Mastering Teen Financial Literacy: From First Paychecks to College Funding

00:00:12 - Catey Mills
Hello.

00:00:13 - Mike Mills
Hello out there. To all you money loving mother flubbers, are you currently experiencing the joy of having a teenage human living under your roof? Do they remind you every single day how you are the dumbest person that they have ever met? Well, if so, today I might have a little bit of information to help them think that you might not be completely stupid. I mean, it's very unlikely, but it's worth a try, right? So this is the Texas Real Estate and finance podcast, and I'm your host, Mike Mills, a local mortgage banker with Mike Mills Mortgage and Finance. And when I'm not moonlighting as an Internet sensation, I am helping people buy and refinance their homes. So if you're listening to this and you have anyone that my team and I can help, please give us a call. Even if you just want to walk through some scenarios and see how we might help you handle some tough situations. We're here to help any way we can. So just give us a shout and we can walk through some possible solutions. Now, before we dive into today's topic, if you find today's show helpful in any way, please do me a solid and share the love like comment. Subscribe, or if you're feeling really generous today, drop us a review. Every little affirmation that we get is providing us that we're doing some good here, so help us keep this train going. So if you don't mind, tell me what you think. All right, so today we are doing part three of our teen finance journey, where my lovely daughter gets to spend some time with me, talking about money and all things adulting. She is so excited. It's spring break, and there is nothing that she would rather do than sit here with me for quite a while, talking to dad about money and doing it on the Internet for the entire world to see. So please welcome my very enthusiastic 16 year old daughter, Catey Mills, to the podcast. Hello, darling.

00:01:55 - Catey Mills
I'm back again. Woohoo.

00:01:57 - Mike Mills
Back again. So excited and so lucky. So have you been? How's spring break going for you?

00:02:05 - Catey Mills
It's great. I'm just living my best life. I was living my best life, and then I got a text, so I had to be here. So now I'm here.

00:02:12 - Mike Mills
Now you're here. You lucky, lucky gal, you. Hey, who doesn't want to spend spring break for an hour talking to dad, right? About money. That sounds exciting to you, right? Yeah, exciting. The enthusiasm is bleeding through. Okay, so let's do a little recap, because this is part three on, on our previous two episodes that we did and if you haven't seen those yet, I encourage you to go back and check those out. It's been a couple of months since we did our last one. We usually try to do them when she's on break. So I think the last time we did it was around Christmas or right after that. We're at spring break now and then our next one will probably be in the summertime. But basically we went through initially on how to. Well, why don't you tell me, what did we do on the very first one? Do you remember?

00:02:54 - Catey Mills
No, I thought this was the second part.

00:02:56 - Mike Mills
This is the third one, remember on the first one we kind of talked about what we were going to do, right?

00:03:00 - Catey Mills
Oh, yes.

00:03:01 - Mike Mills
So what all did we do in those first two episodes? You remember?

00:03:04 - Catey Mills
Well, I don't really remember the first one, but we set up a bank account. I know we talked about me getting a job, right? We did like my savings account or my checking account, whatever it was called. That's about all I remember. That was a long time ago.

00:03:21 - Mike Mills
You've slept since then and had been to work a lot.

00:03:24 - Catey Mills
Lots of tests that I've had to cram for. So I just kind of forgot after that.

00:03:28 - Mike Mills
Well, and you know what? I will say I'm very proud of you since we'll talk about your job here in a second. But these days, why don't you tell everybody what your schedule is like right now?

00:03:36 - Catey Mills
When school is in, it's kind of busy. So on Mondays I have school and then I have work.

00:03:43 - Mike Mills
Just give us some times. When's your school?

00:03:45 - Catey Mills
Okay, so school is from 715 to 255.

00:03:49 - Mike Mills
And what time you get up in the morning?

00:03:53 - Catey Mills
I get up at 530 or six.

00:03:56 - Mike Mills
So you're up at 530 or 06:00 in the morning?

00:03:58 - Catey Mills
Usually six. Okay, because I like to sleep in. Yeah, I'm up at six and then I come home. I'm home usually around 320, and then I have to be at work by four on Monday. On Mondays.

00:04:11 - Mike Mills
Okay.

00:04:11 - Catey Mills
And then from four to 745 I'm at work. And then I come home, I eat, I sleep.

00:04:16 - Mike Mills
Okay, so we get home about 08:00 on Mondays and we eat dinner. And then you go to bed.

00:04:20 - Catey Mills
Yeah. And then Tuesday, same school schedule, except I get home at 320 and then I have a few hour break and then I leave the house at seven and I'm not home till probably 1030 because I practice.

00:04:32 - Mike Mills
What kind of practice?

00:04:33 - Catey Mills
Volleyball. Practice volleyball. Practice 730 to ten.

00:04:36 - Mike Mills
This is club volleyball. This isn't school volleyball because we're past that season. So this is club volleyball. Okay.

00:04:40 - Catey Mills
And then Wednesdays, same thing, school and work. And then Thursdays, same thing, school and volleyball. And volleyball. And then Fridays, sometimes I pick up shifts, so sometimes Fridays I also have work. Or Fridays I have a day off. And then weekends I either have a tournament or I'm free.

00:04:56 - Mike Mills
Okay. So we got a pretty busy schedule, to say the least. And we're taking mostly AP courses, right?

00:05:03 - Catey Mills
No, I'm taking advanced courses. I only have one AP course. Next year is all the APs.

00:05:07 - Mike Mills
Next year is all the APs. Okay. But we have hard tests that we take on a regular basis. We have to study for those.

00:05:12 - Catey Mills
I cry over them more than I should.

00:05:14 - Mike Mills
Yes, we have a lot of crying episodes that occur because recently she had a chemistry test she was stressed out about and thought she was definitely going to make a 40, and cried about it and dealt with it for a good solid 48 hours. And what did you end up getting on a test? I got a 96. Okay. There we go. All right. So having the concern and being fear about it is a good thing because it makes sure that you get the good grades. Okay. So you have a busy schedule these days, right. And it's pretty hectic. Hello, Christy. How are you? Ms. Vargas, say hello. So, let's talk a little bit about your job. Okay. So you got a job. We talked about it last time a little bit because you had just kind of gotten a job, but now we're kind of knee deep in it, right? We've been there for how long now?

00:05:57 - Catey Mills
For two months.

00:05:59 - Mike Mills
Two and a half months.

00:06:00 - Catey Mills
Two and a half months?

00:06:00 - Mike Mills
Something like that. Okay.

00:06:02 - Catey Mills
Actually, three, I think.

00:06:04 - Mike Mills
Let's start off with what are you doing at your job? What's your job?

00:06:07 - Catey Mills
I work at Aqua tots. I teach the little babies how to swim. Okay, fun.

00:06:12 - Mike Mills
And how are you liking that?

00:06:13 - Catey Mills
I like it. It's fun. I like the little kids. Sometimes they're annoying, but for the most part.

00:06:19 - Mike Mills
You mean kids are annoying. I don't know. What are you talking about? I don't know what you mean.

00:06:22 - Catey Mills
For the most part, they're sweet, and everybody who works there is really nice.

00:06:26 - Mike Mills
Okay.

00:06:26 - Catey Mills
Not bad.

00:06:27 - Mike Mills
So when you started, you were just training? Correct. How long did your training last?

00:06:32 - Catey Mills
So I did in office training, where I just watched videos and did learning stuff for probably two weeks. And then I was shadowing somebody. So we were in the water, but I was just watching. I wasn't interacting for about a week, and then I started slowly interacting more and more, and that lasted probably about a month. And so I've been on my own, like, teaching my own classes for probably about a month now.

00:06:58 - Mike Mills
Now, this is kind of a unique thing I want you to explain. This isn't about the office necessarily or where you work, but this is more about maybe kind of the state of employment, as you would call it these days. Right.

00:07:08 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:07:09 - Mike Mills
What do you come home and tell us all the time about how many people are working? No, it's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing. But here, let me phrase it for you so that way you can elaborate on it. But one of the things you talk about is, like, they have a hard time finding people to work.

00:07:24 - Catey Mills
Yeah, we're very understaffed. So, hey, anybody watching this pull up come work at Aqua tots, because when.

00:07:33 - Mike Mills
You'Re offering to pick up shifts, they're like, oh, yes, please.

