Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
Wow, Tri Girl, starting to pay for serious stuff at 13...

My parents were quite poor but still they didn't ask that out of us and if we weren't allowed to have a job at that time, well then nothing was possible.
Don't mean to make them sound like slave-drivers. I think they just really wanted us to know the value of a dollar and to not take anything for granted. And plus, with so many kids I truly think they just needed help with expenses- and none of us minded. I didn't know any better so it didn't seem unreasonable. I earned about $20/week from babysitting and that was enough to buy lunch at school (seriously- all I wanted to eat at lunch was a pizza pocket for $1 at lunch) and the clothes I wanted (even then I was a Goodwill/thrift store kind of person). By the time I got a real job and started driving I earned a lot more. Acadmeics were VERY important to them, too, and we had to toe the line with our schoolwork. I worked hard academically to get a scholarship to college because I knew that scholarship and loans were the only way to get a degree.

I take that back- they always took us clothes shopping at the start of the school year and they bought us a new pair of shoes and a new outfit. I'm sure that set them back quite a chunk of change. They worked sooooo hard (mom worked 2 jobs, dad worked one with very long hours). They did the best they could with limited educations and resources. I never felt like I wanted for anything or that I went without. I never felt poor, until I became an adult and realized what little we had. We only took two family vacations growing up- when I was 11 we went to the Grand Canyon and when I was 14 we went to Disneyland. Those were the BEST vacations I've ever had (even better than some I've had as an adult).