Im starting my SECOND job in an hour, first job is landscaping and it pays my insurance and gas at 10 bucks an hour, and tonight im starting dishwashing for 8 bucks an hour, get ready for the mods to start flowing!

 

Ouch.. It's time to start looking for a single high paying job instead!

 

Well considering im 18 and still in school a job that pays 10 bucks an hour and one that pays 8 isnt horrible

 

oh the value of higher education.

 

right out of high school i got into the construction industry and at 23 i was making more money than most people with degrees. Keep your head up and i respect the fact that you are working a 2nd job for your mods and not having mommy and daddy pay for them.

 

Do what you can with what you have! For now.... <-Not that you need them! (No pun intended)

 

NIce, im in school also and see how the car soaks my money up lol cant wait for the semester to be over and work full time to support my car lol keep up the hard work!

 

word....

 

Good for you man. I commend you for not having your parents sponsor your ride.

 

Good job on working for your mods. Makes you value your car and your life a lot more.

 

Don't pour too much money into your car. I've done that and now I'm regretting it.

Save. I can't stress it enough.

 

^i second that. I am saving my money for my super dream car

 

yup save the money, there are lots of easy/cheap mods that you can do, ive spent less than like 200 bucks so far, got some painted stockies, cleared headlights, tinted tails, roof overlay, custom grille, HID fog and headlight matches, looks fantastic, best thing about it is that i spent only less than a months worth of pay

 

If you're a car person, you will always be hurting for money. I managed when I was out on my own for the first time at $8.00 an hour with the GN. I made $140,000 the year I bought the TL (wish I still did) and still lived paycheck to paycheck. I've finally accepted that I have no willpower and my income has no bearing on how much money is in my savings lol. I remember doing the resto on the GN and "budgeting" myself to $1,000 a week. Being single with a roommate was great.

Congrats on the second job. I could barely hold one job in my late teens/early 20s. It will make you appreciate it more when you get a good job later in life.

 

Buddy, everyone here has a good point. You need to have a good balance between saving your money, but still enjoying your car. Make a list of mods you want for the TL. Save your money, but put half in savings and half towards your car.

Look, you're young-enjoy life and enjoy your car. Just have a good balance between the two. Take it from one who is older and knows.....




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I commend you as well, I'm in the same boat, 17 years old and I pay every penny. Bought the car myself, pay my own gas/insurance/mods/etc.
I work 25ish hours a week at an arcade/go kart track, work 20 hours a month doing a monthly newspaper delivery, and I run my own detailing business to afford everything. And yet some kids still roll into the school parking lot in brand new S5's, BMW's, Benz's, Is-F's, etc...It makes me feel good about myself.

 

I respect your hustle... I worked 2 jobs for about 3 years. Its feels good to purchase something you worked hard for!!!

 

I'm with most of the older guys here, have fun, but save your money. You'll thank yourself later.

/oldguyadvice

NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

looks like i'm sorta in the same boat as you! i'm 18 getting paid about 10 too. looking for another job for my mods during the summer. so far this first job is helping me get my aspec kit next week!

 

Keep up the good work

 

Glad to see you're helping yourself as well as your parents!

I accidentally ended up with two jobs for the summer before college- forklift driver from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., then sales clerk at 2 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in a sporting goods store. That taught me the value of work as well as paid for weekend autocrossing and for a slush/miscellaneous fund for college.

 

Do what makes you happy.

 

Hey Crestwood...definitely got my respect regarding you working 2 jobs to support your "car-mod" habit. Everyone's advice is on point..."work hard-play hard", put some in savings, etc....do all of this for sure, but another thing you gotta remember like StevenBell said is "Balance"...you don't wanna burn out, that you won't be able to get up one weekend and do your mods.

Do your thing, bro!

 

Do you mean work hard-play harder?? Paha. I agree, I'm 19 and a full time student as well as paying for all my mods etc, although I still live at home I pay for everything except rent. Just do a little here and there man, that's what I did. I also saved up atleast a grand just to have as a reserve in case anything mechanical failed, so far I haven't had to tap into that so it just sits dormant.

 

i agree

 

living beyond your means FTL

 

Make sure your whole life is balanced, but it's good to see someone be diligent!