00:07:37 - Catey Mills
I actually got a text today. This morning. I get probably three texts a week asking if I can cover shifts. And I'm like, if I would, I could, but I'm like, I just can't.

00:07:45 - Mike Mills
Right?

00:07:46 - Catey Mills
Because, yeah, we're so understaffed.

00:07:48 - Mike Mills
They're hiring people. There are jobs to be had, but nobody. You even brought it up. Some of your friends, right?

00:07:54 - Catey Mills
Yeah, some of my friends. I was like, hey, come work. Architects.

00:07:56 - Mike Mills
And they're like, no, don't think so. And I was like, okay, well, so when you started training, how much money did you make per hour when you were training?

00:08:05 - Catey Mills
13.

00:08:05 - Mike Mills
$13 an hour? Yes. Okay. And then you just got promoted?

00:08:08 - Catey Mills
I did.

00:08:08 - Mike Mills
High five. Cross top. Boom. All right, so now you're official. You're an actual teacher. So what are you making now?

00:08:15 - Catey Mills
I'm making 14 an hour.

00:08:17 - Mike Mills
14 an hour? Heck, yeah.

00:08:18 - Catey Mills
One dollars raise.

00:08:19 - Mike Mills
Hey. My very first job, when I first started working, I was making $4.25 an hour.

00:08:24 - Catey Mills
Hey, that's improvement.

00:08:26 - Mike Mills
And I was working at Wendy's. Okay. Yes. Schlucking hamburgers and fries. It was an awesome experience, by the way. Don't recommend it to anybody. All right, so now you are full time teacher. You're in the water with the kids, all solo at 16 years old.

00:08:43 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:08:43 - Mike Mills
How do you feel about that?

00:08:44 - Catey Mills
Like, I don't know. I mean, I like it.

00:08:47 - Mike Mills
Do you like it?

00:08:47 - Catey Mills
Yeah, it's fun.

00:08:48 - Mike Mills
You enjoy the job?

00:08:49 - Catey Mills
Yeah, I do. I like the little kids. I think they're fun to be around.

00:08:53 - Mike Mills
So you like the kids? You like the people that you work with? You're one of the youngest ones there, right?

00:08:57 - Catey Mills
I am. I am the youngest, yeah.

00:08:59 - Mike Mills
How old are most of the teachers?

00:09:01 - Catey Mills
Well, I don't know. I think there's maybe three people, three or four people that work there that are still in high school. Most of them are seniors. One of them is a junior. I'm a sophomore, by the way. And then the rest are either in college or have graduated college. So most of them are from like 20 to 25?

00:09:20 - Mike Mills
Yeah. Now, most of the people, all of your friends that you hang out with on a regular basis, how many of them have jobs?

00:09:28 - Catey Mills
None.

00:09:28 - Mike Mills
None? Okay.

00:09:29 - Catey Mills
I think. Yeah, none.

00:09:31 - Mike Mills
So let me ask you, and I don't remember exactly how this went down from your perspective. How did it go down? Where we were like, hey, you should get a job? Was it like, you got to get a job now and make money?

00:09:40 - Catey Mills
Or was it like, well, I kind of wanted a job because I like to spend money a lot. And there was a lot of me asking y'all for money, and there was also a lot of, well, what can you do around the house to earn money? And that just made me want to bang my head against the wall.

00:09:54 - Mike Mills
Okay.

00:09:54 - Catey Mills
So I was just like. I kind of wanted. Thanks, Ms. Allison. I kind of wanted. What was his name? Oh. I kind of wanted a job just so that way I could have my own money and not have to ask for money. And at first, I did your podcast editing thing, and that just. I did not like that.

00:10:11 - Mike Mills
Didn't like that. What did you like about that?

00:10:15 - Catey Mills
I don't know. First of all, I didn't really like having to work for you.

00:10:20 - Mike Mills
Well, taking a shot. Hey, I got my number one dad shirt on, by the way, today. Okay.

00:10:24 - Catey Mills
It's not because of you. It was just I couldn't separate the boss and dad. And I don't like working at home because I just feel like if I wasn't obligated to work, then I wouldn't really. I mean, I still would, but just not as much as I could have.

00:10:39 - Mike Mills
Right.

00:10:39 - Catey Mills
And so having my own job with somebody who I didn't really know, and I had to actually work. Like, I would get fired if I didn't. It makes it easier.

00:10:48 - Mike Mills
So the pressure of working for somebody else and the responsibility of it is what you like better than. Because working for me, if you just decide you'd rather watch 2 hours of grays and not work for me, then you're going to do that. Right? There's repercussions because you got to deal with me being annoying.

00:11:04 - Catey Mills
Right.

00:11:04 - Mike Mills
But ultimately, I'm not going to fire you from the house.

00:11:07 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:11:07 - Mike Mills
I mean, maybe, but not right now, at least. Yeah. So having a job and being accountable to somebody else is the appeal of it, because now that kind of forces you. Not forces you, but it makes you work and not have look for excuses to get out of it. Okay. Because, by the way, I was paying better, right?

00:11:29 - Catey Mills
Yeah, you were.

00:11:29 - Mike Mills
Yes, I was. Okay, good. All right. Just as long as we got that established. Now, I want to be sure because you are one of the few kids that you hang out with that has a job. And it sounds like I'm this evil, slave driving dad that makes you go to work every single day.

00:11:44 - Catey Mills
No, he kind of planted the seed, I guess. But I was the one who wanted to get a job. I was one who looked for the job, who applied and all that stuff.

00:11:52 - Mike Mills
Well, and really we talked about doing it in the summer when school was over so you could do that. But then I think once you got there, they were like, hey, you can work a couple of days a week and you were going to work three days.

00:12:02 - Catey Mills
I was going to work three days a week. I was also going to work every Friday, but you told me not to. And I'm so glad I didn't because I would just be so burnout.

00:12:09 - Mike Mills
Yeah, you're already kind of burnout as it is, right? It's a little much sometimes, but what do I always tell you about being burnout and doing stuff all the time? Do you know? Do you remember? No. Just about like, this is what it is.

00:12:22 - Catey Mills
Oh, yeah. To make me realize that I don't want to do that every single day.

00:12:26 - Mike Mills
Well, yeah, to some extent, but I mean, once you get out of the world that you're in right now, which is going to school and having free time and not having a ton of responsibilities, necessarily. I mean, you have a lot of responsibilities for a teenager your age, but not like, not adult responsibilities. But once you get out into the real world with all us old folks, every day is like, you don't have a choice. You know what I mean? You have to get up, you have to go do stuff, you have to work, you have to do whatever. There is no, like, I'm just going to sit in front of TV and veg out today. I guess for some people there is. But generally speaking, if you want to have a decent amount of progression in your career, in your life, probably not the best route. But part of working and having all these responsibilities is like, I want you to understand that there's always going to be stuff that you're going to have to do. There's never a point where you're just kind of, like, done, or else you're, like, dead. Once you die, then you don't have any more things to do. Okay, you're good. But it never ends. Like, it goes on perpetually, right? I want you to talk about, what do you love about having your own money? Because that was part of the motivation for you doing the job. And now that you've had your own money in your bank account that gets direct deposited every single week, and you're, like, throwing up, sitting in your car, excited about it. So what's that been like?

00:13:40 - Catey Mills
Well, it's nice because obviously I still have to ask you all to do things like, oh, can I go to the movies with my friend or can I go do this? But I don't have to ask for money because before last year or a few months ago, even, I would have to be like, oh, somebody's like, oh, do you want to go to the movies with me? And I'm like, got to check my bank account. I don't know if I could afford a movie ticket right now, but now I never really have to do that. And I can get food every morning, and it's really great because I like to get food before school.

00:14:07 - Mike Mills
Well, I think this is a trait between you and me that is just ingrained in your DNA. Maybe, but how often do we tell you no when you ask us for stuff? Like when you ask us for money for something.

00:14:21 - Catey Mills
Well, you never tell me. I mean, you don't tell me no. You just say that I have to do something to get.

00:14:27 - Mike Mills
If that's. If it's something of. Right, right. But if you want to go get Starbucks or something, I mean, in the. Right. Have we been like. No.

00:14:38 - Catey Mills
Oh, yeah. No, not really.

