Yesterday, I saw how much money my dad had in the bank?

Question

I think we're going broke or something. He had around $15,000 in the bank account. Is that a lot, a little, or average? Our house cost like $600,000 when we first bought it and dad pays the bills. My mom doesn't work. My dad is in his 50s and I can tell he's aging. If we're becoming poor, I want to support my parents yet I'm only 14 and they treat me like a 5 yr old girl [so no babysitting or jobs.] Are we financially safe for now?

ps- what can I, the 14 yr old, do to reduce some money on the bills?

Answer 1

this is wildly personal information you should not be posting on-line!

Answer 2

Dont worry young lady.Your dad knows what he is doing.You havent seen his insurance policies ,have you.? Just enjoy your teenage life like everyone else.

Answer 3

If your parents put 20% down on the house and have a 6.5% mortgage rate, their house payment could be around $3500 a month.

The fact that you're 14 and aware of potential problems makes you a special daughter.

If there are things going on in your hosuehold that make you think there are money problems, you should probably bring it up.  It might take a lot of stress off your Dad if the family had an open discussion about the finances and things everyone could do to reduce the expenses:

Here are some suggestions, they might be painful, but could possibly save a lot of money:

Cancel Cable

Cancel extra cell phones

No more eating out

Cut back on utilities, raise temp for AC

Cancel allowances

Ride Bikes instead of driving to school, afterschool activities

Cut back on shopping

If you're Dad has his own business or is in Sales, you could offer to help him with his work, things like mail postcards, do filing etc.

Answer 4

There are things you an do to help with the bills.....that's to reduce the size of them.

When you leave a room - turn the lights off.

Turn the TV off when you are not watching it.

Don't use the dryer to iron your clothes -- get the iron out and do it the hard way

Don't take really long showers

If you do your laundry, use cold water instead of hot.

Re-use the same glass when you get something to drink so the dishwasher does not have to be run as often.

It does not seem like much, but making small changes can really cut down on the amount of your utility bills.

Think about other ways you can save on water and electricity. This will go along way toward helping to reduce these bills (and it's a good habit to get into when you are our on your own paying these bills) and it's good for the environment too.

Answer 5

$15k in savings is not a bad amount.  A lot of people don't have any savings.

Answer 6

THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT A  BAD CHECKING AMOUNT. SOME PEOPLE DON'T SAVE AND LIVE PAY CHECK TO PAYCHECK. YOU ALL SOUND PRETTY WELL OFF TO ME.

Answer 7

Don't worry. Talk to your Dad. A lot more goes into personal finances than a single bank account. For instance how much money does he make each month vs the bills he pays. He may have a positive cash flow. Does your Dad have other investments? 15K in the bank but maybe much more in IRA or investments.