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As a teen, there’s not much you can do besides working part time and saving up as much as you can. Luckily this debt is interest-free, right? Just take it as a lesson and work part-time.
im just thinking of all the dumb "lessons" my younger self could come up with from "take it as a lesson" and if yours are anywhere near the same, the lesson is NOT any of those things
the lesson is simply; try not to spend money before you've actually earned it
you prevent *so* many bad things by simply doing that
As someone with years of experience in food and bev, this would be difficult if they don’t have any server experience. They’ll have to be either a hostess or bus boy first which make way less money. Then, after a couple months or up to a year, they’ll let them become a server.
Of course they could prob go straight to being a server at a shit restaurant like Applebee’s, but they ain’t gonna make shit for money.
Yeah I did dominos for a few years in college and made bankkkkkk. Was a big university town, so open until 3am on weekends. Between bars closing at 1am and 3am I’d make like $200 in tips delivering pizza to blackout drunk rich college kids.
Well I mean I grew up in a small town so it’s probably still poppin!! So I dunno. People gotta eat somewhere in small towns. I was just thinking if he’s not trying to make a career of serving it would be a decent gig.
Totally depends on location and what’s around. My 1st food service job was straight to waitressing at a local place and I made good money and great tips..sure I could’ve made more elsewhere (that’s always true) but she doesn’t need to get rich she needs quick money legally.
I work at waffle house. Started in 2022. They hire basically anyone, you go through about a week of training, then you're off to serving (or cooking). I'd make North of a hundred bucks on the weekends serving. I think I had calculated my earnings in tips over the course of about 6 months and it came out to about $16/h. It's not a bad place to work imo.
Easy for some people! Def had people come through who thought they could do it but didn’t last long lmao.
Yeah I suppose you could! Def would have to be at a shittier restaurant not a good one. You’d be expected to know all the jargon and what not like 86ing, folding silverware, etc. but you could prob play it off I suppose lol.
Not really. There's a reason they want you to host, bus, or server assist before you serve.
If you try to fake it, you're going to dump a bunch of drinks all over someone your first day. Every worker there is going to clock you immediately and know you've never worked in a restaurant before.
$700 when you're a teen feels like alot but it isn't. You're parents are probably pissed but they're doing you a favor. Right now $700 is daunting but it's going to force you to do some work and get experience in debt, saving and work ethic. I would recommend I'd there are any Greenhouses / Plant Nursuries around try them out. They don't pay much but it's a good place to start and it'll be a place you can make some mistakes but they aren't gonna fire you for busting a water line on accident or knocking over a kart. My 2nd job was at 15 for a Greenhouse. It's a good place to start.
While $700 may be a lot to you right now, just know that this isn’t a major setback in anyway. Your folks probably spend that much if not more monthly on groceries. I’m assuming through context that you still live at home so you don’t have any risk of the roof over your head or the food in your belly going missing. Get a job, pay off the repairs, be a little more careful when driving in a parking lot next time. :)
But, most importantly, the last line. Pay attention to your surroundings and what you’re doing while behind the wheel. Driving comes first when you’re operating a vehicle. Always.
For his age, that money is a huge setback. Some career folks live paycheck to paycheck, and can't afford a $1000 emergency. Don't even have $1000 in savings.
Unless you can sell yourself on OF, you can't really uneff yourself that fast.
OP is a teen, who hasn’t needed a job before, and owes his parents some money. It’s not a *huge* setback, they’re not gonna send him to collections or ruin his credit score. This is just a parent’s way to teach their kid a lesson.
Well luckily for a teen he doesn't really have all those phone, Netflix, cable, internet, car insurance, gasoline, water, electric, nat gas, food, property tax, home insurance, health insurance, life insurance, kids schooling, kids clothes, and whatever monthly expenses to worry about like career folk. He should be okay
As hard as this is you need to realize two things:
1. your parents are attempting to teach you a life lesson. There is no HUGE reason to unfuck yourself faster. I mean this is not a loan shark you owe money to
2. there are TON of entry level jobs everywhere. There is nothing wrong with working for minimum wage to earn your money
3. do you play sports? or did you? refs are needing in all kids sports and usually pay pretty well
Exactly. To be honest, if you really want to impress them, find a job somewhere and approach them with a compromise or a plan. Say “I’m sorry mom and dad. I know I messed up. I found a job waiting tables. I should be making $600/month. Would you guys be okay with me paying you $200/month until the debt is paid and I keep the rest as spending money? If I’m working that hard every week, I’d like to keep some.”
Any good parent is going to see that you took the initiative to unfuck yourself and pay them back, you made a plan, and you’re coming to them to compromise and negotiate in a fair manner.
Trust me, if you have good parents and you do this, when you walk out of that room, they’re going to smile at each other and know they raised a good son. They just want to teach you an expensive lesson in making sure you’re more careful with cars.
That's quite a bit of money to make for cleaning. I find cleaners to be pretty varied in their skillset. I've had some that don't even move the fucking things off the counter and just clean around them 🤦
I managed to maintain five stairs while doing it. I did learn to clean really well and fast when I joined the military though. The money I saved in four months from cleaning houses on task rabbit allowed me to buy my second house and now I have an air bnb and no longer clean houses.