00:14:39 - Mike Mills
No. And there were chores that you did around the house that you had some money in your little busy kid account that you kept up with. And so that was helpful a little bit. But now you actually make real money. I mean, it's enough, right? For now. We'll talk about that in a minute. But now you actually make some real money. So is it just the freedom of it? Is that what it is? If you just want to wake up one morning and get out of bed early and go to Tom thumb to get your Starbucks before you go to school, you don't have to ask permission. You don't have to check. You can just do it.

00:15:07 - Catey Mills
Yeah, that's really what it is. It's not even just, like, being able to spend money whenever. Well, that is what it is. Just being able to do buy food when I want or go buy a new top whenever I want and not have to ask.

00:15:19 - Mike Mills
Yes, but you do have to make considerations as to how much money you have, though, right?

00:15:23 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:15:23 - Mike Mills
Right. So how has that been? Now that you have money and it's your money that you're making, what has it been like when you're. Because I want you to talk about the concert thing recently, about how you were kind of, like, wanting to get the tickets, but then every day that you.

00:15:39 - Catey Mills
So, okay, so me and my friend wanted to go to a concert, and we had another friend, that concert, niall horn. He was in one direction. I was a big one Direction fan. Anyway, so we'd wanted to go to a concert, and we had another friend who wanted to go with us, and I really wanted her to come, too, because I love her, but I don't know if she wasn't able to ask her parents or something was happening where.

00:16:02 - Mike Mills
She was saving up some money and wanted to get her birthday or something like that.

00:16:05 - Catey Mills
Yeah. She was, like, waiting, and just. We had to keep waiting to buy the tickets because she had to keep arranging things, which is fine, but the problem is they weren't buying their own tickets. And I was. Well, actually, maybe one of them was. But anyways, the ticket prices kept going up, and I was like, okay, once it gets to a certain point, I can't really afford these tickets anymore, so could we maybe buy them faster? So anyway, we actually finally bought them, but now I'm starting to pick up shifts and stuff because I still have money. I still want to have the same amount of money that I did when I bought the tickets, because, I mean, it put a pretty good dent in my bank account. And so now I'm just, like, picking up shifts and stuff so I can make that money back.

00:16:47 - Mike Mills
So now you're really paying a lot of attention to how much things.

00:16:52 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:16:52 - Mike Mills
Right? That's a big thing. Have you even changed? Because what's your favorite place to go to, of all places?

00:16:58 - Catey Mills
Starbucks.

00:16:58 - Mike Mills
Starbucks. Okay, so have you changed any of your spending habits?

00:17:02 - Catey Mills
So, well, whenever I used to go to. Cause now I get Starbucks probably twice or three times a week, which is not the healthiest thing, but I just really like Starbucks. But before, I wouldn't get Starbucks that much, so whenever I would get Starbucks, I'd get a drink and food and all this stuff, and it was like $20 for just, like, me, just to get a food, a drink, and something else. And so now recently, I've got a smaller drink or maybe some days I'll skip the food or I won't go to Starbucks and I'll go to Duncan or Chickfila just because it's cheaper, because Starbucks is really expensive.

00:17:38 - Mike Mills
I just love this. This is the. Is. This is my favorite thing. Like you having your own money, making decisions about where to spend it. Your brother does not have any of these qualities. By the.

00:17:47 - Catey Mills
I'm.

00:17:47 - Mike Mills
Well, he'll. I can't wait till we get to this phase with him. And I don't know if it's going to be good or bad. I think he's just going to blow through all his cash either way. I don't think going to. So now that you have been working, now that you have some money, now that you kind of get the concept of how this works, it's in small doses, right. You're not, like, living an adult life yet, but you're still making spending decisions. Right? If your friends want to go to the store, you want to drive to southlake with your budy and go to the know, you're not just running up everything that you can. Okay, so now the question is if you could trade, right? Change your decision on. And let's just assume that mom and I would still give you the money. Not with no strings, but just with what it's for, the normal stuff that comes along with what we're doing. Would you trade it or would you keep doing what you're doing?

00:18:40 - Catey Mills
I'd probably keep doing what I'm doing just because I feel like it's the freedom more than it's the amount of money that I have. Just like, getting to do what I want with my money and having no strings because, I mean, obviously I can't go buy drugs off the street.

00:18:55 - Mike Mills
You could, I suppose.

00:18:58 - Catey Mills
But you're not like, oh, well, are you sure you want to spend your money on that? Sure. Because it's my money.

00:19:05 - Mike Mills
That's right, your money. You do what you want with it.

00:19:07 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:19:07 - Mike Mills
I don't give you any restrictions on any of that stuff. So what are we helping you pay for right now?

00:19:11 - Catey Mills
That you don't have to pay my gas, my car insurance, all things car related.

00:19:17 - Mike Mills
Right.

00:19:17 - Catey Mills
I don't have to pay my phone bill or anything.

00:19:19 - Mike Mills
Right.

00:19:20 - Catey Mills
I really don't have to pay for anything.

00:19:22 - Mike Mills
Yeah. So what do you think your expenses are at this point?

00:19:24 - Catey Mills
It's all food.

00:19:25 - Mike Mills
All food.

00:19:26 - Catey Mills
All food. Because even now we were talking about, I went to Southlake with my friends a few weeks ago and I didn't get anything. I got like a $10 tank top. And that was it. Because I just, like, now I'm kind of about spending money, which I don't know why. Because I have more money than I used to. I don't know.

00:19:44 - Mike Mills
But now it's your money.

00:19:45 - Catey Mills
Yeah. And so I'm like, I don't want.

00:19:47 - Mike Mills
To spend it when it's your money. It stings a little more, doesn't it? Yes. Because you worked for that money. Right. It's not just money that was handed to you. Like, you had to go sit in a pool, maybe have a kid snot on you for a little while. Right. And sit in that chlorine, get out. Scrub mat.

00:20:01 - Catey Mills
Scrub the windows.

00:20:02 - Mike Mills
Scrub the windows. Whatever it is you had to do, but you had to work to earn that money. And now that money that you earned, you're like, is that shirt really worth that sweat and equity that I just put into it? Right. Especially if you can hold out a little bit longer, maybe get to Easter. Because your mom likes to give presents away all the time. Right?

00:20:20 - Catey Mills
Yeah. Although I'm not like that about food, because I just like food. But with clothes and stuff and makeup products and hair products and getting my nails done, because I thought once I got my job, I would get my nails done a lot because I love getting my nails done, but I haven't gotten my nails done ever. I haven't got my nails done since.

00:20:39 - Mike Mills
Last time mom took you.

00:20:40 - Catey Mills
Yeah. Homecoming of freshman year.

00:20:44 - Mike Mills
No. Well, I think you go physically get them. But you all done the other little at home stuff.

00:20:48 - Catey Mills
Yeah. Well, I buy those press ons with my own money.

00:20:51 - Mike Mills
Okay, I got you.

00:20:52 - Catey Mills
But I buy the press ons because getting your nails done is, like, $100. Well, it's not $100, but it's something like, crazy like that. But getting the press ons, it's only, like, 15, and it lasts, like, a week.

00:21:02 - Mike Mills
Yeah. And nobody knows the difference but you.

00:21:05 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:21:05 - Mike Mills
Right. Okay. All right. So now let's talk a little bit about. I want to see if you understand. What do you think?

00:21:11 - Catey Mills
Do you have how much money I spent on food?

00:21:13 - Mike Mills
Yeah, I got it all right here.

00:21:14 - Catey Mills
I don't even want to know.

00:21:15 - Mike Mills
I'm going to show it to you in a second, but before we do that, I want to ask you. Okay, so let's start with. We've got three categories. All right. On here, we have the money that mom and I give you that we transfer over for stuff that we. Well, explain how you do the gas and all the stuff that you.

00:21:30 - Catey Mills
Well, so I buy everything with my card. Like, if I'm getting me and my brother food, I'll just pay for it. Or if I'm getting gas, but then the stuff, like gas, or if I'm getting troy food, they'll put the money back into my account. So that way, I never really technically spent my money. They're just giving me the money back.

