Question: Your kids work full time, and do not have to pay rent.
What in the world is stopping them from saving up and getting a car?
Son #2 works full time - for this year only - before returning to school in September.
Who says he doesn't pay rent?
Son #1, after a two year collapse following my mother's death, has been back in school full time all year.
Adopted Son (aka - The Extra Kid in the basement) is getting a free ride for the first time in his life.
I wouldn't dream of charging him anything. He is saving a bit of money for a car, a bit of money to move out, all while doing things he's never had the funds to do.
This is a kid who vividly remembers his Grandpa picking him up from school and taking him out to lunch at McDonald's ... because it happened exactly ONCE in his whole life! (I used to pick up my kids for lunch once a week.)
This is a kid who has never had a vacation.
This is a kid who has received exactly two Christmas gifts from his mother in 19 years.
I am spoiling this kid rotten to make up for the shi**y hand life dealt him.
And what stops Son #2 from buying a car and driving himself?
A) $700/month insurance
B) Learner's permit only
C) No way to maintain that car once he goes back to school and isn't working full time.
This "work thing" turned out perfectly - a one year experiment to prove to him that working for The Man for $14/hr is great for a teenager; not so great for a married man with a family.
My main complaint this morning (after less than two hours' sleep), was that one kid works at 5:30; one kid works at 7:30; one kid starts school at 10:20.
Things are much easier when the two workers both start at 7:30.
Split work start times on Mondays stink! You know, 'cause Mondays in general stink!
I've got company! 
And a pleasant good morning to you, too! I'm also up a bit earlier than usual this morning. I got up around 4, because I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. But that's o.k.--gives me more time to play on the forums before heading out to work in a few hours. 
