The Teen Wallet

About Me

​

My name is Coco Fitch and I am 16 years old. I live in Arizona and I am a sophomore in high school.

I have always wanted to go out of state for college and non-resident tuition is getting more and more expensive.  Having a source of income in university will be essential. I decided that having prior work experience would be a good idea, and I could make myself some extra money to spend while still in high school.

I was at a Fleetwood Mac concert when I decided to apply for a job. The band was taking a long time to come on stage and I had just ran into my friend who works at Dairy Queen. I thought to myself that making ice cream doesn’t sound like the worst way to make money. Squeezed between hundreds of other people waiting for the opening band to finish, I pulled out my phone and searched for jobs near me. The first one that came up happened to be a position working as an ice cream server. I made myself a resume where I added “babysitter” as my prior work experience. I’d only babysat one time, but they had no way of knowing that. I submitted it five minutes later and forgot all about it.

I heard back from the company the morning after the concert. The manager emailed me asking if I could come in for an interview. I was happy at first but I started to get nervous on the way there. Very few of my friends had jobs, so I did not know what to expect. The interview ended up being a tour around the place and maybe two questions about if I could handle angry customers. After that, I got no response for a few days until I emailed him to ask if I got the job, and he replied saying I did.

When I first started my job, my plan was to use the money on whatever I wanted. I was excited to not have to spend my parents’ money and to have my own source of income. When I got my first few paychecks, I was making more money than I had expected. I realized that I could really give myself a head start in life if I saved most of it. When I really need it, it will still be there for me. It was this decision that got me excited about coming up with a financial plan to get through college without debt. 

I decided to start this finance blog when I noticed that personal finance is a subject that is hardly discussed in high school. And yet, good saving and spending habits are key in life. Understanding the basics of personal finance early on can make life so much easier. As a student, I know it can be difficult to find time to learn these things when we are balancing school, activities, and in many cases a job. Through short but helpful posts, I hope to make personal finance quick and easy to understand for busy students!