00:21:46 - Mike Mills
But you're not having to take our card and go do it, so we just move it back forth. So there's a couple of categories. The money that mom and I give you, which really negates, because the stuff that you're spending outside there is your income, and then there are expenses. All right. Within those expenses, you've got basically four categories. You've got food, you've got entertainment.

00:22:07 - Catey Mills
Entertainment. Like.

00:22:08 - Mike Mills
So, like flicks.

00:22:11 - Catey Mills
Oh, like movie tickets.

00:22:12 - Mike Mills
Movie tickets. Concert ticket. Right.

00:22:14 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:22:14 - Mike Mills
And then you've got personal. What do you think? Personal. I would categorize, like, target Kohl's, you know, wherever.

00:22:22 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:22:22 - Mike Mills
TJ Maxx is on there.

00:22:23 - Catey Mills
Okay. Is Kroger in the food or in the personal?

00:22:27 - Mike Mills
Kroger's in the food.

00:22:28 - Catey Mills
Okay, good.

00:22:29 - Mike Mills
Yeah. Because that's like Starbucks usually or whatever. So, yeah, anything. Groceries. I mean, we don't get too broad on it or too specific on it at this point, but just kind of broad. Okay, so let's start with personal, because food's a little hard to parse out, because there are times where you'll get me some ICE cream if you go to the store, and I'll pay for it all. So it's a little bit limited, but what do you think, since you've had your bank account, how much do you think you've spent on clothes and concert tickets and whatever else that would be?

00:23:00 - Catey Mills
The concert tickets.

00:23:01 - Mike Mills
Well, no, I'm sorry. Concert tickets, entertainment. So clothes, clothes, and that kind of thing.

00:23:07 - Catey Mills
I don't know. Maybe not that much. Probably, like $80 or $90.

00:23:13 - Mike Mills
$200. Okay, $200.

00:23:15 - Catey Mills
Way more than I thought.

00:23:16 - Mike Mills
Yes. On a monthly basis, it's about $70. Now, the hard part to tell, again, sometimes, is you might get something from mom. I don't know how often you've gone to target and gotten whatever, and some of it she's given back to you, like, hair product stuff, because you don't ask me for money. You always ask your mom, and she always gives you money back. So way to go, mom. She's the best. Okay, let's talk about entertainment now. So this is the movies and the concert ticket, and it's really not that much.

00:23:43 - Catey Mills
Okay. This is probably the concert tickets was like 90. And then I go to the movies probably like once or twice a month. I'm going to go like 150 ish.

00:23:51 - Mike Mills
About 130. Okay. What you've done on that. So it's about $45 a month. Okay. Because we're going over three months. Because we did half of January, all of February. No, half of December, all of January, all of February, and then half of March.

00:24:03 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:24:03 - Mike Mills
All right. And then gas. So this isn't something that you have to pay, but this is either gas and. Or, like, you washed your car once.

00:24:14 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:24:15 - Mike Mills
That was an experience, by the way.

00:24:16 - Catey Mills
That was stressful. Stressful. I had to align my tires and I wasn't supposed to because it was just the whole thing. And I was really mad at dad and I was stressed out.

00:24:24 - Mike Mills
Yes.

00:24:24 - Catey Mills
Anyway, how often? I probably get gas maybe twice or once or once every two weeks. I don't know, like $300.

00:24:35 - Mike Mills
It's about 200. So it's about $69 a month.

00:24:39 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:24:39 - Mike Mills
All right. Now you got the car wash thing in there, too. All right, so in total, what you've spent in the last three months between food, entertainment, personal and gas. Now, this is just money that you've spent. And again, some of this. Well, hang on. Let's back up. Food.

00:24:56 - Catey Mills
I was hoping we could skip over that one, food.

00:24:58 - Mike Mills
And I'm going to round down on this one a little bit. I didn't parse out the stuff because it's hard to tell what you're buying for us and buying for your brother. Yeah. So I'm going to round down on it some. But what do you think it is just on a monthly basis?

00:25:09 - Catey Mills
On a monthly basis. Like $100, $200.

00:25:13 - Mike Mills
It's actually 300. It's 297 a month.

00:25:17 - Catey Mills
Are you serious?

00:25:18 - Mike Mills
Swear to goodness. 297 a month. And I'm taking 97 off of it because $200 a month? Yeah, 297. Since you've had your bank account, you spent $900 on food.

00:25:32 - Catey Mills
Hey, I'm hungry.

00:25:34 - Mike Mills
And like I said, that's like 297 a month. But if we factor in some stuff that you've bought for everybody else because you're the gopher, sometimes we drop it down to 200. Okay, but that's what you're spending on food. All right, now let's talk about how much money you've made. Okay, now, this doesn't include. Well, no, this includes everything. How much money do you think you've made since you started your job?

00:25:56 - Catey Mills
Okay, so I get paid twice a month. My paycheck. I don't know. I'm just going to round, like $800.

00:26:05 - Mike Mills
It's about $930. That's how much you've made since you started. And that's about $300 a month. So you make $300 a month, and you're spending $200 just on food?

00:26:17 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:26:19 - Mike Mills
So we're dropping in quite a hefty toll there. All right, now I'll show you what it looks like here. So you can see the numbers. Nobody else can see this on our screen here. Here's your budgetary numbers. All right. Now, right now you're making $13 an hour. So what is that? $13 an hour? How many hours per week do I have in here?

00:26:38 - Catey Mills
16.5.

00:26:40 - Mike Mills
Yeah. So that's about what you're working. Well, that was your last pay stub, so it might be a little bit less. But what do you work every night? Like 4 hours?

00:26:46 - Catey Mills
Yeah, it's 4 hours.

00:26:47 - Mike Mills
Okay. So that's about right. So it's every two weeks you get paid?

00:26:49 - Catey Mills
Yes. I work about 8 hours a week.

00:26:51 - Mike Mills
Yeah. So it's about 16 hours. So that means your total pay is how much there?

00:26:54 - Catey Mills
214.

00:26:55 - Mike Mills
214. So that's what you're making every two weeks. Okay. $200. And then you know what that is right there?

00:27:03 - Catey Mills
The highlighted thing.

00:27:04 - Mike Mills
Yes.

00:27:04 - Catey Mills
Taxes.

00:27:05 - Mike Mills
Taxes. So, that's the taxes that you pay. Now, the good news is, if you make under. I don't have the number. I should have remembered this. I want to say it's under, like, $23,000. It may be less than that. Then you get all this money back at the end of the year. So when they're taking out that 16, it's only $16 for you. Right. So it's like, not even quite 10% of your total take home or your total pay, but that money that you get, that they take out of it every year, if you don't make a certain amount of money, then they give all of it back, basically. Okay. So you get a refund at the end of the year. So it's like a mini little savings. So if you did this times, like, 26 weeks, because that's how when you get paid every two weeks, there's 26 pay periods in a month.

00:27:45 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:27:46 - Mike Mills
So I know this very well because I do mortgages all day long. So that's about how much money you'd get at the end of the year.

00:27:52 - Catey Mills
Oh, wow.

00:27:52 - Mike Mills
When you get a refund, I like that. Yeah, it's not bad. It's like $400. Right. And so it's like a little savings account for you that you get back in the end of the year. That's why everybody gets so fired up when it's tax refund season. Everybody's like, oh, I'll get some money back. Right? They're all super excited about it. Now, that was when you were making 13 an hour.

00:28:09 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:28:10 - Mike Mills
So what are we making now? 14 an hour. So where does our pay go to? Oh, why didn't they break it down? Should be. Let's do this. My formulas disappeared on me times that. Now you get 231. All right. Now we're making some more money here. So either way, you're bringing home somewhere in the neighborhood of about $400 to $500 a month. Okay? That's what you're taking home. So, on a monthly basis, if you're bringing home four to 500 once you get that extra money in there, but now you're spending $200 a month on food. Okay, so that leaves you 300 at your current rate. Right. Well, if you're spending another 75 or another, let's call it $120 there. So we don't have a lot left over.

00:28:59 - Catey Mills
No.

00:28:59 - Mike Mills
Right now that's okay, because what else do you have to spend your money on? Nothing. So you're fine. Right? That's okay. But let's talk about when life starts happening. Okay, so I want you to break out your little sheet there, and I want you to tell me, why did all my formulas go away? Let's talk about rent first. Okay, so when you were looking at what it would cost to rent a one bedroom apartment in Texas, in north Texas, what's the average rent?