 

kudos to you brother, I respect that.

 

*High 5* for the financial independence! I've graduated from high school in 2003 and it's sad to say I still have friends that don't work, don't go to school, and one friend that doesn't even DRIVE. sad story, i know. and damn ANC297! someone at your school has an IS-F? spooooiled. LOL

 

Thanks guys! Sorry for not responding quicker, these 3-2am nights are not fun but gotta do what ya gotta do. Im not dropping any big money on mods till late summer at least. Right now all I really want is tint and stage 4 exhaust. And judging by a few of you my schedual is not terrible. I work every weekday 3-2am washing dishes and making appitizers. And 7 am to 5pm all weekend doing landscaping, mostly mulching.

 

That's a hell of a schedule crestwood :/

 

18 and driving a TL? Damn, times are changing.

All right people, I commend his "financial independency" but don't break your arm patting him on the back... Living at home? Who pays your cell bill, gas bill, power bill, dtv bill, water bill, whose computer are you on??? If you do then I apologize and congratulations. If you don't, that just means you spend all of your money maintaining, insuring, and gassing up a car way out of your pay grade. Don't get me wrong, I applaud you for somewhat affording a TL but kids your age should be driving a civic and saving for college or chipping in for the parents mortgage. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

 

^ also to add....who bought the car?


but I do commend you on working 2 jobs to support your habit. =)

 

Well considering the fact that im not even outta highschool idk what you expect from me? Unlike most kids that have nice cars like me I pay for my shit, I pay for my mods, insurance, gas, cell bill, food and clothes. Im 18, not 32, of course I still live at home...

 

Your title says "the things I do for this car" = "damn, when I got this car I didn't know it was going to force me to work 2 jobs until 2-3am"... A less expensive car would ease up the labor load, that's all...

 

Keep looking man, when I was 16 and in my junior year in highschool....back in '97 I was making $7 bucks an hour working retail. Then I did UPS for $10 an hour in '98. I also had my own car & paid my own stuff, you're not the only one ever. Just keep your eyes open for something bigger and better. Manual labor or construction will pay more like wrxboy said.

 

Well, I plan to matriculate into medical school '11... so with that said, I will be forever in debt until I become a resident, in which case, i'll be making around $30-40K

 

Ok so I should change it to the things I do to do mods to my car, the car was bought with cash as a graduation present to me. Paying insurance and gas is no big deal, but mods for the car are expensive if you wanna do it right, hence the things I have to do to mod my car.

 

This is a neat little thread. Brings back memories of when I was 18.

I'll say this - regardless of how you spend your money - the important part is that you make your own. You're working hard to pay for stuff - and if that makes you happy then more power to you because if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people who leech or are spoiled.

I sunk thousands into my first car when I was your age and did everything to it - not just the bolt-ons but engine swap, clutch swaps, etc. That was my "car education". I would do it all over again if I had the chance.

Now I am all about investing and there are some days I say "man, if I hadn't have put that money into my car, I'd have been able to have gotten my first rental property that much sooner", but then again if I hadn't have sunk that money into my car, I may not have asked the question "what can I do to be smarter about my money?" because I'd have already saved it - and I may not have thought of getting into investing at all.

So that's where I came back and said "you know if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it all the same" because like everyone else here I am passionate about cars, I love working on cars and tweaking them. I find it fun, constructive, and educational.

But really, right now you're working hard to pay for your things. There's two things that make money in this world - a man working hard, and money working hard. Make your money work for you so that essentially other people are paying for your stuff based on investment returns. You don't want to spend your entire life being the man working hard to pay for your luxuries. At age 18 you might not have many options for other jobs, but remember once you're out of school that you'll be working for someone else and I guarantee they make wayyyy more money on you than what they actually pay you.

This is an expensive habit as IHC noted above so to fuel the hobby we have to all be a bit smarter about our money or else face a lifetime of debt from succumbing to that little thing we all love called "the mod itch"

my

 

this would be a different story if you worked to pay for the car, but can still respect that you pay for insurance and gas. the fact that you got a TL for graduating HS is pretty crazy, but everyone family is different.