<p>my parents can't afford summer programs. My parents can't afford prep school. My parents are struggling to pay 12k a year for my sister's state college. I am one of 4 kids. oh wait, my parents make 100k, according to some people I should be able to afford these things and I'm not "middle-class". Well when I wanted to take a summer course ($300) and I couldn't for financial reasons, tell my parents we're not middle-class. My parents have saved, and my mom is a teacher, and my dad barely makes more than her. I'm sorry but it makes me upset people assume things that aren't true.</p>
<p>Celebrian,
When you couldn't afford the $300 summer program, did you consider getting a job to pay the bill?</p>
<p>I hope you don't think I'm being sarcastic or mean. I am posting from the viewpoint of someone who grew up in a professional household that also was short of money. As a result, I started working fulltime during the summers right after my junior year, which then in my state was the earliest I could get such employment. I also worked part time during my senior year in h.s., and I worked part time during the school year while I was in college. </p>
<p>I was finally able to do a parttime summer program after my junior year in college, but I also worked fulltime while doing it.</p>
<p>I did have a job. I was fired. Thanks for bringing that up. And at the time I wasn't old enough to have a job (14 yrs. old).</p>
<p>It's good that you had the guts and motivation to find a job. Were you able to find anything else that didn't have age restrictions such as babysitting?</p>
<p>my older sister got all the babysitting jobs. and there aren't any more babies left really. I live in a pretty nice neighborhood (read: lots of senior citizens)</p>
<p>I already got a big scholarship based on merit and am likely to be awarded a full ride. I am definitely not eligible for any kind of financial aid, stop whining cause you realized money can't buy intelligence, blaming "lazy" poor people will not get you any money or sympathy, instead try working harder in school and colleges will offer you almost anything if they want you enough</p>
<p>Celebrian, my 11 year old makes $80 walking dogs and poop scooping. In the summer, he does a very brisk business as people go away for vacation. He feeds cats, waters plants, does a variety of things. I would love to pay someone in my mother in law's neighborhood to spend an hour with her a couple of days a week, to do a few things she can't do--minor home repair like changing a lightbulb, to getting an item on a high shelf, taking out the garbage, moving things around, as she is becoming increasingly immobile. A "handykid" add in a neighborhood of senior citizens would be well received, and you would net a lot more than working for min wage somewhere and could do it on your own time. The seniors would benefit too as many don't want to call in a real handy man for things that most people who do not have arthritic fingers, or who can climb a ladder or are just stronger and more nimble than they are. My niece made money just vacuming and dusting 3 days a week at a very clean house where the homemaker was allergic to dust and needed someone else to to the work, but she did not feel she could afford a real maid. It wasn't that much my niece got, but she had flexible times and again per hour it was good pay that she could pocket. My daughter would "tutor" (really do homework patrol and that is what her add was titled) kids whose parents worked, and who wanted notebooks organized, homework done each day. She would just get it all started, cuz the parents were too busy when they got home dealing with dinner, and getting into the day,and they would then look at the work once D had them in some modicum of order with the assignments all written out as a check list. </p>
<p>I also want you to know that my dog walker son is considered just a little on the slow side intellectually. BUt he has made more money doing a good job on a bunch of things than any of my kids at that age. He made a tidy sum from other kids' snack money by bringing a stash of "good" books from home for required silent reading time, and "renting" them. Apparently the classroom choices did not appeal to a lot of kids, and many of them did not remember to bring something more palatable from home. He also would make nutella and marshmellow fluff sandwiches at home and sell them for lunch. He always brings extra news articles all cut out for news day to sell to kids who forget them. And this kid is just in 5th grade.</p>
<p>way to dis your kid! just kidding</p>
<p>Homework patrol in an excellent idea! Was this done as a small group or on an individual basis? Public location or home?</p>
<p>Also, the enterprising young man will go far! I know a boy just like that!</p>
<p>In a nice neighborhood with senior citizens, the are lots of ways to make money. Send a mailer offering to grocery shop, organize around the home, garden, care for pets, read to those who have trouble seeing, take out for walks. The possibilities are endless. </p>