00:29:31 - Catey Mills
1360 per month. One bedroom apartment.

00:29:36 - Mike Mills
360 a month for a one bedroom apartment. Okay, now we got to do things. Do you know what utilities are?

00:29:43 - Catey Mills
What are utilities and water and stuff. You did not tell me to do utilities. You told me to do electricity.

00:29:49 - Mike Mills
I know. I didn't do all of them because, actually, water is relatively inexpensive. If you have an apartment, it's like $10 a month. It's cheap. Sometimes it's even included in the rent. All right, so what would be electricity for apartment dollars?

00:30:01 - Catey Mills
120 a month.

00:30:03 - Mike Mills
Okay. And then why is this not cooperating? Me. Okay, then we've got Internet. What's Internet?

00:30:13 - Catey Mills
115 a month.

00:30:14 - Mike Mills
115. Okay, then we've got. What else do we got on that list? Cell phone.

00:30:19 - Catey Mills
116 a month.

00:30:20 - Mike Mills
116. Okay, and then so we've got rent, we've got electricity, we've got cell phone, we've got Internet. Did we do Internet?

00:30:29 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:30:29 - Mike Mills
What was that?

00:30:30 - Catey Mills
115.

00:30:30 - Mike Mills
115.

00:30:31 - Catey Mills
Car insurance.

00:30:32 - Mike Mills
Car insurance.

00:30:32 - Catey Mills
680 per year.

00:30:34 - Mike Mills
680 per year. So we're going to do 680 divided by twelve, not negative. Okay, so that's like $60 a month. All right, and what else is that it, then?

00:30:49 - Catey Mills
College tuition.

00:30:50 - Mike Mills
All right, we'll get to that in a second. Okay. All right, so this is just the basics. This isn't gas, this isn't food. This isn't any of that stuff. Right?

00:30:57 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:30:57 - Mike Mills
That's. How much money. What does that number say right there?

00:31:00 - Catey Mills
1767. Sorry, I'm not wearing my contact.

00:31:03 - Mike Mills
That's okay. Yeah, that's a whole other thing there.

00:31:05 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:31:06 - Mike Mills
All right, so $1,767 a month. That's your just basic expenses. That doesn't include gas. Well, how much are you spending right now on gas? And you're barely driving very much. What do we got right here?

00:31:20 - Catey Mills
$69 a month.

00:31:22 - Mike Mills
So let's call it $100 a month on gas. Okay. Because that means if you're driving to work and you're doing all that, so now we're at $1,800 a month, or, excuse me, 1900, basically to live. And we haven't even eaten yet. Right. So we don't have any food yet. Okay, so how much are you spending on food? And by the way, what kind of food are you buying?

00:31:44 - Catey Mills
Expensive food.

00:31:45 - Mike Mills
Okay, but are you buying all the food?

00:31:47 - Catey Mills
No, I'm just buying, like, food for you.

00:31:49 - Mike Mills
Just breakfast occasionally. But you're not doing dinner. And sometimes lunches, as your mom calls it. She likes lunches. She wants some of that. So if you're spending $300 on food, let's just be nice and let's say that you're going to be more frugal, but have more food to spend, and let's call it $400 a month.

00:32:07 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:32:07 - Mike Mills
All right. So now we're up to. Let's see here. What do we got? Now we're up to $2,300 a month just to survive, right? You're not going anywhere. You're not buying any clothes. You're just sitting in your apartment eating ramen noodles, trying to go to work, right? So if you're making $14 an hour and you're working 16 hours a week, you're only getting paid 231 per pay period. Right, which is we're going to do. Okay. Yeah, let's do this. Equals. Well, tell me a little bit real quick about what you think about that cost while I'm doing this. I want you to tell me when you see those costs of what it thinks, like what is going on through your mind right now.

00:32:51 - Catey Mills
I think that if I had that much money in my bank account, I would not know what to do with.

00:32:55 - Mike Mills
Myself if you had that much money, but that's your expense.

00:32:58 - Catey Mills
Yeah, no, I know.

00:32:58 - Mike Mills
Right?

00:32:59 - Catey Mills
So I'm saying that's a lot of freaking money.

00:33:00 - Mike Mills
Yes. That costs a lot just to exist. Right. Let's do that times 26. And then we're going to do this. I'm talking while I'm vamping here. That times.

00:33:18 - Catey Mills
I can't see my face right now while he's doing this math. And it's really stressing me out because I don't know how I look right now. And there's eight people watching.

00:33:24 - Mike Mills
There's eight people watching. Okay. So now, at $14 an hour, let's see if we worked a 40 hours week. Okay. So that's a full time job. All right. So 40 hours a week, you're going to get $560 every single pay period.

00:33:37 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:33:37 - Mike Mills
Okay. And that is $1,200 a month.

00:33:41 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:33:41 - Mike Mills
And how much are your expenses?

00:33:44 - Catey Mills
Almost double that.

00:33:45 - Mike Mills
Yes. Right. So even making $14 an hour, working 40 hours a week. Right. Where you're getting. Did I make sure I got my math right on that. Right. That times that. Okay. Yes. It's 560. All right. Well, that's only $14,000, basically, a year.

00:34:03 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:34:03 - Mike Mills
Right. So that's only going to get you $1,200 a month. Yes. And that's before taxes, by the way. Yes. By the way, we don't have a car on here. We're just assuming mom and dad gave you a car. You're paying for gas, but we're assuming everything else.

00:34:18 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:34:19 - Mike Mills
So that's tough. That's tough sledding right there. Yes. So, I feel like my math might be wrong. A little bit of that. I got to play with that in a. So.

00:34:28 - Catey Mills
Oh, my God. Coach Rob.

00:34:30 - Mike Mills
Oh, Coach Rob. Hi, Coach Rob.

00:34:32 - Catey Mills
I don't know if he's still watching, but I just saw that.

00:34:34 - Mike Mills
Or. No, that's not Coach Rob. That's Rob Azuna. That's our budy, and Anne is here, as well. Hello, Anne. How are you? Hi, Anne. All right, so how do you feel about your expenses now? What are you thinking about this?

00:34:51 - Catey Mills
I should probably spend less on food. That's what I'm thinking.

00:34:54 - Mike Mills
So how would you even make that adjustment? What would you do to try to fix that? Like, in your mind, like, just thinking out loud, like, what do you think you would do?

00:35:00 - Catey Mills
I don't know. I'd probably get actual food from the grocery store and make food at home.

00:35:05 - Mike Mills
Okay, hang on. I knew there was something wrong with my thing here. So this is actually $2,400. Okay, so this is like 30 year. 30. I knew the math on here was wrong. That's why I was stumbling there. So the $14 an hour at 40 hours a week is 560. Well, that's about $30,000 a year. Okay, so really, this number is, like $2,400. All right? So you could make it barely, like, you would be breaking even. That's a $30,000 a year job that you would get and make $2,400 a month. Okay, so having on basic living expenses, making 30 grand a year, doesn't sound like a great time. Right. So what does that tend to make you think when it comes to working and money and jobs in college? Just in general? We'll get to college in a second. But how does all that. I want to know what you think about all that.

00:35:52 - Catey Mills
It makes me think that I need to get a good paying job because I don't want to have $200 left for the entire month.

00:35:59 - Mike Mills
That's right. Now, good paying job is one thing, but what do I usually tell you about that instead of a good paying job? I don't know.

00:36:10 - Catey Mills
That I need to work for myself.

00:36:14 - Mike Mills
Yes.

00:36:15 - Catey Mills
Oh, I remember this time.

00:36:17 - Mike Mills
Yes, you remember this time. And why is that important? Because. What's the reason there?

00:36:23 - Catey Mills
Well, I don't know. Just because I don't want to work for someone else.

00:36:26 - Mike Mills
Well, if you work for somebody else, you're beholden to them, right? You're on their schedule. You're on there now. Right now that's a good thing because you're working for somebody else. It keeps you. Because you don't have the self discipline 100% yet to make that. But that's part of growing up like you're not expected to. But later on down the road, when you have that self discipline, and you'll certainly experience it when you go to college, but when you have that self discipline that you've been able to put together, then having your own way to make money is always going to be a better situation. And I think that anybody that's listening to this right now, if they could say, if I could make the same amount of money that I'm making right now and have work for myself, they absolutely would. The hard part is that when you're young, right, and you don't understand this, when you start off, getting a job and working for someone is the way to go, because it's just like, I can go over here and I can make money, and I don't have to know everything, right?

