DR. WALLACE: I'm 17 and my younger brother is 15. For many years, the two of us boys have always tried to find odd jobs or business ideas to make a little money.

Recently, we've been going around homes in our neighborhood, asking neighbors if they need any help with yardwork, lawn, mowing, cleaning out garages or anything else that might need to be done.

One Saturday, we each found jobs at two separate homes. My job was about 15 houses away from the one my younger brother was working at.

I finished my job in about three and a half hours and got paid by the homeowner directly. I cleaned everything up and eventually walked down to see how my brother was doing at his job. He was just wrapping up and he finished shortly after I got there. I actually helped him clean up a bit and put all the tools away.

I asked him if the lady had paid him in advance and he said no, that she would pay him by the hour and to tell her the next day how many hours he worked since she was going to be gone at an event all day Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, I went with my brother when he went over to her house to tell her how many hours he worked. He told her five hours and she counted out the money and paid him. But since we started at the same time on each of our jobs, I know for a fact that the maximum amount of time he worked that Saturday was even a bit less than four hours, and not a few minutes more.

I said something to him later in the day about how he might've added the hours up wrong and all he said to me was, "It's no big deal." I know for sure he overcharged that lady by at least a full hour. I'd like him to learn a lesson about this, but I don't want to get into a fight with him. What can I do to make this right? — He Definitely Overcharged her, via email

HE DEFINITELY OVERCHARGED HER: You have a decision to make here. It's apparent that he plans on keeping the extra money and not mentioning anything to this lady. You could let it go and perhaps lecture him one more time about how it's not right to overcharge a lady like that.

Or, another strategy might be to ask your brother if you can borrow a few dollars from him because you have a special need for that money. Don't disclose what you plan to do with it. But if you can get him to give you the equivalent amount of money that he took for one extra hour of "phantom" work, you could go back to that lady's house on your own and give her back that money. You could explain that your brother made a mistake with the math and he was too embarrassed to go back directly to her, but you wanted to make sure she was charged the right amount.

Later, you can explain to your brother what you did, and you can further tell him that because the two of you honorably returned the money to the lady, he should have no problem going back to her to solicit more work in the future. This may be quite an effective way to resolve this matter.

THESE SHOPPING TRIPS ENCROACH ON MY SOCIAL TIME

DR. WALLACE: I'm the oldest sibling in my family and I'm currently a senior in high school. I've been driving for a year and a half, and my parents have a second car that I can regularly borrow.

All of this sounds great, except for the fact that at least half the time I ask to borrow the car, my mother will request that I pick up items from the grocery store on my way home. She does give me a credit card to pay for them, and I never have a problem using that card, but it definitely eats into my time for my social life. The reason for this is that the main grocery store in our area closes at 10 p.m., so I have to be in the store by 9:45 p.m. to start shopping.

Many times, my friends will stay out much later, sometimes up to an hour later, but on the occasions I have a "shopping list", I have to leave my friends early. I appreciate the use of the car, but running errands for my mother a couple of times a week has taken up a lot of my valuable personal time. Do you think this is fair? — Grocery Shopping Crimps My Personal Time, via email

GROCERY SHOPPING CRIMPS MY PERSONAL TIME: I do feel it's fair, given the trade-off here. Many teenage daughters would love to be trusted enough to borrow the family car regularly for their personal outings at night.

You obviously have earned your parents' trust, which is a good thing. However, you're using their car, likely for free, meaning you're not likely paying any upkeep or insurance on it, nor are you likely paying for the fuel either. Yes, you do have to pick up a few groceries a few times a week, but in exchange, you receive the use of this vehicle for your own personal outings, plus you benefit from the independence a vehicle provides you.

My advice would be to continue using the car for your "normal" social outings, but if you have a special event planned for a particular evening, find an alternate method of transportation to and from home for that event so that you can enjoy additional social time without having to rush back to the grocery store.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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