I am a 17 year old guy who loves money but don't know how to balance it! I need to put my responsibilities first but I don't know how to do it.
I have:
$400.00/3 months Car Insurance
$50.00/month Phone Bill
$40.00/month Piano
$30.00/month subscriptions and such.
I get $6.25 and hour for my job and I get paid every 2 weeks.
I NEED SERIOUS HELP SO I DON'T END UP WITH DEPT BY THE TIME I AM 20!
Got any advice?
I NEED HELP
June 21st, 2007 at 05:53 am
June 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am 1182424911
My sugestions (without really knowing you) would be this:
1. Car insurance - if you are still in school or are planning on going back to school, shop around for a new car insurance place. When I was in high scool (and college) I had Amica car insurance. They gave a "good student" discount. What happened was, as long as I maintained a B average, I got an extra discount on my car insurance. I know other car insurances do them as well, but Amica was great for me. (They might be a New England only company, though, so shop around). Also, as you et older and are drivin longer, your car insurance rate will go down.
2. Magazines subscriptions - do you have to have these? Can you just check them out at the library instead? For me, I can't do the library. I love to keep my magazines and books. But when your subscriptions are up for renewal, if you want to keep a subscription to them, check out different plces to get them. Search on google for "magazine subscriptions" and a bunch of places will pop up. They are usually much cheaper than getting a subsciption through the magazine itself and can save you a few bucks.
3. Piano - I have a feeling this is one place that cutting back would not be a good idea.
4. cell phone - again, shop around for the cheapest deal. If you continuously have minutes left over, you might want to switch to cingular (they carryover minutes) or downgrade to a smaller plan. Just make sure you don't opt out of your current contract before it is done - a lot of placeswill charge you $200 or so for that.
5. Pay - if you are not in school, try to pick up as many extra hours as possible. If you are only working part time ask for full time during the summer or find a 2nd part time job. I don't know where you live, but federal and some state minimum wages are getting raised, so that could help too.
Good luck and welcome to the frugal family!
June 21st, 2007 at 02:41 pm 1182436864
June 21st, 2007 at 02:46 pm 1182437192
June 21st, 2007 at 10:03 pm 1182463384
June 21st, 2007 at 10:24 pm 1182464670
At 17, you should be getting parents, grandparents, relatives to pay for piano, cell phone, insurance as gift ideas for your birthday and holidays!!
June 29th, 2007 at 02:25 am 1183083935