00:37:15 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:37:16 - Mike Mills
But then the responsibilities of life kick in because then you get a car payment, then you get insurance, then you have an apartment, then you have utilities and your rent. You always have mom and dad to help you out. But assuming that somebody doesn't, then when you go through those life events and you start having these expensive, how hard is it at that point to quit your job and then go start something on your own?

00:37:40 - Catey Mills
Very hard.

00:37:40 - Mike Mills
Right. And why is that? Do you understand? Yeah, no, I'm sorry.

00:37:45 - Catey Mills
I zoned out. I'm so sorry. I was reading the comments and I got lost.

00:37:51 - Mike Mills
What I'm saying is, let's see if you can pay. This is where the teens stop listening here.

00:37:56 - Catey Mills
I'm listening.

00:37:57 - Mike Mills
So once you start working a job and you make money, like, let's say you got out of high school and you didn't have any options, you kept working at Aquitage, right? And you're making 30,000 a year. And now at this point, you have an apartment. Something happens to mom and I, we're gone. Right.

00:38:10 - Catey Mills
Okay.

00:38:10 - Mike Mills
All right. And then now you have this apartment and now you have this rent and all this other stuff and you're working your job, right? And you don't have any other place to go. How hard is it for you to quit that job and go start fresh in something that you have to make your own money from the ground up?

00:38:25 - Catey Mills
Yeah, it's very difficult, right? Yeah.

00:38:27 - Mike Mills
Because the first time you start, when you begin, are you making any money? No, you have to build it. Right. So what I'm trying to impart on you to understand is that if you want to get to a place where you can control your own destiny and make your own money and make your own future, while you have the support of the people around you to help you pay some things, and you don't have a bunch of responsibilities like a house mortgage and the kids and all the other stuff that makes you have to keep doing what you're doing. That's the time when you have the freedom to go find the thing that you're passionate about and try to get into that and make that a career for yourself. Because once you're knee deep into that thing, it's very hard to get out.

00:39:02 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:39:03 - Mike Mills
Right. Because of all the responsibilities, because costs are there and you have to pay and you have to have money to live.

00:39:08 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:39:08 - Mike Mills
Okay, so that's a good segue into college. All right, so let's talk a little bit about college now before we get into the costs of college. All right, I want you to tell me, like, right now, in your state of mind as a 16 year old sophomore in high school, okay? Because all this changes, by the way, every person listening here that went to college and started off as their degree in engineering or premed or whatever, most of them, not all of them, there's some very studious, wonderful folks out there that did what they were supposed to, but most people, like myself, changed degrees multiple times, changed career pathways, even quit college for a little bit, came back. So that's the way it goes.

00:39:48 - Catey Mills
Yeah.

00:39:49 - Mike Mills
So in your mind right now, today, what are you thinking about? What does college look like for you? Where do you want to go? What do you think? You want to do all that stuff?

00:39:57 - Catey Mills
So I don't really know exactly where I want to go. I know that I do want to play volleyball in college.

00:40:04 - Mike Mills
Okay.

00:40:06 - Catey Mills
Whether it's like d two, whatever, that doesn't matter to me. I do know that I want to play volleyball in college.

00:40:12 - Mike Mills
And what's the reason that you want to play volleyball? Do you want to play volleyball because you just enjoy it and want to keep doing it, or do you think it's paper college?

00:40:17 - Catey Mills
I think to be able to play in college, I'm definitely going to have to enjoy it. And I do. I like volleyball a lot, but it's also hopefully so I can get a little bit of a scholarship to pay for some of it. And also because I don't think I'm a very sorority gal.

00:40:36 - Mike Mills
You don't see yourself as being.

00:40:38 - Catey Mills
But I also want to have something like, I don't want to be lonely.

00:40:42 - Mike Mills
Okay. No, that's fair. You don't want to be lonely. You're making me sad over here. You just don't see yourself getting in the sorority life.

00:40:51 - Catey Mills
Well, maybe, but. Okay, I'd only go be in a sorority if I wasn't in volleyball and I was at some big southern school.

00:41:03 - Mike Mills
KK Pop. What do they do?

00:41:07 - Catey Mills
I don't know. Because I'm not, like, wear my boots and hat to the football game.

00:41:14 - Mike Mills
You're not a fashion queen.

00:41:17 - Catey Mills
I'd rather just wear leggings.

00:41:18 - Mike Mills
You're wearing your Michigan t shirt on the podcast that belongs to somebody else that you got.

00:41:24 - Catey Mills
Yeah, it's not even mine.

00:41:25 - Mike Mills
Yeah, you girls all trade clothes all the time. So volleyball to you would be like a group of friends that you could have in a community that you're in when you go away to a strange place and have people around you that you can rely on because mom and dad won't be there. Have you thought about that at all as you're getting older? Because I feel like you've changed a little bit. Used to, it was like, God, I can't get away from these mfers. Right? But now are you more like, it's going to kind of suck a little bit, or how are you feeling about it? Especially mom? Yeah, maybe me isn't fun to get away from, but, mom, it's going to suck a little.

00:42:01 - Catey Mills
But also, I'm still not like, oh, no.

00:42:04 - Mike Mills
Yeah, you want to go? Yeah, of course. Right?

00:42:06 - Catey Mills
Yeah, it is going to suck a little.

00:42:07 - Mike Mills
Why do you think it's going to suck a little bit?

00:42:09 - Catey Mills
I don't know.

00:42:11 - Mike Mills
What about it? Would you feel like right now that you would be like, man, I'll probably miss that.

00:42:17 - Catey Mills
I don't know. I like when mom makes me snacks.

00:42:19 - Mike Mills
When I come home from school. That's nice.

00:42:21 - Catey Mills
Yes, that's nice.

00:42:23 - Mike Mills
And when she finishes your laundry for you.

00:42:24 - Catey Mills
Oh, that's so nice.

00:42:26 - Mike Mills
Or she just does it all together.

00:42:27 - Catey Mills
I know. Sometimes, oh, my gosh. Not all the time, guys. I do my own laundry. Just sometimes she'll fold it for me.

00:42:33 - Mike Mills
Which makes me well. And what about the laundry detergent? Have you even considered that?

00:42:37 - Catey Mills
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Like the diva wash or whatever that we use. It's like on TikTok now or something. And it's like, I can't afford that. I'm going to have to get the little pods from, like, CVs or something.

00:42:50 - Mike Mills
You have to get ajax. Yeah, you have to spread it out and use it sparingly when you go. And when you're in college, it depends on the college, but you have to go to the group wash. So you all have to go into the same place and you have to wash your clothes and not forget them. You know how many times I've forgotten my clothes in the dorm, clothes at the house? And then you come back and guess what's gone?

00:43:11 - Catey Mills
Your clothes.

00:43:12 - Mike Mills
Your clothes. They're gone. Yes. So that's a lesson I've learned the hard way a couple of times myself. So going to college is going to be a bit of an adjustment. Now, do you remember what I've kind of told you about college and how I feel about it when it comes to the education side of things? I know you barely pay attention to.

00:43:32 - Catey Mills
Me sometimes it's important to get a degree or whatever, but it doesn't really matter. Or it's like you need to do it for like.

00:43:44 - Mike Mills
No, don't remember.

00:43:45 - Catey Mills
Sorry.

00:43:45 - Mike Mills
So let me refresh your memory. So what have I said about going? If you're going to be, like, a doctor or an engineer or a teacher.

00:43:53 - Catey Mills
Or you do, there's certain things that you need a degree for, and you need the education, but there's also certain things that you don't really need.

00:44:01 - Mike Mills
But if you came to me and were like, hey, dad, I want to go to the University of Florida, and I want to be a marketing major, what would I tell you?

00:44:08 - Catey Mills
You'd be like, heck, no.

