E-How Money tells of the plight of a young person learning to manage her own money, where Starbucks and “electronic gadgets” are eating away at her spending cash. Maybe this is true for some teens, but neither causes much nail biting in my life. My mom covers the rent and most of the food expenses in my house and I have to cover my personal expenses.  This includes gas, phone bill, some groceries and trying to put some more into my savings. I work a considerable number of hours for a part-time job and if it wasn’t for this, I’d be in trouble.

I pine for the days when I could go and spend money on clothes and restaurants. Even just eavesdropping in class sends me into a self-pitying spiral about how I never buy clothes. I’ve never gone to those concerts that cost almost half of the rent I’ll be paying in less than six months. I whine and complain to my friends about silly things like this. Yet I have a roof over my head, food in the pantry, a car and I live in Southern California; what more could you really need?

 My advice to kids in similar or worse situations is to be grateful for the sprinkling of maturity this gives you. You get a taste of what it’ll be like in college if your parents can’t float you through or even life after college if they can pay. No one ever complains about being too smart about their money. I treat myself when I can, but I know the difference between things I want and things I need (most of the time).  Please take note that I have by no means become a master budgeter or am I a deprived child dressed in rags. But through this simulated college life, I know that I might make out okay in that big, scary world that lurks after graduation.