I'm 13. Can I buy supplies at a pet store without a parent/adult present?
As long as your money is green and you aren't buying something prohibited to youngsters (booze, cigarettes, etc.) I doubt any store is going to refuse your business. My 12 year old routinely makes purchases with cash or a gift card (either a store's card or a Visa/Amex card that acts like credit card but is a gift card) and has never had an issue. Clothing, make-up, bath items, etc. I understand in some areas you need to be over 18 to buy certain markers, spraypaint, or other propellant items that can be fatal if inhaled. I see little issue with buying pet supplies, but it wouldn't hurt to have your sibling nearby if you think there will be an issue. I had a cat growing up--most of the time I was the one who got her supplies.  It was never an issue. Perhaps a technicality, but minors do not have the legal capacity to bind a contract. Making a purchase from a store is a contract. I'm not a lawyer and there may be case law to the contrary or that creates exceptions, but my understanding is that purchases made by a minor may be void if later challenged. JohnFx's answer is true from a practical sense. But if you get turned away at a store, understand that they're probably just being careful to avoid headaches later.
"Tough spot. I'm guessing the credit cards are a personal line of credit in their name and not the company's (the fact that the business can be liquidated separately from your parents means they did at least set up an LLC or similar business entity). Using personal debt to save a company that could have just been dissolved at little cost to their personal credit and finances was, indeed, a very bad move. The best possible end to this scenario for you and your parents would be if your parents could get the debt transferred to the LLC before dissolving it. At this point, with the company in such a long-standing negative situation, I would doubt that any creditor would give the business a loan (which was probably why your parents threw their own good money after bad with personal CCs). They might, in the right circumstances, be able to convince a judge to effectively transfer the debt to the corporate entity before liquidating it. That puts the debt where it should have been in the first place, and the CC companies will have to get in line. That means, in turn, that the card issuers will fight any such motion or decision tooth and nail, as long as there's any other option that gives them more hope of recovering their money. Your parents' only prayer for this to happen is if the CCs were used for the sole purpose of business expenses. If they were living off the CCs as well as using them to pay business debts, a judge, best-case, would only relieve the debts directly related to keeping the business afloat, and they'd be on the hook for what they had been living on. Bankruptcy is definitely an option. They will ""re-affirm"" their commitment to paying the mortgage and any other debts they can, and under a Chapter 13 the judge will then remand negotiations over what total portion of each card's balance is paid, over what time, and at what rate, to a mediator. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the less damaging form to your parent's credit; they are at least attempting to make good on the debt.  A Chapter 7 would wipe it away completely, but your parents would have to prove that they cannot pay the debt, by any means, and have no hope of ever paying the debt by any means. If they have any retirement savings, anything in their name for grandchildren's college funds, etc, the judge and CC issuers will point to it like a bird dog. Apart from that, their house is safe due to Florida's ""homestead"" laws, but furniture, appliances, clothing, jewelry, cars and other vehicles, pretty much anything of value that your parents cannot defend as being necessary for life, health, or the performance of whatever jobs they end up taking to dig themselves out of this, are all subject to seizure and auction. They may end up just selling the house anyway because it's too big for what they have left (or will ever have again). I do not, under any circumstance, recommend you putting your own finances at risk in this. You may gift money to help, or provide them a place to live while they get back on their feet, but do not ""give till it hurts"" for this. It sounds heartless, but if you remove your safety net to save your parents, then what happens if you need it? Your parents aren't going to be able to bail you out, and as a contractor, if you're effectively ""doing business as"" Reverend Gonzo Contracting, you don't have the debt shield your parents had. It looks like housing's faltering again due to the news that the Fed's going to start backing off; you could need that money to weather a ""double-dip"" in the housing sector over the next few months, and you may need it soon." "Except here's the problem.   Sunglasses for example are something you'd be a fool to buy online without trying them on first.   So you go to a store, try on a pair of ray-bans that cost $260, and you get them online for $120.  The problem is that when all the stores disappear, we no longer have that option.    Honestly I did this at Sunglass Hut...   I bought them on an impulse, found the model online, and returned them and said: ""I wouldn't care if it was $40 difference - being able to try them on is worth it.   