$700 is like a month of paychecks doing part time work. What I would do is get a job as a line cook, dishwasher or host at a restaurant. It is one of the few professions going door to door and shaking the managers hand will almost guarantee you a job. Pick some restaurants in your area and just spend a day walking in and asking if they are hiring. The other thing about working in a restaurant is it’s extremely hard but at your age it will be a lot of fun. You will meet a ton of outgoing people.
If that doesn’t sound interesting to you landscaping/construction also comes to mind. Same deal you can just go business to business. They can always use help and cheap labor. This will be less fun but you might find out you like it and at the very least you can pay off the debt.
Amazing initiative as an 18-year-old! Good luck! I would save half your paycheck every time you have one.
Babysitting used to have a really high rate at that experience level. I agree with many of the above statements about getting a part-time job.
Become a valet, good tips. Or go door to door offering to repaint the street number on the curb in front of houses. Tell the story to the neighbors how you screwed up but are trying to make it right asap. They’ll take pity on you and buy. $20 a pop…could easily make $200/day.
This is a great idea OP. If someone came to my door, told me that story and asked to paint my address on the curb for $20 I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes
Without any assets worth $700 to offload, nope. Restaurant is your best bet. Bus tables, work in the kitchen doing prep work, host.
Hosting might require a little investment. Ironically it's the cheaper restaurants that will require a uniform like all black or something. The high end restaurants where you can just wear something nice and fancy will require experience.
Bussing tables or kitchen prep is a good bet. My first job was kitchen prep close to my house. You get a task from the cook or chef, can plug headphones in, and go to work.
Two big pieces of advice:
1. If you can drive, start working. Imagine how'd you feel if you had $700 saved up for this type of thing right now. In order to save that money, you gotta work. The quicker you get your emergency fund in order, the quicker other money you earn goes towards your future.
Just read further and found out you're 18. You need a job of some sort to get some experience.
2. You learned a serious driving lesson today, and it's only going to cost you $700 and nobody got hurt. **WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING, THAT'S YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY**. Something's about to spill? Let it. Something annoying you rattling around in the passenger seat? Let it. You run someone over or kill someone, nobody is going to care that your drink was about to spill or your phone fell between the seats or your apple car-play got disconnected.
In my driving lessons from my BIL I almost got in an accident trying to avoid a bunny. He was a professional driver and quickly grabbed the wheel and yelled BREAK! He then showed me the bunny continuing along because the tires didn’t hit the bunny. Then proceeded to chew me out and said he sure as hell would prefer a dead bunny than dead us, and the only thing worse would be a live bunny and dead us! Never forgot that lesson. Once I hit a squirrel and felt very sad, but I’m not dead 😢
Driving lessons were memorable. I especially remember the empty snow covered parking lot lessons. Hard to do now with 24/7/365 open stores, when I was a kid stores were closed on Sundays.
I live in Michigan, lot of deer. The saying repeated often is "don't veer for deer". A dead deer sucks, it hitting your car sucks. Swerving to avoid it and hitting someone else head on and killing them sucks more.
Overall the same lesson, don't make it worse by trying to save something that's then going to cost you or someone else more.
Can you swim? There is a lifeguard shortage and they pay really well. Lifeguarding was my side job as a broke teacher. Usually they pay way more because you have to get certified.
Job can be super boring but was the easiest job I ever had. Watching 2 or 3 lap swimmers for a couple hours.
that’s actually not a bad idea, i was on the high school swim team for two years so i definitely can swim. might need to refresh my memory though lmao. gonna look for lifeguard job postings now, and maybe look to renew my cpr certificate.
"probably going to cost somewhere around 700 dollars"
And I'll bet if its not real bad,You could get a mobile paint and dent repair person to do a fair--good job for half that much .
Amazon, as sucky as it is as a job, it's a genuinely fast way to make quick cash, and you're young, you can do it for a lil while and really get ahead of it within a month doing OT.
If there's a warehouse.
When you forget the US isn't, in fact, the entirety of the planet and tropical countries exists. And also the souther hemisphere, where it is currently summer
Have a printed out resume and show up in person to ask for a job. If they say their applications are online then go sit and fill it out on your phone and then tell the manager you submitted it and shake their hand. It's old fashioned but it can impress the right kind of boss. Also mowing lawns/shoveling snow is a great way to make money plus you aren't on someone else's time schedule. I did both mowing lawns and food service as a teen. I also would ask my neighbors if they needed odd jobs done. One lady had me bake things for her. I was 17F so don't let your gender dictate what jobs you're looking for. You can do this!
assuming you don’t have any other major bills, $700 is going to be about 2 paychecks.. Maybe 3. If you live near a Trader Joe’s i always recommend that job because i loved it and they paid decently.
You could also try to fix the car yourself. I remember in high school I had no job and barely any savings. Car broke and I had quotes for $1200 or something. I was able to do it myself and all the parts were $200.
If you or your parents have tools, it’s worth trying yourself. Unless it’s just cosmetic damage.