<p>Celebrian, in life one can see problems or see soultions. The glass is half empty or half full. You're smart, use your imagination, the power of the positive and start solving problems!</p>
<p>Thanks, Lkf725. He is the one who has to put the most effort into school work as it does not come easy for him. He is not an athlete, not a musician, really an average kid with a tremendous work ethic. They have no school this week, and some neighbors called to ask if he'll clear their decks of snow that has not melted and clean up their yards since the snow has melted. In our neighborhood, he has established an excellent reputation for doing a thorough job on anything he is asked to do. He brings in garbage cans from the curbside, will clean them out, clip dogs' toenails and bathe them, wash cars, weed gardens, cull gardens, and other type of work that people just don't like to do these days. His brother, a year older, gets no requests for work.</p>
<p>Celebrain,</p>
<p>You're a pretty smart girl, have you thought about doing tutoring or helping gradeschool, j.h.s kids with their home work. My daughter worked all 4 years as an afterschool counselor. Now that you are older, you can probably work in fast food resturant or at the mall, not the most glamorous jobs, but a steady paycheck.</p>
<p>Jami, my daughter has been a dog walker and a pet feeder for some of our neighbors on vacation. when they found out she was saving up $$ for college they were wery generous to her, some tipped on top of paying her $25/day to pet sit while they were on vacation. </p>
<p>we also live in an area where there are a lot of senior citizens, ans she would run little errands for them (not so much for the pay but because she has known the neighbors for a long time, even then they still wanted to throw her a few bucks) when she was home there were a couple of neighbors that requested her help in setting up their homes for passover (they would pay her about $15/hr so she would have 4 to 5 people lined up that she would help out before and after passover).</p>
<p>Some senior citizens will through you a few $$ to help them set up their computers and give lessons on e-mail and surfing the web. There are ways opportunities available if you are willing to look for them</p>
<p>well let's see, the last time I talked to somebody in my neighborhood who was a senior citizen (I wanted to play with their grandkids) they told me I'd better leave that instant and I wasn't allowed to play with their kids. I don't live in a really friendly place, in fact, it has the highest crime rate in the area</p>
<p>"I live in a pretty nice neighborhood"
"I don't live in a really friendly place, in fact, it has the highest crime rate in the area"</p>
<p>wait... which is it?</p>
<p>Teachers often will hire responsible students to do yard work, pet sitting, babysitting, etc. especially if they know the students need money for college. Teachers also have friends looking for responsible people to do that kind of work.</p>
<p>it's aesthetically pleasing, lots of big houses, a small creek, lots of upper-middle class families live there. People aren't very nice is all. Of course not everybody, but no one really goes outside of their homes, and I've never even seen some of my neighbors. I unfortenately live pretty far from my school, and because I can't drive, there is no way for me to do things for my teachers (I have 3 other siblings, so it's not all about me).</p>
<p>You keep giving excuse after excuse why you can't earn any money. Truth is, where there's a will, there is a way. For instance, it is so hard to find responsible babysitters, that parents will transport them, and will pay good wages. This particularly is true in upper middle class areas because few teens in such areas care to babysit. Most either don't work at all or work in places like malls that the teens regard as more fun than babysitting.</p>
<p>If you arent able to qualify for any need based aid and you are unable to find any merit scholarships, the next thread on How to find a job has some good tips to get experience so that when you go off to college you can get job that will at least pay enough for your personal expenses and books.</p>
<p>My daughter is making $11 an hour doing after school care at a local school, during the summer works at a science camp and is able to save about $3,000.</p>
<p>I did have a job- it was a really bad experience so I'm not in a hurry to find another one. Why are you attacking me? You don't know my personal situation, or even me. I am tired of being attacked for just commenting. I'm not special like your children, I've never been accepted into anything I've applied for except for my former job. Don't tell me I'm making excuses. If you think I'm complaining because I can't do work for my teachers, you can drive me to there everyday. If you think there's babysitting jobs, you can let me babysit your kids. I have never been good at anything in my entire life, not working in the yard, not babysitting, not sports, not school.</p>
<p>Well you wont get much money with that attitude.</p>