MONEY SMART KIDS Handling a Group Meal Bill by Janet Bodnar
As a veteran of dozens of soccer matches, swim meets and other assorted kid-related athletic activities, I can attest that the real competition often occurs afterward, when the entire team descends on some hapless restaurant for a post-game meal. Confusion reigns, and the grown-ups fight to not get stuck with more than their kids' share of the bill.
Recently I returned from a post-swim-meet free-for-all at which my daughter, the team coach, was at the center of the whirlwind. Kids tossed money at her as she valiantly struggled to figure out what everyone owed.
To win at this contest, you have several options:
Skip the after-game meal. That's tempting, but not always practical.
Suggest going to a restaurant where everyone orders and pays separately. That's my personal favorite and what I recommended my daughter do next time.
Swallow the cost along with your food, hoping that next time someone else will get stuck with the tip and it will all even out.
Volunteer to divvy up the tab, and collect what everyone owes. That's a pain-in-the neck job, but you get to stick somebody else ... er, make sure no one tries to beat the check.
I'd like to add another request for parents: If you won't be accompanying your child, it's only good manners to send him or her with enough money to cover his or her portion of the check.
Planning for the future
Hi. My name is Nicole, and I'm 15. My friends and I make about $5 an hour by babysitting. I've also dog-sat for a neighbor, but he didn't pay very well -- about a dollar an hour -- so no more of that!
Most of the things I buy I get from my parents, and I pay them back by doing chores. Next year I get my driver's license, and I'd like to get a job at the mall, at a clothing store, I hope. I'd love to be your pen pal.
Nicole, I get e-mails from so many nice readers like yourself that I'm hard-pressed to answer as many as I can, much less be a regular pen pal.
But your note so impressed me that I'm happy to share it. I'm inundated with letters from unhappy kids who don't have a job and don't know how to get one. But you've figured out ways to earn money and have even more plans for the future. Congratulations on your initiative!
GETTING STARTED