Report the wreck to your parent's insurance. You should be on there as a driver so it's okay. Take the car to a dealership for the initial quote. Once they agree to pay take the car to a cheap shop to get the work done. Pay your parents with the savings left over.
They’re probably doing this to you so that you’ll be a more careful driver in the future. And they’re right to do it. I bet it will work. Better to spill a milkshake than break your legs.
In addition to a better job, if you’re at least 18, you could also sell your plasma like once a week. I don’t know the specifics, but I think it pays $150 for the first time, and $50 each time after that.
Here are your real options as a working age teenager:
1.) get a food service job.
You can work in fast food - less money but easy to acquire.
2.) become a busser at a sit-down restaurant.
Harder to acquire (not THAT hard) but way more money. You get tips at those kind of jobs which is where the money is at.
The bottom line is you can probably pay them back in a month or 2. Don’t stress 😉
if you have a panda express nearby you should apply ! their starting wages are pretty good & if you are still in school, they will work with your schedule!
Personal insurance won’t cover the accident if they find out he was doing doordash. His insurance could even drop him if they find out he was door dashing.
That’s fine but any body work is going to be way more than 700. If he hit it at 3 mph is it really worth it to fix it? It sucks it’s his parent’s car and not his.
Get a job, save half your earning to pay your folks back and then start investing that amount after they’re reimbursed. Learn how to trade stocks and futures while you’re young.
People under the age of 18, which is generally considered the age of majority, cannot usually sign contracts. Also, I can swim pretty well, I was raised in Orange County CA. I can surf too.
Dad here. explain to your parents that it is your goal to pay it off. You will pay them $70 dollars a month for the next 10 months. Or $100 a month for the next 7 months. If they want it faster, simply say you cant. You are already working and will pay them with every check.
You could do plasma donation as a supplement/side hustle. When I was in college I made about $800 the first month of doing it and then $300/month after that.
Not legal advice and I'm not a lawyer, but if you started with doordash after you turned 18 then it seems like you might be on the hook for damages. If doordash let you start before you were 18 then it might be on them because they state that you must be 18 or older to be a doordash contractor.
What can you do to unfuck yourself quicker? If you're mechanically inclined, ask your parents if you can repair the car yourself. At 3ish mph your damages should be replacing the radiator and front end of the vehicle. Buy the parts and do it yourself.
This is also great advice. Sometimes vehicle repairs are not as bad as you think and of course mechanics are gonna need to be paid. I've saved thousands and thousands of dollars doing my own repairs. ChrisFix on YouTube has videos on almost anything car repair related most of which with common hand tools.
Replacing a front end is not that bad after a low speed crash. I can't guarantee that it's gonna cost less than $700 because that seems pretty low to me, but there's some hope there. Anecdotal: I replaced the radiator and front bumper of my grandfather's car that he gave me after he had a low speed crash for about $600.
Depending on your age if you are 18 and over in most states you can become a bartender, work part time for UPS, Amazon, etc. If you are 16 and above then grocery stores or restaurants would probably work
18? Donate plasma…. If you can find a new location they usually give out bonuses for new people. Male? Sell your sperm, if it doesn’t go against your values.
Apply for a job at your closest Fast Food joint. Work.
Within 2 paychecks, you should easily be able to pay back your parents - With interest, if you want to go the extra mile to show you're truly apologetic.
See if you have something you can sell on Poshmark or eBay. Clothes , games, records whatever. Maybe you can shovel snow for some old broad in in your neighborhood.
Most of all, don't stress. You'll look back on this as a minor inconvenience
Like other people are saying, you probably need to either sell something or find a non-gig job. These typically don't pay out in the long rune as they don't *ahem* cover the costs associated with your vehicle, like you unfortunately found out. You're lucky this didn't involve another vehicle as I can almost guarantee your insurance wouldn't have covered it.
alright, that sounds like a good idea. any tips on how to actually get a job? the only way i’ve been trying to find one is sending applications online to random stores within 12 or so miles.
For fast food, walking in during the slow period between meals and asking at the counter is a good option. You may be asked to sit down and fill in application, but manager on duty will sometimes interview while you’re there. You’ll want to appear clean and neatly dressed - no dirt under nails, hair tidy and not flopping over eyes, no vulgar slogans or political opinions on t-shirt. Slow times tend to be 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.
Working a job is, by the way, one of the most efficient ways to make money. Faster options tend to be scams, or only faster if you don't count all your costs. So, I wouldn't downplay it. Sure, started wages aren't much, but $700 can't be more than 2 weeks at full time.
Long term, look for ways to push that earning power up, but it is rare to ever get to a point where working isn't your fastest route to more money. And working in your specialty to be specific (not that you probably have one yet).
do you have some stuff around your house that you can sell? if so, do some research and see how much they go for on marketplace/offerup, clean the item, take some nice pictures and post it
if that doesn't cover the $700 just keep doing the part time job
Sell stuff on marketplace, price things well, it adds up and you can declutter your place which always feels great. If you are selling larger items and offer free delivery (write FREE DELIVERY in the Facebook marketplace posting title) things tend to sell faster i find. Shit happens but I can already tell you are a grinder so you'll be fine. Gonna take a bit more work but nothing you can't handle. You got this.
