Dear Dr. Tightwad: Hello. My name is Lacy. I am 12 years old, and I want a job very bad. It is the holiday season, and I need money to get gifts for my family and friends, and I am too young to get a job. Please help!!Dear Lacy: Don't set your sights so high that you waste time fretting about not getting a real "job." Instead, look around and you'll find plenty of work that grownups are willing to pay you to do, especially at this time of year.
Maybe you could take over regular chores your parents don't have time for during the holiday season, such as washing the car or stacking wood. Or you could do holiday-related jobs, such as untangling strings of lights or wrapping gifts. And with grownups invited to so many holiday parties, baby sitters are always in great demand.
Any work you can do for your parents you can do for other families as well. Most in need of help are parents with young children and elderly people.
Remember that you don't necessarily have to buy holiday presents. The best gifts are those on which you spend time, effort and thought.
Next year, make a resolution to avoid this pickle. In September (or even earlier), start putting aside part of your allowance or gift money as a holiday fund to spend on gifts for other people.
Question: I recently read an article by a mother who had put her teenagers on a strict allowance of $5 a week. She admitted that the amount was artificially low, but she bragged about what a great exercise it was in self-discipline.
What do you think of this as a treatment of children suffering from overconsumption?
Answer: It might work as shock therapy, but it's not a long-term cure.
Putting kids on a starvation budget is as bad as overindulging them. An allowance is supposed to teach them how to make responsible decisions about controlling their appetites for CDs and pizza. Rationing their income limits their ability to make decisions -- and encourages them to pig out later.
Unless those kids are wearing rags or holding down jobs of their own, it's likely that Mom and Dad are still paying a big chunk of their expenses. Strict allowance aside, the kids might agree with Bart Simpson's rejoinder to Homer and Marge's typically lame attempt to persuade him to earn some money of his own: "Room and board are free, and Santa brings the rest."
Dr. Tightwad welcomes questions from readers. Unfortunately, she can respond only to those questions used in her column. Please write to Janet Bodnar in care of this newspaper. Or send an e-mail message to: jbodnar@kiplinger.com.