The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I got a very small allowance in high school, but I worked from the time I was 15. 14 if you count babysitting. I worked as a custodian at the school, I worked in the engineering office in town doing data base entry, I worked as a timer/scorer for ball games at school, I worked as a tutor through the school...then when I was in college I worked as a custodian the first summer I was there, then at the front desk of the residence halls as a sort of receptionist through the rest of my college days. The only time I can remember NOT having a job was my freshman year of college because I was afraid college was going to be so hard that I couldn't handle both school and work. It ended up not being a problem, so I got a job after that. But we give our kids allowance because they do chores. If we were to do that work at someone's house, or in a restaurant or hotel, we'd get paid for it. And it's better to teach them about money as young kids...teach them how hard it is to earn the money for that new toy they want. Teach them how to save their money, how to comparison shop, how to follow sales, etc. My mom worked for years (before she was married) at a savings and loan and was amazing with money. She brought me up with all sorts of financial tips and taught me how to handle my money. My brother ignored her advice and got himself in huge financial trouble in college. It took him 10 years to dig out of it, even though my dad helped bail him out. I don't want my kids to go through that. So we started them really young with like..."Sure, it's your money. You can buy that Barbie here, but you might find it cheaper somewhere else." or "Well, if you buy that one, that's all you can afford. But if you go for this one, it may not be quite as fancy, but it has what you need, and then you have money left over for something else." "Are you going to use that feature? Or is it just adding to the price when this one is just ats good but without that?" We've always let them make their own decisions about how to spend their money...it's always their choice in the end because it's their money, but we oguide them, and part of that is teaching them that you have to earn the money with work. So that's why they get allowance. Same thing with school....you earn grades with the effort you put into your school work. If you don't study, you won't get as good of a grade. If you don't do chores, you won't have as much money to buy that new game you want. Work ethic. I remember a lot of kids in my class in school had none, and I see it with E's classmates, too. When we went to Disney in 2016, E was 10...she saw some ears she loved and wanted to buy. We went to World of Disney specifically so she could buy these ears. Then she looked at the price. $27. She thought about how many other things she could buy with that money, and that yes, it's a cool souvenier, but she'd never wear them outside of Disney and she could MAKE similar ears for much cheaper and then still have money for other things. She decided against spending the money. She's responsible with her money.

As for jobs with a high school diploma, I think the days are nearing an end where you can earn a good living that way. A lot of my classmates got jobs at the coal mines...you don't need any higher education for that, but my underdstanding is that it doesn't pay what it used to. And those jobs are dwindling away. There aren't many jobs you can get anymore starting out where you can support a family on that income. And in a lot of places, you almost need 2 incomes...I don't know how single parents do it anymore! I've been working at my job for 12 years....there's no way I could support the family even if I were to work full time. So I want the kids to have the work ethic NOW so that when they need it, they don't have a rude awakening.
Click to expand...
All good things said but what is rarely talked about but facts are facts if our younger generation instead of getting the latest and greatest many things materialistic, is to invest in the stock market at an early age and regardless of market conditions, stay the course. The end result if one chooses to is to FIRE ( Financially Independent Retire Early ).
 
FutureCEO

FutureCEO

Well-Known Member
Lilofan said:
All good things said but what is rarely talked about but facts are facts if our younger generation instead of getting the latest and greatest many things materialistic, is to invest in the stock market at an early age and regardless of market conditions, stay the course. The end result if one chooses to is to FIRE ( Financially Independent Retire Early ).
Click to expand...


A lot of things can come from a generation debate....none of them good
 
donaldtoo

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I got a very small allowance in high school, but I worked from the time I was 15. 14 if you count babysitting. I worked as a custodian at the school, I worked in the engineering office in town doing data base entry, I worked as a timer/scorer for ball games at school, I worked as a tutor through the school...then when I was in college I worked as a custodian the first summer I was there, then at the front desk of the residence halls as a sort of receptionist through the rest of my college days. The only time I can remember NOT having a job was my freshman year of college because I was afraid college was going to be so hard that I couldn't handle both school and work. It ended up not being a problem, so I got a job after that. But we give our kids allowance because they do chores. If we were to do that work at someone's house, or in a restaurant or hotel, we'd get paid for it. And it's better to teach them about money as young kids...teach them how hard it is to earn the money for that new toy they want. Teach them how to save their money, how to comparison shop, how to follow sales, etc. My mom worked for years (before she was married) at a savings and loan and was amazing with money. She brought me up with all sorts of financial tips and taught me how to handle my money. My brother ignored her advice and got himself in huge financial trouble in college. It took him 10 years to dig out of it, even though my dad helped bail him out. I don't want my kids to go through that. So we started them really young with like..."Sure, it's your money. You can buy that Barbie here, but you might find it cheaper somewhere else." or "Well, if you buy that one, that's all you can afford. But if you go for this one, it may not be quite as fancy, but it has what you need, and then you have money left over for something else." "Are you going to use that feature? Or is it just adding to the price when this one is just ats good but without that?" We've always let them make their own decisions about how to spend their money...it's always their choice in the end because it's their money, but we oguide them, and part of that is teaching them that you have to earn the money with work. So that's why they get allowance. Same thing with school....you earn grades with the effort you put into your school work. If you don't study, you won't get as good of a grade. If you don't do chores, you won't have as much money to buy that new game you want. Work ethic. I remember a lot of kids in my class in school had none, and I see it with E's classmates, too. When we went to Disney in 2016, E was 10...she saw some ears she loved and wanted to buy. We went to World of Disney specifically so she could buy these ears. Then she looked at the price. $27. She thought about how many other things she could buy with that money, and that yes, it's a cool souvenier, but she'd never wear them outside of Disney and she could MAKE similar ears for much cheaper and then still have money for other things. She decided against spending the money. She's responsible with her money.

