Summer Jobs

 

My teens are squarely in the phase of their lives where spending money is important. To be sure, I've told them often that their mother and I want them to have social lives and are willing to throw some dollars their way to help with that. But, there's nothing quite like earning your own dough. Fine by us, since it's less out of our accounts and the experience is good too.

Aaron is away at sleepaway camp this summer, but with the exception of one week being a camper, he's being put to work on the grounds, lifeguarding and weed-whacking and everything in between. Jada started working for a restaurant during the school year, and now has picked up way more hours with the intention of saving up for a trip after graduation.

I was taught money management at an early age so am trying to make sure our kids learn similar lessons. As with most things that come out of my mouth, lectures about financial literacy engender eye rolls from our teens. For better or worse, there's no substitute for actually making and spending money.