Excited for payday, Tyler Switzer prepares for his job shaker-boarding at Little Caesar's Pizza. Photo by: Jack Bowen

By Jack Bowen

Whether it be gas, clothing or eating out, students have a variety of expenses.  They also have a variety of ways to earn the money needed to fund these expenses.

As students’ high school careers progress, most of them will find some type of employment whether it be in a general store, a fast food joint, or a family owned business.  Senior Tyler Switzer says that his main source of income comes from working at Little Caesar’s Pizza.  Babysitting is another way many students earn money.  Senior Grace Mestad and Junior Miriah Bowen both babysit.  Mestad says that her main source of income is now babysitting because her “job at PCC is seasonal.”

Most students are not financially independent yet.  Sophomore Kameron Markovich says most of the money he spends is from his parents.  He explains that they give him money, and he pays them half of it back over time.  Switzer, Mestad and Bowen all said that their parents help them out as well if they need the extra cash.

Students’ expenses can vary.  Switzer says that most of the money he earns is spent on gas.  He is not alone.  Mestad agrees that most of her money earned is spent to run her car.  For those students who drive, the gas prices never seem quite low enough.  Although gas is a predominate expense in some upperclassmen lives, freshmen and most sophomores can not drive yet.  Markovich says that his biggest expense is lunch.  Other common expense among students vary from clothes to fast food.