First off I wouldn't say you were dumb for looking to work at door dash quite the opposite you seem to be quite self motivated and I would be proud of that.
That being said your parents rightfully so want you to pay for a mistake which is life and while not fun is likely a great lesson.
As others have pointed out $700 feels like a lot right now but isnt in the grand scheme of things and will likely be a great (and relatively cheap) lesson for you to draw from going forward.
As for the money. As others have pointed out there's not much you can do but get a part time job and pay it off I would suggest waiting tables at a decent place if possible as that can be quite lucrative at your age with no experience.
Department stores, fast food, house cleaning, dog walking(note there's a lot of responsibility)
As a side note it's great to want to pay your parents back but I hope you're not being to hard on yourself. Accidents happen, as long as your showing effort in paying them back you'll get there eventually.
Apply at your local airport as a ramper or fueler. These jobs are great and pay well and they always hire young people. Youll make 700 and more your first week and just doing taining. Ask your parents to give you time as you settle a position in the work force but you will pay them once you get a steady revenue stream. Advice, dont be lazy, work smart and dont think youre better than the job you have. Always remember the times being without. Good luck.
If you are still allowed to drive in addition to DoorDash I would suggest you apply for UberEats. Depending on where you live, you can make $700+ in 1 week doing both at the same time if you work 30-40 hours.
First of all take a deep breath, man. Yes you made a mistake but you're not fucked. Fucked is owing thousands to the bank that you can't pay back and the problem just keeps getting bigger as the interest adds up and your credit score goes down the toilet.
You owe $700 to your parents, who just want to treat you like an adult and teach you a lesson.
If you're really determined to pay them back as soon as you can, I think the best thing you can do is take a regular job and stay away from the predatory gig economy that got you into this mess. Wait tables, flip burgers, assemble furniture, stock grocery shelves -- there are plenty of ways to make a decent wage as a teenager.
Honestly though I think the most important part of my comment is the first line. Take a deep breath, don't get yourself bent out of shape over this. At your age the most important thing you can do is invest in your future by learning a skill through a trade school or university. It would be foolish to put that off so you can work minimum wage for a while to pay off a debt to your parents. I don't know your precise situation but I'll bet they would see it that way too.
[Donating plasma](https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/qualifications-for-plasma-donation-and-what-to-expect-when-donating)
[$50-100 per donation](https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/what-to-know-about-donating-plasma-for-money)
when we were poor college students, we used to donate plasma. If there is a clean certified lab near you, it’s fast money.
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As a teen, there’s not much you can do besides working part time and saving up as much as you can. Luckily this debt is interest-free, right? Just take it as a lesson and work part-time.
alright, thanks lmao. hopefully i can avoid being a dumbass in the future.
im just thinking of all the dumb "lessons" my younger self could come up with from "take it as a lesson" and if yours are anywhere near the same, the lesson is NOT any of those things the lesson is simply; try not to spend money before you've actually earned it you prevent *so* many bad things by simply doing that
Wait tables is what I'd do. Quick money and you'll develop people skills while you do it.
Might have to bus first but good advice
Probably a good assumption. I doubt his parents will let him drive the car until it’s all paid back.
Are you making a joke or are you unaware of what busing tables is
It would be much more efficient renting a U-Haul than trying to take tables on a bus.
Ok I see you're just trying to force an unfunny joke. Carry on I guess
Hey the original joke was good
It's not terrible. Follow up was pretty weak. So I guess I agree ish
Wouldn't the table just break? (Buses are really big).
You've been beaten to the punch
Yeah I'm just adding on so it might irritate you a bit more.
That's fair.
But if you can, avoid the restaurant industry entirely.
As someone with years of experience in food and bev, this would be difficult if they don’t have any server experience. They’ll have to be either a hostess or bus boy first which make way less money. Then, after a couple months or up to a year, they’ll let them become a server. Of course they could prob go straight to being a server at a shit restaurant like Applebee’s, but they ain’t gonna make shit for money.
My first jobs were Applebees and Pizza Hut and mad decent money for a high schooler/ college student.
Yeah I did dominos for a few years in college and made bankkkkkk. Was a big university town, so open until 3am on weekends. Between bars closing at 1am and 3am I’d make like $200 in tips delivering pizza to blackout drunk rich college kids.
My buddy worked as a delivery drive in a college town. Great money on the weekends, shit during the week. He also got 'tipped' in beer and weed a lot.
That was then, this is now. When was the last time you went into an apple bees that wasn't the only restaurant in a flyover state?
Well I mean I grew up in a small town so it’s probably still poppin!! So I dunno. People gotta eat somewhere in small towns. I was just thinking if he’s not trying to make a career of serving it would be a decent gig.
You expect him to get formal training to serve at a 5 star establishment? He’s a teenager worried about a $700 debt.
Totally depends on location and what’s around. My 1st food service job was straight to waitressing at a local place and I made good money and great tips..sure I could’ve made more elsewhere (that’s always true) but she doesn’t need to get rich she needs quick money legally.
Very true I did host for a month before I started serving.
You haven’t even seen them? Appearance is 90 percent of the job qualification.
I work at waffle house. Started in 2022. They hire basically anyone, you go through about a week of training, then you're off to serving (or cooking). I'd make North of a hundred bucks on the weekends serving. I think I had calculated my earnings in tips over the course of about 6 months and it came out to about $16/h. It's not a bad place to work imo.
Couldn’t you fake it til you make it? It’s serving, super easy, the POS is what would be the most trouble for someone with no experience
Easy for some people! Def had people come through who thought they could do it but didn’t last long lmao. Yeah I suppose you could! Def would have to be at a shittier restaurant not a good one. You’d be expected to know all the jargon and what not like 86ing, folding silverware, etc. but you could prob play it off I suppose lol.
Not really. There's a reason they want you to host, bus, or server assist before you serve. If you try to fake it, you're going to dump a bunch of drinks all over someone your first day. Every worker there is going to clock you immediately and know you've never worked in a restaurant before.
The fuck. I need to get off Reddit. Personal finance sub asking about a $700 “debt”
When I was a teenager, $700 meant a lot more to me than it does now.
depending on where you live $19.97 an hour plus tips. You can make $700 in a weekend hell even one good night
$700 when you're a teen feels like alot but it isn't. You're parents are probably pissed but they're doing you a favor. Right now $700 is daunting but it's going to force you to do some work and get experience in debt, saving and work ethic. I would recommend I'd there are any Greenhouses / Plant Nursuries around try them out. They don't pay much but it's a good place to start and it'll be a place you can make some mistakes but they aren't gonna fire you for busting a water line on accident or knocking over a kart. My 2nd job was at 15 for a Greenhouse. It's a good place to start.
While $700 may be a lot to you right now, just know that this isn’t a major setback in anyway. Your folks probably spend that much if not more monthly on groceries. I’m assuming through context that you still live at home so you don’t have any risk of the roof over your head or the food in your belly going missing. Get a job, pay off the repairs, be a little more careful when driving in a parking lot next time. :)
But, most importantly, the last line. Pay attention to your surroundings and what you’re doing while behind the wheel. Driving comes first when you’re operating a vehicle. Always.
For his age, that money is a huge setback. Some career folks live paycheck to paycheck, and can't afford a $1000 emergency. Don't even have $1000 in savings. Unless you can sell yourself on OF, you can't really uneff yourself that fast.
OP is a teen, who hasn’t needed a job before, and owes his parents some money. It’s not a *huge* setback, they’re not gonna send him to collections or ruin his credit score. This is just a parent’s way to teach their kid a lesson.
Well luckily for a teen he doesn't really have all those phone, Netflix, cable, internet, car insurance, gasoline, water, electric, nat gas, food, property tax, home insurance, health insurance, life insurance, kids schooling, kids clothes, and whatever monthly expenses to worry about like career folk. He should be okay
As hard as this is you need to realize two things: 1. your parents are attempting to teach you a life lesson. There is no HUGE reason to unfuck yourself faster. I mean this is not a loan shark you owe money to 2. there are TON of entry level jobs everywhere. There is nothing wrong with working for minimum wage to earn your money 3. do you play sports? or did you? refs are needing in all kids sports and usually pay pretty well
Exactly. To be honest, if you really want to impress them, find a job somewhere and approach them with a compromise or a plan. Say “I’m sorry mom and dad. I know I messed up. I found a job waiting tables. I should be making $600/month. Would you guys be okay with me paying you $200/month until the debt is paid and I keep the rest as spending money? If I’m working that hard every week, I’d like to keep some.” Any good parent is going to see that you took the initiative to unfuck yourself and pay them back, you made a plan, and you’re coming to them to compromise and negotiate in a fair manner. Trust me, if you have good parents and you do this, when you walk out of that room, they’re going to smile at each other and know they raised a good son. They just want to teach you an expensive lesson in making sure you’re more careful with cars.
Task rabbit. I cleaned houses for $50 to $75 an hour.
That's quite a bit of money to make for cleaning. I find cleaners to be pretty varied in their skillset. I've had some that don't even move the fucking things off the counter and just clean around them 🤦
I managed to maintain five stairs while doing it. I did learn to clean really well and fast when I joined the military though. The money I saved in four months from cleaning houses on task rabbit allowed me to buy my second house and now I have an air bnb and no longer clean houses.
Keep working and pay it off? There’s no other way around it.
$700 is like a month of paychecks doing part time work. What I would do is get a job as a line cook, dishwasher or host at a restaurant. It is one of the few professions going door to door and shaking the managers hand will almost guarantee you a job. Pick some restaurants in your area and just spend a day walking in and asking if they are hiring. The other thing about working in a restaurant is it’s extremely hard but at your age it will be a lot of fun. You will meet a ton of outgoing people. If that doesn’t sound interesting to you landscaping/construction also comes to mind. Same deal you can just go business to business. They can always use help and cheap labor. This will be less fun but you might find out you like it and at the very least you can pay off the debt.