As for jobs with a high school diploma, I think the days are nearing an end where you can earn a good living that way. A lot of my classmates got jobs at the coal mines...you don't need any higher education for that, but my underdstanding is that it doesn't pay what it used to. And those jobs are dwindling away. There aren't many jobs you can get anymore starting out where you can support a family on that income. And in a lot of places, you almost need 2 incomes...I don't know how single parents do it anymore! I've been working at my job for 12 years....there's no way I could support the family even if I were to work full time. So I want the kids to have the work ethic NOW so that when they need it, they don't have a rude awakening.
Click to expand...

Our 3 kiddos learned good work ethic from an early age.
It started with all the volunteer work we did.
Everything from toy, food, coat, etc. drives for the local police and sheriffs departments, church, school, etc.
Also, through Girl Scouts, including visiting a local retirement home to help with entertainment, art projects, just visiting with residents, etc. And, other volunteer work I just know I’m leaving out, but, there was so much.
Both DDs also sold Girl Scout Cookies at public booths for an overlapping decade. They were always among the top sellers, not only in the local service unit, but, In the whole area Council, and we’re recognized as such.
We also worked University of Texas concessions when they were in HS choir. Football games, basketball, concerts, etc. The money went towards choir trips to San Francisco, NYC, etc. Those football games were 10-ish hr. events for us, from setup to final count and resolution of supplies and money.
Both DDs also babysat for several families, which, actually, youngest DD was still doin’ besides her regular job at the inclusive (“normal” and special needs kiddos) school where she is employed, until COVID came along.
And, both DDs are still on the BOD of the pediatric cancer foundation. Obviously, and, of course, unfortunately, all of their usual public events have been cancelled.
DS also participated in all those things he could, and, as a result, he was instilled with the same work ethic, and sense of giving back.

Back in the day, the HS that I went to contained the area vocational school as well. Students from all over the area were bussed in (or drove when they were old enough) to attend extended classes in drafting and design, auto mechanics, hospitality, etc.
My drafting class was 3 hrs. long every morning for both my junior and senior years. There was also an afternoon class. It was run like an office environment. We were allowed food, drink, music, etc. Not only was that all the teacher taught, but, he also did residential design and drafting on the side. Most other schools only had maybe an hr.-long class taught by some assistant football coach who took one drafting class in college at some point, or something. As a result, we would travel to contests and just clean house on all the top awards. About midway through my sophomore year in HS, we were already doing working drawings for a local home builder to earn money for those trips.
3 months before I graduated, a partner at a local architectural firm (now long defunct) contacted my drafting teacher looking for a student that could ink brochures for a local builder in the evenings. I had the most experience with ink (also partly due to my art background), so he recommended me, and I was hired. After I graduated, they asked me to come on as a full-time draftsman, and I did.
At that time, I also started taking some classes at the local community college to work towards an eventual architectural degree and license, so I was more part-time.
At one point, I had a conversation with the partners at that firm. They, basically, told me that I was already doing things that they didn’t even get to until their 4th year of architecture school (one graduated from UT, the other from OU). They didn’t see the point in me spending all that time and money just for the degree and the license, only to end up right back where I already was.
I continued to take classes and researched and weighed my options, eventually dropped the non-career related prerequisite college classes, and the rest is history.

Again, as in my previous post, the odds are very minuscule of dong it that way these days.
Different times. For one, I’m not sure if vocational classes like I was able to take still even exist on the HS level anymore. The emphasis is definitely on full-out college these days.
The firm I work for won’t even interview people anymore unless they have at least a bachelors in architecture.
Although, there are also plenty of folks out there earning a darn good living having only gone through a 2-year technical program for A/C, plumbing, etc.
Plus, I kinda’ came with the company as it now exists...
The 2 principal partners partnered up with a guy that I originally worked for, who was also a year behind me in drafting class, and also never went to college. He sold his interest in the company when he left to become a developer. By then, I had long ago more than proved myself.
It’s kinda’ fun to look back on that path, actually...!!! :)
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom