Frivolity versus necessity

MAT-SU — In youth, the line between frivolity and necessity is blurred to nonexistent. With a life revolving around cell phones, the new iPhone can appear to be a necessity for survival, while a new winter coat is a trivial object parents seem to be nagging constantly about. With winter approaching and Permanent Fund Dividends on the way, worrying about what teens buy might not be such a bad idea. When interviewed, teens readily shared if they received their dividends and how they plan on using them.

Karly, a freshman from the Career and Technical High School, received the full $1,281.

“Yes, I got my PFD,” she said. “I spent a little bit to go on a trip this summer, I bought a new cell phone and the rest will go to savings or to taxes.”

Karly’s family went to Chepo’s this year and had a “nice family dinner” to celebrate.

Some parents choose to start a college savings account for their children at a young age, like Connor Priest, a senior at Palmer High School. Connor got his PFD, but said it’s all going to his college fund.

“I wish I could use it for personal use, you know?” he said.

Connor is planning on attending the University of Alaska Anchorage or University of Alaska Fairbanks next fall, and said his family has put his PFD away “all 17 years” to pay for it.

A few lucky teens are allowed to keep all of their money and spend it immediately, like Carmella Selmont, a homeschooled junior. She’s already spent most of her PFD, she said. She bought two plane tickets to Redding, Calif., to attend a Jesus Culture event.

“The rest,” she said, “is for food down there.”

Of course, there are some parents who use their children’s dividends to pay bills and taxes, like Amanda’s parents. A 15-year-old sophomore from Houston High School, she said she wishes she could choose how to spend her dividend.

“I would put half of it into savings for college and leave half for spending,” she said.

Fortunately for Amanda, she will see her PFD later, because her family will “put it into Christmas. We usually buy a nice dinner and cook it at home.”

Amanda is among the majority of teens whose parents use their PFDs for miscellaneous stuff.

For young adults in college, PFDs can be life savers.

“I wouldn’t have been able to pay for ministry school without my PFD,” said Erik Salmon, a student at Northgate’s School of Ministry, “or buy new snow tires and that would’ve been bad.”

Erik’s family goes out to a nice dinner every year for a PFD celebration.

Those fortunate enough to receive theirs do a variety of things with it, from buying plane tickets to buying food.

Some students who don’t get their PFDs still reap the benefits of it by going out to dinner to celebrate or going on a nice vacation. Without a line between want and need parents should keep an eye out for what their children are spending money on.