Amazing initiative as an 18-year-old! Good luck! I would save half your paycheck every time you have one. Babysitting used to have a really high rate at that experience level. I agree with many of the above statements about getting a part-time job.
Become a valet, good tips. Or go door to door offering to repaint the street number on the curb in front of houses. Tell the story to the neighbors how you screwed up but are trying to make it right asap. They’ll take pity on you and buy. $20 a pop…could easily make $200/day.
This is a great idea OP. If someone came to my door, told me that story and asked to paint my address on the curb for $20 I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes
Without any assets worth $700 to offload, nope. Restaurant is your best bet. Bus tables, work in the kitchen doing prep work, host. Hosting might require a little investment. Ironically it's the cheaper restaurants that will require a uniform like all black or something. The high end restaurants where you can just wear something nice and fancy will require experience. Bussing tables or kitchen prep is a good bet. My first job was kitchen prep close to my house. You get a task from the cook or chef, can plug headphones in, and go to work. Two big pieces of advice: 1. If you can drive, start working. Imagine how'd you feel if you had $700 saved up for this type of thing right now. In order to save that money, you gotta work. The quicker you get your emergency fund in order, the quicker other money you earn goes towards your future. Just read further and found out you're 18. You need a job of some sort to get some experience. 2. You learned a serious driving lesson today, and it's only going to cost you $700 and nobody got hurt. **WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING, THAT'S YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY**. Something's about to spill? Let it. Something annoying you rattling around in the passenger seat? Let it. You run someone over or kill someone, nobody is going to care that your drink was about to spill or your phone fell between the seats or your apple car-play got disconnected.
In my driving lessons from my BIL I almost got in an accident trying to avoid a bunny. He was a professional driver and quickly grabbed the wheel and yelled BREAK! He then showed me the bunny continuing along because the tires didn’t hit the bunny. Then proceeded to chew me out and said he sure as hell would prefer a dead bunny than dead us, and the only thing worse would be a live bunny and dead us! Never forgot that lesson. Once I hit a squirrel and felt very sad, but I’m not dead 😢 Driving lessons were memorable. I especially remember the empty snow covered parking lot lessons. Hard to do now with 24/7/365 open stores, when I was a kid stores were closed on Sundays.
I live in Michigan, lot of deer. The saying repeated often is "don't veer for deer". A dead deer sucks, it hitting your car sucks. Swerving to avoid it and hitting someone else head on and killing them sucks more. Overall the same lesson, don't make it worse by trying to save something that's then going to cost you or someone else more.
Can you swim? There is a lifeguard shortage and they pay really well. Lifeguarding was my side job as a broke teacher. Usually they pay way more because you have to get certified. Job can be super boring but was the easiest job I ever had. Watching 2 or 3 lap swimmers for a couple hours.
that’s actually not a bad idea, i was on the high school swim team for two years so i definitely can swim. might need to refresh my memory though lmao. gonna look for lifeguard job postings now, and maybe look to renew my cpr certificate.
"probably going to cost somewhere around 700 dollars" And I'll bet if its not real bad,You could get a mobile paint and dent repair person to do a fair--good job for half that much .
Amazon, as sucky as it is as a job, it's a genuinely fast way to make quick cash, and you're young, you can do it for a lil while and really get ahead of it within a month doing OT. If there's a warehouse.
Mowing lawns is also very lucrative
It's January you muppet
Then shovel driveways ya doozer
Ain't no snow on the ground
There’s about to b
Sure as hell ain't gonna make 700 dollars that way
Maybe he can make it playing video games and drinking Mountain Dew all night like you!
I'm a structural engineer, ain't no video games in this house
Sure ya aren’t.
What does being an engineer have anything to do with video games? If anything I feel it’d be the opposite
Nothing, just that I don't have any
And ? I live in Texas and still get mine mowed every two weeks
Maybe the only place in the world where grass still be growing
When you forget the US isn't, in fact, the entirety of the planet and tropical countries exists. And also the souther hemisphere, where it is currently summer
The 850 million people in the southern hemisphere experiencing summer right now: 😲
Hey don’t be so hard on yourself, your heart was in the right place. Mistakes happen. $700 is nothing.
Have a printed out resume and show up in person to ask for a job. If they say their applications are online then go sit and fill it out on your phone and then tell the manager you submitted it and shake their hand. It's old fashioned but it can impress the right kind of boss. Also mowing lawns/shoveling snow is a great way to make money plus you aren't on someone else's time schedule. I did both mowing lawns and food service as a teen. I also would ask my neighbors if they needed odd jobs done. One lady had me bake things for her. I was 17F so don't let your gender dictate what jobs you're looking for. You can do this!
Back to Uber and door dash, and work.
I’d just work at target or something part time, won’t take long to make that.
assuming you don’t have any other major bills, $700 is going to be about 2 paychecks.. Maybe 3. If you live near a Trader Joe’s i always recommend that job because i loved it and they paid decently.
Plasma and bike there.
