Anyone with a summer job can relate to the *NSYNC lyrics, “Thank God it’s Friday night and I just got paid.” Theoretically, this paycheck adds to savings to use year-round, but in reality the extra cash may make teens spend more in the summer.

Though most part-time jobs pay little more than minimum wage, teenagers in America bring in an average of $91 billion in total income annually, according to MarketingVOX.
Sophomore Riley Forrester of Spring Lake Heights said that getting paid adds a sense of monetary security when she wants to go out.
“I think having a summer job makes me more willing to spend money because I know that I’ll just get another paycheck the next week,” Forrester said. “I’m not really worried about running out of money.”
As a summer camp counselor, senior Kate Dickenson of Spring Lake Heights said she agrees.

“I definitely spend more money in the summer,” Dickenson said. “That’s when I have a job so I feel really rich and I spend it all so then I’m broke during school.”
Paychecks are not the only factors in heavy summer spending. Senior Kiera Gill of Wall does not have a summer job but said she still finds herself spending more money in these few months.
“In the summer there is more free time to do whatever I want,” Gill said. “I find that whenever I want to make plans or do something, most of the things involve spending money like going to a movie, fair, restaurant, ice cream place, mall, etc.”
Junior Colin Martin of Middletown, on the other hand, said that he spends a little more during the school year than in the summer.
“I’d say it’s probably about even,” Martin said. “But maybe a little more during the school year because I’m paying for school activities and hanging out with my friends occasionally.”

Regardless, the money that teens spend makes it feel that much better when payday finally comes around.