00:44:10 - Mike Mills
It's called YouTube, all right? If you want to learn how to be a marketing guru, go to YouTube. It's way better. And it's way. There's just the thing about college these days is college is extremely expensive, okay? And we have a big problem in the country right now. You don't pay attention to this stuff because you don't care. You're worried about Harry Styles concerts and Taylor Swift. But we have a problem in the country with people that have a lot of student loan debt. Because when I was growing up, we were always told, you finish school, high school, you go to college, and you go work for somebody. That was the path, right?

00:44:40 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:44:40 - Mike Mills
That was what was beat into our head. When you go to school, a lot of people don't have family members that can help them pay for school or parents or whatever. Some people do, but not everybody does. And so when you go through those circumstances, you have to take out student loans to pay for school. Well, if you're going to take out, like, right now, what did you look up? The average tuition in the state of Texas. In state tuition is.

00:45:03 - Catey Mills
In state tuition with room and board is $18,670.18 grand per semester.

00:45:08 - Mike Mills
Right. That doesn't include books. That doesn't include any food. Well, room and board is food, but that's the dorm cafeteria. Right. So there's no other activities. So that's almost $150,000 a year. And then on top of that, if you want to say all the other expenses, you're talking about maybe 200 grand. Well, the average interest rate on a college loan right now is 6%. And on average, you can do it for about 30 years. In some cases, that's $1,000 a month that you have to pay on a student loan for 30 years.

00:45:41 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:45:42 - Mike Mills
Okay. So that $2,200 that we had on there, add an extra $1,000 to that. So it's really expensive. So if you're not going to go to college and get a degree. My degree. I got a degree. I went to Texas Tech. I partied too hard. I left, took two years off of school, partied some more, and then met your mom, came back here and graduated from UTA in Arlington. Okay. So I got my degree. I got my bachelor's degree in business administration. All right. The job that I have today, which is doing mortgage loans.

00:46:13 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:46:13 - Mike Mills
I do not need that degree. It's not necessary. It wasn't needed. The job that I needed that degree for at the time paid me $30,000 a year as a merchandise buyer for Radio Shack. And if I had stayed there for 30 years or at the time, now, this was back in the early 2000s, if I had stayed there for 20 years or however long, because I knew the other people that were working there in the similar roles as you slide up and not gotten to executive management, I might have made $75,000, which is a good income. But if you've been with the same company for 30 years, it's tough. And especially these days, 75 by yourself doesn't get you very far. It's a challenge. So if you're married and you have joint income and all that kind of stuff, that stuff helps. But my point is that when you're working for somebody else and when you're having to pay for school at the same time to get a job that you don't necessarily need a degree for, that's a lot of expense for something that was basically just so you can have a good time at school.

00:47:12 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:47:12 - Mike Mills
Right. Now, if you're going to go to college to get to play volleyball and you're working on any other type of degree, but you're helping get it paid for, that's a whole other thing, right?

00:47:21 - Catey Mills
Yes.

00:47:22 - Mike Mills
And that's where the benefits of your grades come into play. So where's our class ranking right now? Last time we checked.

00:47:30 - Catey Mills
I can look if you want me to. I don't want to look, but it's like 76 out of 690 or so.

00:47:37 - Mike Mills
Okay, so we're in the top hundred right now. We're trying to slide up to. Where are we trying to get to?

00:47:41 - Catey Mills
Trying to get to top, like. Well, a lot of automatic admission is top 10%, and I think I'm in top 10% or, like, top eleven.

00:47:49 - Mike Mills
Okay.

00:47:50 - Catey Mills
But really, my goal is, like, top eight, because that's, like. Really?

00:47:53 - Mike Mills
Because that'll get you some automatic. And then other colleges that you can go to, and you have a lot of availability for scholarships, for academics. Right. So I had you do a little research for me. So we've talked about the cost of college and the expense of it. So tell me what you found when you were looking for, because I don't know if a lot of people know this or not. A lot of young people don't. But obviously, you can pay for school with athletic scholarships if you have the ability to, you can pay for it with academic scholarships, which is way more frequent and often, because if you make really good grades, you'll have a lot of schools that be willing to pay for that. And maybe not full rides, but you can certainly get a good chunk of it paid for. But there's also tons, I mean, literally thousands of other types of scholarships out there that are available, that are given out by private institutions. They're given out by nonprofit organizations. And if you do a little Internet sleuthing, you can find this, like, I'm a member of the Arlington board of Realtors, which is the realtor association here in Arlington, and every single year they give out five scholarships to students at $1,000 apiece. Okay, now you say it's just $1,000, but you get a bunch of those and they start adding up. Right? Well, this year we're about to do the review for them. Do you know how many people have applied for those scholarships?

00:49:06 - Catey Mills
Guess like 520. Really?

00:49:12 - Mike Mills
20 people.

00:49:13 - Catey Mills
Wow.

00:49:14 - Mike Mills
That's it. Now, these are seniors. You can't apply for it until you're a senior. But that's it. And the reason why is because people don't know about it. Now, we tell, the way the board works is they tell the schools. So the counselors at Mansfield, Waxahatchee, Arlington, it's like Tarrant County, Tarrant and Johnson county, they get the information about the scholarships. But unless you know to ask your counselor about them, and if they give you the list, then you don't. You know, I would encourage any kids that are listening to this, ask your counselor about all the scholarships that are available to see what you can apply for because you don't want to have that debt when you get out. Now, if mom and dad are paying for the whole boat, great. Right? But if they're not able to or they're not going to, then having that extra money helps and goes a long way and saves you a lot in the long term. Right? So what did you find? What are some websites that you found?

00:50:01 - Catey Mills
Well, I already have this app called niche. I think that's how you pronounce that word. Yes, that's right. And it's kind of like a dating app. But for colleges, you swipe right. Like, swipe left, like it gives little things. And that has, like, a section that has scholarships and that actual app. You just have to apply. You just have to submit.

00:50:26 - Mike Mills
Your basic information.

00:50:27 - Catey Mills
Yeah, just like, your transcript, letter of recommendation, and you get, like, $10,000.

00:50:32 - Mike Mills
Wait, just from that app?

00:50:35 - Catey Mills
Yeah, they have, like, a $10,000 scholarship. Like, a bunch of people applied for it. Okay. And then there's, like, websites. There are scholarships. 360, the college board website where we take all of our AP tests. They have a section for scholarships that you can apply for. There's, like, momentrix.com, bold.org. There's all sorts of websites, and there's all the big corporate companies. Let me flip my notes here. Like, McDonald's, Microsoft, Google, Burger King, like Coca Cola, Starbucks, and Chick fil a. A lot of big Starbucks. And will they have specific scholarships just for their employees? So if you work there, then they have scholarships that they can give you with the same thing. You don't even have to write an essay.

00:51:26 - Mike Mills
How long you got to work there?

00:51:27 - Catey Mills
I don't know.

00:51:28 - Mike Mills
Did you go work there for, like a month and then apply for the scholarship you get? Like, oh, that's too bad. All right, I got to quit.

00:51:33 - Catey Mills
I'm not sure. But you don't even have to write an essay. It's just like your transcript, a letter of recommendation, just like basic information and then some you do have to write an essay for. But there's all sorts of things.

00:51:44 - Mike Mills
Well, and it's something that you have to start off pretty quickly, right? I mean, you're going into your junior year next year.

00:51:51 - Catey Mills
Well, if you look at some of the websites and apps, it's like, apply. Now, I can apply for hundreds just as a sophomore.

00:51:59 - Mike Mills
Yes. Now, in your particular circumstance, this isn't for everybody, of course, but we've saved money for college for you. Right? So what have I told you throughout this entire time?

00:52:11 - Catey Mills
That if I manage to pay for the college through scholarships or whatever, then whatever money I have left is mine.

