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.
Buy something from Nordstrom, then return it and ask for cash. They may ask for your ID.  Nordstrom's return policies are very lax and they will almost always give cash when asked for, sometimes even if you don't have the receipt. We were members at costco, but decided not to renew.  Meat was a definite cost savings, and laundry detergent as well.  Diapers used to be a huge savings, but loblaws seems to be pricing things better now.  We did by a bunch of Kirkland brand diapers and wipes before the membership ended. The problem we had was that you just get too much stuff - you save a bunch on that laundry detergent that you buy once every two years, or the chicken you have in your freezer forever. In Canada, the basic membership is $55 and we could not be certain we made that back, nor that we weren't over consuming as we walked the aisles.  I have heard that the more expensive membership ($100) which gives you 2% back on purchases is a good way to gauge your usage and determine if it is worth it. It also costs nothing to give it a try - their policy is a full refund at any time, so in theory you could go in on your 364th day and get a refund. The last thing I bought there was a barbecue for my dad.  I needed two accessories that were on display with it as well, but they didn't carry them instore.  So I had to go online to order them... from two different places.  And one of the part numbers I was given didn't match anything, so I had to call on the phone and spend about 15 minutes with someone figuring it out.  It was a less than stellar experience. I don't know if BJ's or Costco is by you, but sharing a membership can make sense. Not just the annual fee, but splitting certain items that are just too big. The 20 pack of batteries, the 30lb sacks of potatoes, etc. Anything you look at and realize you won't use it before it goes bad or have no place to store it. Size is one objection I hear regarding the warehouse stores and a splitting buddy can help.  To James' point - Yes, kids are cruel. We live in a nice area, and I pride myself on driving the cheapest car on the street. In the last two years, two neighbors (of 8 of us on this cul-de-sac) have downsized. They needed to take the difference and use it for college tuition. I explained to my daughter, when you see a kid in a big house, you don't know two key things: how big their mortgage is, and how much have they saved for college/retirement. I shop at Sears because of the enormous section of hardware parts.  You can find almost any bolt,screw,connector, etc for any DIY project.  Nothing online compares to being able to go to the hardware section only with an idea and piecing it together with the parts at hand.  Also, I'm 35. "Well, I'd probably need to buy a lot more [Tide](http://nymag.com/news/features/tide-detergent-drugs-2013-1) to hide any purchases I don't want Uncle Sam to know about (not just drugs, either - When's the last time you paid sales tax at a yard sale?).   Other than that, I doubt it would matter much.  99.9% of my financial transactions are *already* on plastic, and I regularly keep the same ""emergency $20 bill"" in my wallet for months at a time." Your parents are troopers (pooper troopers?). Nothing in our area was affordable for those services so we tried the clean-your-own kind - they were really nice and probably would help potty train but seriously a few months of scraping poop into the trash and washing a bucket of smelly diapers got old quiiiiiick! I will say this - the kind you clean yourself is the absolute cheapest option. It was like $300 for a half week supply of cloth diapers so you're doing diaper laundry twice a week and the only other added cost is the special detergent which was pretty cheap and lasted a long time... Then we sold them used on eBay for $200 and bought the next size up when it was time which was like 2 months later (they snap to multiple sizes)... Rinse and repeat - works out pretty well if you're willing to commit to washing poop cloth twice a week. And 3 months of honest diapers is around $300 I think. Make sure your handling the legal side of things. At your age, at least in the US usually, your parents are the one responsible for things like contracts and such. You can't legally get into contracts on your own and if your going to go into business, even at your age, a contract of work should be a must. "If you're under 18 there's not much you can do. As a minor, your kinda just stuck. There are routes to go, but not many.  If you're over 18, here's what you can do.  Now these steps won't help you not anger your mother. They're ""what you can do"" but it doesn't mean you ""should"". Keep in mind that it might be better just to have a conversation. In that conversation, if you think you need to say, ""I will file a complaint with the FBI, and have you arrested if you don't stop! You're breaking the law and invading my privacy."" Again these are drastic steps to take. More moderate steps may be advisable." I can deal with the sometimes human trash that shops there, the screaming and running kids...and even the somewhat messy isles.  For me, it comes down to two things:   1. Language barrier. If you are going to have staff on the floor, they need to be able to speak and understand English. This is an uncomfortable criticism, I know, but it is real.  2. Staff lack of knowledge of the products they sell. Reading the description on the tag of two different items does not help me. Our Website : http://www.inglewoodarena.com/ The Forum loves children, but asks that you check the age minimum on the event you are attending prior to buying tickets. If children are allowed, those under two attend for free but must remain on a ticket-holders lap. Any strollers must be collapsible and stored beneath seat. Service Pets are happily accepted but must remain in the seating area with their human, harnessed or leashed. The Forum Inglewood strongly encourages Animal Access card photo IDs. "If you're in the US then no.  You cannot enter a binding contract therefore you will not get a loan from a bank. Cosigner or no cosigner, anything to do with a loan and a bank will not involve you.  Your parents can get a loan, then they can give you the money, then you can pay them for their payments, but none of that means the loan has anything to do with you.  It's their loan, if they default it's on them. Given your age, you probably will ignore everyone else's advice here about this trip being a bad idea if you can't afford it, but you should reconsider it.  You will be paying for this trip long after the fun and excitement has worn off.  This is the cycle that sends alot of families into bankruptcy, and it's a horrible habit to learn so young.  ""Loan"" shouldn't even be in your vocabulary dealing with anything other than a library book." Fair enough, do what you want, but the issue is that the physical store is providing you with valuable services that you are taking advantage of (you get to see the shoes before you buy them, try them on, get advice from employees, etc.) without paying for. Customers also have different needs and the more extreme the need, the more likely they're going to rate you. So even if you completely fulfill a customer's need, unless it was an extreme need or they were in a predefined emotional state, you're not likely to get a review.  As an example, we used to actually fix things at our Radio Shack, with solder and such. In store. A FEW people would give us feedback about that. We were also allowed leeway on what we could take for returns (receipt, 30 day limit, etc.). So if the customer came in and started telling me how our products sucked, and they were calling the BBB it's unlikely they would receive the queen bee treatment. They also gave reviews (Yelp wasn't around at the time).  In short, despite the fact we gave the vast majority of our customers way above par treatment, the people most likely to give reviews were self-entitled pissants. Despite what people say about turning customers around (from angry to nice), this only happened with maybe 1 out of every 5 pissy customers. Another two would probably be shown to be attempting to scam the store in some manner and a fourth would likely have to be shown the door. It's never too early, but age 3 is when we started a piggy bank.  Age 4 is when we opened a bank account. When you go shopping with your children, discuss what items cost (such as bread, milk, books, etc.) Start teaching them that everything has a value...then relate it to how much they have saved.  Kids need to learn 3 basic things from their parents:  how to save/invest, how to spend wisely, how to share/donate