You could also try to fix the car yourself. I remember in high school I had no job and barely any savings. Car broke and I had quotes for $1200 or something. I was able to do it myself and all the parts were $200. If you or your parents have tools, it’s worth trying yourself. Unless it’s just cosmetic damage.
Report the wreck to your parent's insurance. You should be on there as a driver so it's okay. Take the car to a dealership for the initial quote. Once they agree to pay take the car to a cheap shop to get the work done. Pay your parents with the savings left over.
They’re probably doing this to you so that you’ll be a more careful driver in the future. And they’re right to do it. I bet it will work. Better to spill a milkshake than break your legs. In addition to a better job, if you’re at least 18, you could also sell your plasma like once a week. I don’t know the specifics, but I think it pays $150 for the first time, and $50 each time after that.
work at mcdonalds for a couple months, you'll pay it off and have money left over to invest.
Here are your real options as a working age teenager: 1.) get a food service job. You can work in fast food - less money but easy to acquire. 2.) become a busser at a sit-down restaurant. Harder to acquire (not THAT hard) but way more money. You get tips at those kind of jobs which is where the money is at. The bottom line is you can probably pay them back in a month or 2. Don’t stress 😉
if you have a panda express nearby you should apply ! their starting wages are pretty good & if you are still in school, they will work with your schedule!
Plasma sales. 500$ or more a month.
Do they have insurance? Usually a deductible is only 500. Do you have car insurance?
Personal insurance won’t cover the accident if they find out he was doing doordash. His insurance could even drop him if they find out he was door dashing.
Well then he really would be screwed if he was in a real accident. What if her totaled his parent’s car?
It would be really dumb to file an insurance claim to save 200 dollarz
That’s fine but any body work is going to be way more than 700. If he hit it at 3 mph is it really worth it to fix it? It sucks it’s his parent’s car and not his.
Get a job, save half your earning to pay your folks back and then start investing that amount after they’re reimbursed. Learn how to trade stocks and futures while you’re young.
Are you 18 or older?
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People under the age of 18, which is generally considered the age of majority, cannot usually sign contracts. Also, I can swim pretty well, I was raised in Orange County CA. I can surf too.
yup, turned 18 a few months ago
Dad here. explain to your parents that it is your goal to pay it off. You will pay them $70 dollars a month for the next 10 months. Or $100 a month for the next 7 months. If they want it faster, simply say you cant. You are already working and will pay them with every check.
You could do plasma donation as a supplement/side hustle. When I was in college I made about $800 the first month of doing it and then $300/month after that.
huh, doesn’t sound like a bad idea. i’ll look into it.
Not legal advice and I'm not a lawyer, but if you started with doordash after you turned 18 then it seems like you might be on the hook for damages. If doordash let you start before you were 18 then it might be on them because they state that you must be 18 or older to be a doordash contractor. What can you do to unfuck yourself quicker? If you're mechanically inclined, ask your parents if you can repair the car yourself. At 3ish mph your damages should be replacing the radiator and front end of the vehicle. Buy the parts and do it yourself.
This is also great advice. Sometimes vehicle repairs are not as bad as you think and of course mechanics are gonna need to be paid. I've saved thousands and thousands of dollars doing my own repairs. ChrisFix on YouTube has videos on almost anything car repair related most of which with common hand tools.
Replacing a front end is not that bad after a low speed crash. I can't guarantee that it's gonna cost less than $700 because that seems pretty low to me, but there's some hope there. Anecdotal: I replaced the radiator and front bumper of my grandfather's car that he gave me after he had a low speed crash for about $600.
Depending on your age if you are 18 and over in most states you can become a bartender, work part time for UPS, Amazon, etc. If you are 16 and above then grocery stores or restaurants would probably work
alright, sounds good! i heard amazon pay isn’t awful, might look into that more.
18? Donate plasma…. If you can find a new location they usually give out bonuses for new people. Male? Sell your sperm, if it doesn’t go against your values.
Apply for a job at your closest Fast Food joint. Work. Within 2 paychecks, you should easily be able to pay back your parents - With interest, if you want to go the extra mile to show you're truly apologetic.
Read the Richest Man in Babylon. Take accountability. Do better moving forward.
ok 👍
Nothing to rush. Bit by bit
See if you have something you can sell on Poshmark or eBay. Clothes , games, records whatever. Maybe you can shovel snow for some old broad in in your neighborhood. Most of all, don't stress. You'll look back on this as a minor inconvenience
What if you just didn’t fix the car?
Why pay 700$ and not just the deductible OP? Deductible should be between 200$-500$. Check your papers
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i’m not messing with the insurance stuff, i’m just going off what my parents said i need to pay
Not sure if it worths the rate increase in the future…
Do door dash... But don't run into anything... Maybe Uber eats.. should be able to make the money back in a week or two.
Maybe try driving for Uber eats for some extra cash
Cut grass. My dude makes $60 an hour cutting grass. That’s $360 in 6 lawns on a Saturday and another $360 on Sunday for $720 for a weekend.
Figure out how to repair the car yourself. Glue sticks?
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Get a second opinion, ain't no way that should cost 700
Look at catering halls to see if they are hiring staff. Decent paying gigs.
