Scene: Summertime, Before Labor Day
Joey Econ has a tough decision to make. He needs new sneakers for school. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be a hard decision for him because his parents usually could just buy what he needed. However, the teamsters union at the manufacturing plant that Joey’s father works for just went on strike. They are striking for better benefits.
Mr. Econ belongs to a manufacturing labor union. They have a special savings plan specifically designed only in case of a strike. Well, that has now happened. Joey’s parents have maintained a fairly strict family budget for years and are pretty well prepared to live on the special savings account as long as they are careful and just purchase the necessities.
Joey is getting ready to enter high school. He has an A/B+ grade average, so his parents have allowed Joey to work at a part-time job during the summer so he can earn some money for college and incidental expenses.
Now that Joey’s father is on strike, and his income has been drastically reduced, his only income will be from the "strike fund" which must go toward family bills. His mother does not work because she has several younger children to take care of. So now, Joey is getting ready to go back to school and needs some new clothes and sneakers.
Joey and his family live in an ocean resort city and, for the past two summers, Joey has worked at a tourist booth at the beachfront. His job is part of a "Student To Work" program co-sponsored by the city council and the school board. He is paid every other Friday and has one more month to work before going back to school after Labor Day.
Joey doesn’t want to ask his parents to buy what he needs because he knows the whole family must be careful in their spending. Joey’s decision is to buy the clothes and sneakers himself. He has had his eye on some brand name shirts, jeans, and sneakers. He has some extra spending money to use, but he also knows he cannot take money from his college fund.
Joey’s parents have always been hard workers and have provided well for the family. Joey and his younger brother and sister have always been well fed and clothed for school. But now, Joey has the opportunity and ability to buy what he needs for himself. In this way, he can contribute to the family financial plan by taking care of his own expenses.
Joey has most of his earnings going into his college fund, but he has also set aside some money for his own entertainment and school expenses. Now, he has to be very careful with his purchases because he also might have to help out his family financially.
Joey had saved about $300 for buying his own clothes. Ordinarily he buys brand name clothes because that is what most of his friends wear. Now things are different. He can’t count on his parents until the strike is settled and his father goes back to work. His father told him the strike could last several months, so the union workers will be on a tight budget.
Joey’s Decisions
Joey decided that he could get by at the beginning of the school year with some of the jeans from the end of last school year. However, he really needs new sneakers. His parents usually take Joey shopping and he spends about $110 for a pair of Nikes. However, that is now a little over a third of his savings for clothes. He surely wouldn’t have much left over. And he usually bought several pairs at the beginning of school. But, he can’t now. So Joey knew he would have to shop around.
One afternoon, Joey went to the mall with several friends whose fathers also worked at the same factory that is on strike and åEALES~1HTM G¼m[)[) #=[) ¡ åm l ÿÿÿÿ Õÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿår e g r e Õs s i v e . h t åEGRES~1HTM ½m[)[) =[) åh t m l &ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿår e l a t &i o n w k s t . åELATI~1HTM y½m[)[) î<[) › ås c a r c 0i t y . h t m l åCARCI~1HTM ¸½m[)[) Ð<[) 0 ås d l a w s . h t m l ÿÿåDLAWS~1HTM DÀm[)[) Ä<[) Š ås d r e v ii e w . h t m l åDREVI~1HTM ªÀm[)[) &yZ) Y åm l ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿås e c t 1 n o t e s . h t åECT1N~1HTM 6Ám[)[) 1yZ) ¤ t $60.
Joey and his friends then decided they would go to the "Price Club" which was only a short drive away and check out the prices there. Their parents belong to the Price Club and do their bulk shopping there, but this was the first time Joey had gone with his friends to shop for themselves. They found the clothing section and, even though the selection was not a large as the "All-American Sneaker Shop," the boys were surprised to see some of the brand name sneakers on display. As they checked the prices, they found the cost was about 40% below the "Sneaker Shop." There were even "on sale" sneakers that were priced much lower than at the "Sneaker Shop," and were just as nice.
As Joey made his decisions, he began to appreciate more and more the value of the money he had earned.
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