00:52:19 - Mike Mills
Once college is over, is yours, all of it. Right? So the benefit on that is, now, here's a really cool thing that just changed this year with if anybody out there has what's called a 529 college account, which is just basically pretax money that you can put in for your kids that grows on its own over a period of time, but it has to be used specifically for school expenses. But school expenses covers a wide range. It could be rent, it could be books. It could be tuition. It could be a lot of different things that you can apply that money to, but if you have a kid that is able to get academic or sports or even, look, if you piece together enough of those scholarships on there and you really work at it and get it out there, I mean, it's just a little bit of work writing essays and submitting and going through the process. But I bet you you could pick up 50, 60, $70,000 worth of scholarships just in doing all those random ones, right? So when you start putting that stuff together, if you have a 529 account that you've been saving with and that money is left, so let's just say you go through college and we don't spend all of that money or you don't spend any of it, then I can then take that money and roll it over into an IRA. So that is your retirement account that I can take that money and put that money into without any tax penalties. So that's a big advantage. They just started doing that, I believe it was last year, where if you have a 529 savings account for college and you have money left over after your kid graduates or they get scholarships, you don't need that money. Instead of taking it out and taking a penalty, which you can do that, of course, but instead of doing that, you can actually roll that over into a retirement account in your child's name. So it's a big, huge benefit if you use that avenue to save money to be able to give it to your kid if they don't use it now, I don't know how many circumstances are going to come into play where somebody doesn't use all that money if they've saved it, because you have to have athletic scholarships and academic scholarships and all the extra scholarships and everything thrown on there. So it's certainly something that makes it a little bit difficult to not spend because college is so damn expensive these days, but it is a nice little perk if you can figure it out and have that money to do it. All right, so real quick, before we go, we're almost done here. What's driving been like for you?

00:54:34 - Catey Mills
I love driving. It is so fun because even. It's so nice just not having to ask for rides and situations, even though. Because now I was kind of not one of the first. Well, was I one of the first in your grade? Not in my grade, but in my friend group, I was like, towards the front of the people who got their licenses.

00:54:56 - Mike Mills
Because your birth date?

00:54:57 - Catey Mills
Yeah, because I was born in November. A lot of people were asking me for rides at first, which was not really that annoying, but kind of question for CJ. How cool is your dad?

00:55:12 - Mike Mills
Thanks, Conrad. Appreciate you, brother.

00:55:14 - Catey Mills
I give him, like, a three and a half.

00:55:16 - Mike Mills
Oh, man.

00:55:17 - Catey Mills
Okay. I was trying to show him a TikTok before this. He's like, I don't understand.

00:55:20 - Mike Mills
Well, you showed it to me for two and a half seconds. I was trying to read it. I was trying to read it. I hadn't read the whole thing. I didn't get a chance to digest it because your attention span so low. All right. Anyway, so thanks, Conrad. I appreciate that.

00:55:33 - Catey Mills
Anyway, just, like, having my own license, now that all my friends have their licenses, I like to drive, but I like when other people drive me around. But actually, just having my license is really good because I like to be able to do whatever I want, or not whatever I want, but go wherever I want, and I'll have to arrange rides.

00:55:50 - Mike Mills
You like to get up to hood rat shit when we're not around. I understand.

00:55:53 - Catey Mills
Okay, well, for example, because me and all my friends, we go to Sonic a lot. And if I wanted my mommy to take me to Sonic, she's like, I'm not taking to Sonic at 930 at night. But now I can just drive myself to Sonic. And then obviously, I can't come home at, like, one in the morning.

00:56:08 - Mike Mills
But when you say drive, will you explain what Sonic is? Just so anybody's like, what's so great about going to Sonic?

00:56:12 - Catey Mills
Well, Sonic, I don't really get food at. Just. Everybody goes to Sonic. If there's a night that there isn't school, half of Mansfield High is at Sonic. Like, if you drive around sonic and all the little stalls, there's just, like, a Mansfield parking sticker.

00:56:27 - Mike Mills
That's your hangout?

00:56:28 - Catey Mills
Yes. And if I have to, I don't know, pick up something from a friend, and my mom is working. I can't take you. I can just go. It's a lot better.

00:56:38 - Mike Mills
Why do you say your mom's voice like that? That seems so like to me.

00:56:42 - Catey Mills
Don't even. Because, mom, I know you're watching this. I don't think you sound like that, mom.

00:56:46 - Mike Mills
Well, I mean, that's how you're portraying it.

00:56:48 - Catey Mills
That's all I'm saying. I'm just changing my voice. Okay. Love you, mom.

00:56:52 - Mike Mills
Yes. Okay. Well, that's about it. Tell me. Let's wrap up this whole thing, dear.

00:57:03 - Catey Mills
Sorry, mom.

00:57:04 - Mike Mills
I love you. Exactly. I'm not trying to start trouble, I promise you.

00:57:10 - Catey Mills
He always is.

00:57:12 - Mike Mills
So tell me about wrapping this whole thing up. What has the job experience been like? The money experience been like, what have you learned from us chatting today. What are you taking away from this? Other than I'm really annoying?

00:57:22 - Catey Mills
I've learned that having my own money is helping. Well, this is. I already knew this. Having my own money is really just. I like the freedom of it and that I need to get a job that I like and that I can continue to do to get more money. And things are really expensive and I need money to pay for the expensive things and I need to find ways to pay for that thing.

00:57:46 - Mike Mills
Yes. There you go. And you're not too far out from all this, right?

00:57:50 - Catey Mills
Pretty close. We got like two years, a couple more years.

00:57:52 - Mike Mills
Because when you go off to college, we're going to help you, obviously, but at the same time, there's going to be a lot of stuff that you want to do and not having that money. And this is where the summertime is going to play a big role for you, working some because saving that money. So when you go off to college, you don't have to, like maybe that first year, if you save enough between in your senior year, the way your schedule is set up, you probably aren't going to have to go to school as much or your school load is going to be a lot less. Right. And especially once volleyball ends after the fall, like your spring and summer leading up to going to college got like.

00:58:20 - Catey Mills
Two classes a day.

00:58:21 - Mike Mills
Yeah, you're going to be wide open. And so, I mean, I'm not encouraging you to work all the time, but what I am telling you is that if you can work during that period and save up as much money as possible, then you can have that money your first year of college. And it'll take a lot of the stress off of. Troy is not. Troy will not join us for a little while. He barely speaks. Mostly.

00:58:42 - Catey Mills
He can't really spell that well.

00:58:44 - Mike Mills
And this podcast doesn't come with a game controller, so I don't know that he'd be able to have a blanket no shirt on. Yeah, he doesn't know how to spell or speak well, so we'll see. He's hard to understand.

00:58:55 - Catey Mills
He's still slightly illiterate.

00:58:57 - Mike Mills
Yeah, he's mostly a moron, but he gets that from me, so I don't blame him. Too bad. If you can save that money going into college, it'll save you so much time or stress that first year just to having that extra funds. And then again, you don't have to call me and mom to ask us to put money into your account, which we would be happy to do, but you're going to be like, dad's going to get on the phone and be like, what do you need this money for? What are you doing? Where are you going? What have you been up to? Why haven't you called us? You're not even calling, checking in. You haven't been home in three months. Are you going to come home and see us? Your mother's worried sick. You ready for that? No? Okay. All right, guys, well, that's it for today. Next time we come on, which will probably be sometime around the summer when she's out of school again, if she's not working, we're going to come on. We're going to add her to a credit card so we can start building some credit because that's going to play a big role as life continues on. So we're going to talk about that building credit and what that looks like. We're also going to start talking a little bit about investing some small stuff now that we have some money in savings. That's the money that we put in originally. And we're not going to take your walking around money, but your money that's in savings. We're going to start talking about where to put that, how to make money with that. We'll keep diving a little bit further into her job experiences and how she's liking that because at that point, she'll be working a little bit more and have a little more change in her purse, which is always nice. And then we'll also dive a little bit more into our book. I gave her a break this time.

01:00:20 - Catey Mills
Because she forgot about that book. Yes, the book I'm already doing enough book study for.

01:00:25 - Mike Mills
I know. That's why. That's why I gave you some leeway on that one because I'm very proud of you. You've been working your butt off and you're doing stuff. You're going to work every day. You're practicing volleyball. You're working out. You're responsible. You get yourself up in the morning. Your mom and I don't have to worry about you. And we didn't do this. You did this all on your own. So I'm super proud of you. You've done a great job so far, and I appreciate you listening to me lecture at you for an hour and most of your life, all the time, too. So thanks to everybody that hung out with us and watched it for a little while. I really appreciate it. Like I said, we'll be back sometime in early May when she gets out of school, and we'll go into credit cards, building credit, investing, and then further track the story of jobs and money. So thanks, everybody. You all have a great rest of your week, rest of your spring break, and we'll see you next time.

01:01:11 - Catey Mills
Bye, friends. Bye.