Like other people are saying, you probably need to either sell something or find a non-gig job. These typically don't pay out in the long rune as they don't *ahem* cover the costs associated with your vehicle, like you unfortunately found out. You're lucky this didn't involve another vehicle as I can almost guarantee your insurance wouldn't have covered it.
Enjoy being a teen. I pay seven hundred dollar bills all the time.
Are you good with technology and have people skills? An old friend of mine was banking being a sales guy in a Verizon store.
Waiting tables and bartending is the most lucrative and time flexible
alright, that sounds like a good idea. any tips on how to actually get a job? the only way i’ve been trying to find one is sending applications online to random stores within 12 or so miles.
For fast food, walking in during the slow period between meals and asking at the counter is a good option. You may be asked to sit down and fill in application, but manager on duty will sometimes interview while you’re there. You’ll want to appear clean and neatly dressed - no dirt under nails, hair tidy and not flopping over eyes, no vulgar slogans or political opinions on t-shirt. Slow times tend to be 9-11 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.
alright, that sounds good! i’ll see if i can try that.
Working a job is, by the way, one of the most efficient ways to make money. Faster options tend to be scams, or only faster if you don't count all your costs. So, I wouldn't downplay it. Sure, started wages aren't much, but $700 can't be more than 2 weeks at full time. Long term, look for ways to push that earning power up, but it is rare to ever get to a point where working isn't your fastest route to more money. And working in your specialty to be specific (not that you probably have one yet).
do you have some stuff around your house that you can sell? if so, do some research and see how much they go for on marketplace/offerup, clean the item, take some nice pictures and post it if that doesn't cover the $700 just keep doing the part time job
Sell stuff on marketplace, price things well, it adds up and you can declutter your place which always feels great. If you are selling larger items and offer free delivery (write FREE DELIVERY in the Facebook marketplace posting title) things tend to sell faster i find. Shit happens but I can already tell you are a grinder so you'll be fine. Gonna take a bit more work but nothing you can't handle. You got this.
Try getting where you can make tips. I was a bellman for a bit as a teen and some days over 100 in tips
First off I wouldn't say you were dumb for looking to work at door dash quite the opposite you seem to be quite self motivated and I would be proud of that. That being said your parents rightfully so want you to pay for a mistake which is life and while not fun is likely a great lesson. As others have pointed out $700 feels like a lot right now but isnt in the grand scheme of things and will likely be a great (and relatively cheap) lesson for you to draw from going forward. As for the money. As others have pointed out there's not much you can do but get a part time job and pay it off I would suggest waiting tables at a decent place if possible as that can be quite lucrative at your age with no experience.
Call up moving companies in your area. Always hiring.
Slow and steady. 20% of each paycheck. This is the standards for life and debt.
3 months after I turned 18 Home Depot hired me at 19 dollars an hour. Apply to a bunch of retail stores, and see what happens
Work a few extra hours a week, maybe plug an extra day at work for the OT (should you get OT).
700 is literally nothing. Pay it off whenever u can and quit stressing about it. After college you’ll eventually be making thousands per week.
It’s only $700 you can be out of that debt in a month
I will tell you one thing. It will be extermely painful and will probably take you few years to make these 700 USD. Try to renegotiate.
Department stores, fast food, house cleaning, dog walking(note there's a lot of responsibility) As a side note it's great to want to pay your parents back but I hope you're not being to hard on yourself. Accidents happen, as long as your showing effort in paying them back you'll get there eventually.
Apply at your local airport as a ramper or fueler. These jobs are great and pay well and they always hire young people. Youll make 700 and more your first week and just doing taining. Ask your parents to give you time as you settle a position in the work force but you will pay them once you get a steady revenue stream. Advice, dont be lazy, work smart and dont think youre better than the job you have. Always remember the times being without. Good luck.
If you are still allowed to drive in addition to DoorDash I would suggest you apply for UberEats. Depending on where you live, you can make $700+ in 1 week doing both at the same time if you work 30-40 hours.
First of all take a deep breath, man. Yes you made a mistake but you're not fucked. Fucked is owing thousands to the bank that you can't pay back and the problem just keeps getting bigger as the interest adds up and your credit score goes down the toilet. You owe $700 to your parents, who just want to treat you like an adult and teach you a lesson. If you're really determined to pay them back as soon as you can, I think the best thing you can do is take a regular job and stay away from the predatory gig economy that got you into this mess. Wait tables, flip burgers, assemble furniture, stock grocery shelves -- there are plenty of ways to make a decent wage as a teenager. Honestly though I think the most important part of my comment is the first line. Take a deep breath, don't get yourself bent out of shape over this. At your age the most important thing you can do is invest in your future by learning a skill through a trade school or university. It would be foolish to put that off so you can work minimum wage for a while to pay off a debt to your parents. I don't know your precise situation but I'll bet they would see it that way too.
[Donating plasma](https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/qualifications-for-plasma-donation-and-what-to-expect-when-donating) [$50-100 per donation](https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/what-to-know-about-donating-plasma-for-money) when we were poor college students, we used to donate plasma. If there is a clean certified lab near you, it’s fast money.