We have four children. The oldest is in college with the three younger being 16, 15, and 14 years of age. Our sixteen year old has now become the driver of choice with his younger siblings while we are both at work. We began to notice that Seth was driving his siblings wherever and whenever they wanted without any complaint. He is that kind of kid…..thoughtful, compassionate, caring, quiet, obedient….great young man. He drives a big, old 1992 Dodge truck his grandpa gave him when he got his driver’s license. The gas tank is HUGE and well, you know how expensive gas is right now. Too expensive for all these aimless trips to 7-11 for Icees or Sonic for Route 44s!
My husband instituted a plan that has worked wonders. He has told the two non-driving teenagers if they want to continue to ask their brother to drive them to friends houses, the pool, Starbucks, etc., then they need to give their brother so much per week to help pay for gas.
This has done two things….cut down on all the silly trips across town when they could either wait for us to get off of work or wait until the weekend on errand day. Two it has taught them that while it is AWESOME their big brother can now drive there is an expense to it. Seth pays for all his gas except 40.00 per month. We provide the 40.00. He pays his own insurance and has paid six months in advance and already has the next six months saved up.
It is common for teenagers to not understand the immense outflow of cash that takes place. It seems minimal to them all the running around that goes on but when gas is nearly 4.00 a gallon lifestyles need to change.
This has worked wonders so far. For more ideas head over to Shannon’s at Rocks in My Dryer.
9 comments:
great idea!
Wow, Seth pays for his own car insurance? How responsible. Way to go, Mom!
Excellent idea! :)
"nearly" $4 a gallon??! Where do you live?! Here in SoCal it's nearly $5 a gallon!
We live in Oklahoma. The cost of living here is much lower than other areas of the nation. We currently pay around 3.80 a gallon for regular. I am sure it is headed up towards 5.00. People that use diesel fuel are paying nearly 5.00 here now.
Yes Lisa can you believe he is driving!! WOW! We do not purchase their cars nor do we pay their insurance. We will help them if they need it but hubby wants the boys to understand how to handle finances BEFORE they get out of high school. The boys have been working hard on their lawn business for several years and have 21 customers now that they service each week.
Vicki...I headed over from Cindy's Blog. I wanted to tell you what a great response you left on her post today. What a blessing you must be to your children. What a gift God gave you! I enjoyed reading your openess regarding your family life and keeping the children's mother memory alive.
May you continue to be blessed.
sniff. I fondly remember "nearly $4 a gallon" days. In LA we are past $4.50 on the slippery slope to $5! I should charge myself for mindless trips to the fabric store!
great post. Seth sounds like such a great kid. Good job to both of you guys on that one. And... I think it is so important to teach children about the expense of everyday living.
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