context anymore; just thrown in randomly at the end. jellyellie:I've been using them very sparingly in my book. Carl: Yeah I don't like them in books. Makes the book seem wannabe cool. jellyellie:...and if you read a ‘classic’ where they don't use many, the effect is amazing when they do put one in. Carl: Uhuh. Because I read all too frequently... jellyellie:Hehehe. Well, we were supposed to be talking about money, so let's cut to that. Carl: Yes. Money. OK. jellyellie:You're an avid guitar player. Who bought your first electric guitar for you? Carl: My parents, as a birthday gift. jellyellie: You did better than me then. I paid for it all myself! Did you have to pay a contribution? Carl: None. jellyellie:You just end up hating some people... Err yes. So, what about strings, picks, other consumables/loseables etc.? Who pays for those? Carl: Most of them are paid for by me, but some exceptions occur. jellyellie: OK. And do you have to pay for that out of pocket money, money you earn from a part-time job, or what? jellyellie:...drug dealing, prostitution...? Carl: Uhmmm, miscellaneous funds and rarely drug dealing. And selling myself. And arms dealing. Err, forget the latter two… jellyellie: Damn, I was after a nice Glock 17. So you don't get any pocket money on a regular basis, or an allowance? Carl: Nah, random cash injections. jellyellie:Now that is an idea I could introduce my parents to. So are you going to be looking for a job soon? Carl: Not that I know of, summer job maybe. Still only 14 though Ellie... jellyellie:So definitely not a paperboy? Carl: Hell no! Unless it was like the late route... and people enjoy waiting for their papers... jellyellie:: Haha! Yeah, I tend to agree. OK. I think that's probably all for now, unless you have anything to add relevant to the subject of money? Carl: Hmmm... nope. jellyellie: OK. You know, you should savour this moment... not long you'll be looking back on a printed version of this in my bestseller book... ah those will be the days... Carl: Hahaha :-D jellyellie:I'm not lying! It will happen. I think, however, if we go on for much longer I'll have to increase my word estimates for each chapter. Hokay. Interview terminated at 22:58. So as you can see, Carl doesn’t receive any set pocket money or an allowance, just like me. However, he doesn’t have a job either, which isn’t like me. At the moment I’m working for BT, as a columnist for a new website that should be launched shortly. It’s damn cool – whilst everyone at school is off doing work experience, I’m sitting in a meeting on the top floor in BT Centre in London! I’m definitely not doing it just for the money though; apart from the fact that I love writing, it’s an invaluable experience to have and the contacts I’m making are worth more than their weight in gold. As well as writing for BT when their new site is launched, I’ve just imported a load of laser pointers from a manufacturer in China to sell on eBay. Now that was an experience. Encourage your teens to earn money for themselves. It doesn’t have to be a conventional job - eBay is a great place to learn basic business skills. My ultimate goal in life is to own and run a successful multi-million pound business. Every day I make sure I do something productive that will take me one step closer to that goal, and every day I envisage myself as that bigwig exec with a penthouse in London, a big house right on the sea, a pad in Monaco, and a 100ft yacht sailing around the Med. That will be me. I’d also like to be successful with my writing; if you are reading this, I’ve obviously made it somewhere in the world of publishing. Has it been a big success yet? I’m sure it will be. I’d like to write further books after this one, and continue writing freelance like I am with BT. When my dad was a teenager, he lived on a boat with his family for three years and they went sailing around the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, it’s an expensive way to live, and mum and dad haven’t been in the position to do the same with Alex and I. I would love to be able to live with my kids on a boat for a few years, as the experiences it opens you up to are amazing. It makes you stronger as a person and as a family, you make so many good friends, and it gives you a level of independence you’d never get from living on land all of your life. Errr… live on a boat if you can afford it! Writing would be a perfect way to sustain a suitable income for me to be able to live on a boat – you can write from wherever you are in the world. Hopefully, if I make enough money soon enough, I will be able to take my mum, dad and brother on a boat for a few years, as it’s dad’s dream to live on a boat again. So enough with the motivational and dream stuff: what you want to know is how to get your damn lazy teenager off his butt, out of the house, and working. Well… I’ll tell you how not to do it. “I had an absolutely blazing argument with my dad the other day. My parents have gone and filled in a load of job application forms for me for shitty places like Sainsbury’s, Tesco and crappy Woolworths. What the hell do I want to work there for? Maybe if they actually speak to me about getting a job, and help me apply for one at a place where I’d actually like to work, I might be a little more motivated about getting off my arse and earning myself a living. As it is, they’ve totally blown it, and there’s no way I’m going for any job interviews now.” – Calen, 16 Cal hit the nail on the head there. If you want us to get a job, it’s no good nagging and moaning at us to go for an interview at the local newsagent or supermarket. Instead, the motivation for working must come directly from ourselves – and I hear you cry “What! My teen will never take the initiative to get a job himself. If all my nagging hasn’t made him get one, I don’t know what will”, but that is where you are wrong. If you want your teenager to get a job, and he’s shown no signs of going about this himself, what you should do – and what Cal’s parents failed to do – is have a discussion with your teen and try and come up with a few places they might like to work. If they’re obsessed with computers, they’ll be far more excited and motivated about working in PC World than Morrisons. And if they’re always bashing away on their drum kit, help your teen apply for a job at a local music store. If you’re desperate for your teen to get a job, the motivation needs to come from them – help by discussing where they would enjoy working. Whatever you do, don’t force your teen into getting a job. It seems like really simple stuff, but as Cal’s situation demonstrates, it can be so easily overlooked when parents are just desperate to get their teens out working. So you’ve well and truly conquered the money subject now. You know whether to give your teens an allowance, you know what sort of things you should expect them to pay for themselves, and you know how you’re going to get them to earn that money from someone other than you. Homework · Make sure you’re giving your teens monthly pocket money rather than weekly as it encourages them to plan their finances and not waste it on rubbishy things each week. · If you’re not giving your teens any pocket money, let them know you’ll support their hobbies instead. · If you give your teens an allowance, set out strict rules for what they have to buy themselves. If you don’t do this, the whole ‘responsibility’ side of having an allowance goes down the drain. · Contribute towards things of educational value as much as possible. Instruments, ice hockey gear, and web design software – it all counts. · Encourage your teens to earn money for themselves. It doesn’t have to be through a conventional job – help them start an eBay business, for example. · If you want your teens to get a job, the motivation needs to come from them – help by discussing where they would enjoy working.
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