What’s your goal for after high school? McKinley Pounders, an AHS graduate had one goal set in mind, to buy her own apartment when she graduates. She started working at Sonic at 16 years old and over the course of the two years she worked there she was able to save $10,000 for her first apartment. Money management played a big role in her dedication to save money.

“Trying to balance your school work and getting enough hours of sleep, while managing a social life was tricky.” Even though working was tough on her academic career and social life, she realized that once she saw the money coming in, her goal could be achieved by putting in the work.

When you have bills to pay, money management can be hard because sometimes we put our wants over our needs. McKinley says “you have to be willing to tell yourself ‘no.’ ” Along with good money management skills, discipline is vital for setting yourself up to budget for the bills you need to pay.

Just before Covid-19 hit, McKinley became a carhop, which allowed her to earn more money by getting tips. Throughout the pandemic, Sonic was the only fast food restaurant that consistently stayed open. She was able to save $500 every two weeks and that added up to $10,000 by the end of her senior year.

“Once you start working and you see that money roll in, you can either decide to keep on making that money roll in or just keep it steady.” For McKinley, her work ethic grew once she started seeing the money come in and she realized she could make her goal an achievement by continuing to work.

She reached her goal and was able to get her first apartment by the summer of her freshmen year of college. She has one piece of advice for someone if they plan on saving their money, “No matter how big or small your goal is you can reach it.”