Rusty Car by dandeluca on Flickr.
There are lot of theories on what’s the best way for a new driver to get a car. Some think the parents should pay for it all while others prefer a 50/50 split. Still others think the best way is for the child to save up all the money himself. I’ll admit I’m not sure which is the best policy. But I explain how my own came to be in my possession.
My state is the home of the 4-H program. If you haven’t heard of this before, I’d encourage you to check out the Wikipedia entry here. Basically, it’s a youth organization that for me, always had an agricultural center. Through this program and participating county fairs, you purchase and raise animals (dairy feeders, steers, pigs, goats, turkeys). At the end of the fair, you sell the animal through an auction style market.
I was able to buy a car through the selling of these 4-H “projects”. There are other projects that deal with other fields of agriculture like soil quality and crop growing along with science and civics. I took dairy feeders (what most people would call cows) and pigs during my 4-H career. At first glance, this might seem like I was just earning all this money by myself. But that’s not the case. You have to remember that:
Caring for livestock is not cheap. You have to buy the animal, feed it, shelter it, and transport it. All of this costs money. My dad covered most of these expenses. In later years, I was responbile for buying the animal. If my dad had not covered these costs, then 4-H would not have been nearly as financially lucrative as it was for me. But it was lucrative in another way…
It taught me that sometimes you have to do stuff you don’t want to.
I was never huge fan of 4-H. There were meetings to go to. I had to feed my animals. I had to walk my animals. Pulling a 400 pound dairy feeder around my yard was not fun. I never really wanted to play the role of farmer. The months of work were rewarded by one week of fair. But it was pretty much the only option I had to make enough money to buy a car someday. So I joined and participated for four years. After those four years, I quit because I didn’t want to do it anymore and I figured I had enough money for a semi-decent automobile.
Looking back now though, I realize my dad was a reward-child-for-hard-work genius. It was made clear in my family that if you didn’t participate in 4-H (or figure out another way of earning money), you would not be receiving a car as a gift. This motivated me during the few years I participated. Now I wish I would have continued with the program until at least the beginning of high school. I could have accumulated much more in savings and possibly even purchased a nicer car.
I sure didn’t realize the benefits of this type of system at the time. But I really think it did a great job of teaching me that “Stuff” requires work and thanks to my dad’s help, my work really paid off. I’d encourage you to try this type of deal with your parents. Maybe they could match your earnings from a part time job up to a certain amount. It might just be the motivation you need.
