My baby son has been hired to run a kitchen for a senior citizen center. He did some volunteering there and they liked his work ethic so much that they offered him a part time job. $10 an hour and 24 hours a week, but he's tickled with the position. Oh, and I guess since he's 19, I can't call him my baby boy any longer. But you know, he'll always be my baby.

He starts on January 1st. Our hours are the same, so we will carpool in together.

He had some ideas for how to budget, but asked what I thought he should do. I told him I expected him to help with some of the household finances, for one thing. I do think it's a good idea for a working young person to contribute to the family household. AJ was entirely in agreement. Our auto insurance is higher each month because AJ is on the policy, so he's agreed to pay his portion, as well as some money for gas, and food.

I've always followed the rule that a person should pay about (but not more than) 25% of their income on the house payment (be that rent or mortgage). So I thought it would be a good percentage to ask AJ to pay 25% of his net income to be applied toward the three things I mentioned above. Since we pay for our auto insurance every six months, I'll need to move the amount of money he's paying us twice monthly, into my auto insurance savings account.

AJ was determined to donate 25% of his net income to our church. But I reminded him that he was planning to attend two church conferences in 2009, so I suggested donating 10% of his gross income and the other 15% to savings for attending the conference. Our church does not believe in tithing, instead follow this verse when it comes to donations: 2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.If you can't afford it, they don't expect you to take food from your family's mouth to put into the church coffers.

Next, I suggested that he put 25% into savings. We figured that he is going to net about $800 each month. He will be paid twice a month, with a check exactly the same amount each time.

He'll need to buy an airline ticket and fly for the very first time for one of his conferences. My baby youngest son is growing up!! I told him to get a ball park figure (bearing in mind that purchasing the airline tickets sooner than later will have a bearing on the cost) for how much money he'll need for the two conferences, and figure out how many paychecks until each conference. Say for example his airline tickets will cost $500 for the round trip, plus $200 for the hotel room and conference and food for the trip in July. That's twelve paychecks from January to June. He'll need to put back $56.00 each check. The conference coming up in March will cost $250 so he would need to put back $32.00 of each check.

Can he swing this budget? Here's what it looks like per paycheck. We estimate each paycheck will be ~$400 after taxes.

Conferences 22% of net: $88
Household 25% of net: $100
Donation 10% of gross: $52
Savings 25% of net: $100

$340 of each paycheck will be saved or used to pay “bills”. That will leave him $60.00 for 15 days. I'm sure he'll need to “tweak” this budget as times goes by, especially when he finds out how much the airline tickets will actually cost.

AJ has been working with Mr. A occasionally, and we were paying him to cook and clean, and do other chores around the house. That weekly “pay” will be forfeited, and now AJ will be helping with his $200 each month. That will help to alleviate some of the financial strain that we've felt with the economy slow down. We're hoping to see Mr. A's business pick up after the new year. Since AJ is only working three days a week, he'll still have the opportunity to work with his father in the family business and learn the trade. All in all, I think it will be an excellent opportunity for AJ as he is a very good cook and he loves working in the kitchen.

I'm so proud of AJ!