Freshman Paige Olson stands behind the front counter of the store, folding used toddler clothes and waiting for a customer to walk through the door. She spots a coat and uses her tagging gun to stick a price on it, then she picks up a toy with no tag and slaps a small yellow sticker on it for $3.99. This is a typical day for Olson who works at the Kinder Closet in West Fargo.
“I like it because it keeps me busy and I always have something to do there,” Olson said.
Olson gets paid minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, and she has learned how to save her money by putting it directly in the bank account so there is no way to waste it.
“I am planning on going to college,” Olson said. “I’m going to pay for it by starting to save up money now and then take out student loans if needed.”
Olson’s parents encourage her to go to college so she can have more opportunities in the future
“It is up to her wherever she wants to go and we would encourage the best college for the degree she wants,” Jill Olson, Paige’s mom, said.
Olson would like to go into criminal justice.
“I do not know for sure yet, but I was thinking about NDSU,” Olson said. “[It would help me] to get a better education.”
It is almost impossible for people to pay for college on their own. To attend an in-state, four-year university with no financial aid puts tuition around $22,261.
“Hopefully, I get a scholarship,” sophomore Hayle Sachow Johnson said. “But if not, I think I have the money saved.”
Putting money away is easier when saving for something in particular. According to the National Consumers League, nine out of 10 students say they are saving their money.
According to the National Consumers League, teens spend an average of about $5422.85 a year, while they only make about $4,023 a year.
Sachow Johnson said her main expense is gas.
According to US News, a person normally spends around $368 a month on gas, which is a majority of a paycheck. For now, Olson’s parents still pay for her gas which allows her to keep saving, something she encourages others to do.
“Then it is not sitting there tormenting you to spend it,” Olson said. I think I have the moey saved.” rships, your yearly tuition would be around $22,