But you're selling them for double what I can get them for online, so I'm going to return these.   I feel like an ass, but you guys don't price match.""  The 19 year old girl probably didn't care too much on my rant, but maybe one day it'll get to the company's management." The store keeps track of what you buy. It is all part of their big data. The knowledge of what you buy helps them project future sales. It allows them to target their marketing. But maybe even more importantly they can sell this knowledge to outside companies. They aren't going to give away that information to another company that would love to have that data, just so they could sell it. Stores use those loyalty cards to be able to link your household to those purchases. Those discounts, or free products, are what they use to entice you to give up your privacy.  The fact that in your town young adults love caramel apples, even more than the town next door, makes them confident that your town will love caramel apple scented shampoo. Thus they send you coupons when it become available. They will also sell this knowledge to the shampoo companies. Do some stores make it possible for you to download the data? Yes they do. Apple stores send all receipts via email. Kohls allows me to see detail information about my transactions on line. There must be others. I don't know if any are grocery stores. not sure if you are serious. golf courses require a large number of people working on it. jobs created.   property development (including building of the golf course) creates a large number of temporary jobs, and long term jobs (upkeep services), and the opportunity for new local businesses to open. The rich folk moving in will probably want to keep their house clean (housekeep services), their yard kept (landscaping service), their cars maintained (auto shop / services), their dogs/pets cared for (pet care services), their organic food (food markets), etc. In addition, by having the rich folks there, the 'mid to luxury' store front brands might decide to open up locations in the area - a smart developer would build a small open air mall to complement their housing. This creates jobs. It might not seem like much, but when your family is barely making ends meet, a few extra hundred dollars each week can make a huge difference.   In addition, the new business generates taxes for the city. "GreenLight offers a paid service for $5 per month that requires an adult primary account holder, and then unlimited accounts, including minors, as part of that service. I saw no minimum age requirement (see section ""Minors as Sub-Account Cardholders""). https://www.greenlightcard.com/index.html Disclaimer: I haven't tried this service" "Completely linear?  We don't do that. Our daughter has a fixed allowance, and we expect a certain amount of help around the house as being part of the family.  We don't make any explicit ties between the two, and we don't seem to have any problems. We bought an eBay lot of Polly Pockets and divided them up into $5 bags.  (This is a better deal that what we could get in the store new.)  Her allowance isn't enough that she can ""buy"" one every week. After sensing her frustration we gave her the opportunity to earn some more money by doing extra work.  It happened to be cleaning up after our dogs in the back yard, a chore we had neglected for quite a while.  She stuck with the job, and truly earned that money.  (She'll be six in January.)  What's more, it was a good deal for me.  It needed to be done, and I didn't really want to do it. :) So, for now this seems like a fair balance.  It prevents her from getting the idea that she won't work unless she gets paid, but she also knows that working harder does have its rewards. We still have time to teach her the idea of working smarter. (This isn't a formal study.  It's just my experience.)" "If Best Buy gets wiped out, that would suck.  Sometimes I like the options of:  * Being able to take-home today * Being able to look at products in the store  I've made 2 recent electronics purchases.  1.  I bought a notebook computer from Amazon.  I have been shopping for a few months, looking at Amazon, and looking at computers in the stores.  I was looking for a few specific things (where the power cord plugs in, if the Function keys were primary or secondary, etc.)  that the Amazon ad didn't specify, so I went to various stores to see how they worked out.  But, Amazon had the best price by about $40 (I have Prime), so I had to order through Amazon.  I feel a tiny bit bad about that, because I theoretically ""used"" the merchandising of other stores to buy at Amazon. 2.  I bought a sound bar for my TV at Best Buy.  One day I decided I wanted to get a sound bar.  It was something I had been thinking about for a long time, but bought on an impulse that day.  It was nice to go into Best Buy and get to look at a whole bunch of options, and then just buy one and take it home.  I never even checked to see if Amazon had the same item available.  I like to think that if Best Buy *did* go out of business, that some other business idea would come along that would make it easy for me to see products in person and have the option for ""buy today""." Since you're a minor, this would come down to your sister lending you the money, possibly taking out a loan herself to do so.  If you can't wheedle her into doing so, then the only help she can give you is to help wheedle your parents.