TRAVERSE CITY -- Grocery store discount tags are like little beacons, meant to boost sales of certain items by steering savings-seeking customers in their direction.
On a recent shopping trip, Alisha and Nicole Bowles inspected bags of salad in the produce section, added dairy products to their cart and stocked up on snack foods for school lunches.
But they continually scanned for the small white sale signs, just like the one they saw advertising three bottles of juice for $3. They bought all three.
The teenagers are expert bargain hunters; they frequently clip coupons and shop at discount retailers and secondhand stores for everything from clothing to Christmas gifts.
"Young girls at their age want their own money," their mother, Barb Vickers, said. "But they want to help."
Times are tight everywhere, as people scale back to avoid being pulled under by a deepening economic recession. But some area residents, including Vickers, are barely afloat, situations made harder in many cases by widespread unemployment.
Five of Vickers' six children, all of whom share the last name Bowles, live with her in a four-bedroom house in Traverse City -- Alisha, 17; Nicole, 16; Mercedes, 12; and twins Charlie and Tracey, 10.
Alisha's boyfriend, William Williamson, 18, and their infant son, named for his father, also live there. And Nicole's boyfriend, Brandon Goudey, 16, often stays with them.
Their family is multi-generational and unconventional, but close-knit. They try to eat dinner together every night and often work together on jigsaw puzzles spread out on the kitchen table.
Life was a challenge before gas prices topped $4 a gallon and the state's unemployment rate became the nation's worst. But at least then Vickers was able to work.
She was a housekeeper at the Sands Motel on East Bay and, prior to that, at the Econo Lodge near Chum's Corner in Blair Township.
Diagnosed with a chronic breathing condition, back pain and depression, her doctors advised her in early September that continuing to work could worsen her health.
Now their only income is what her children earn, a situation Vickers hates, especially since she knows it's what keeps a roof over their heads. She is waiting for an answer to her application for disability payments.
Many days, Alisha leaves after school to work at the Traverse City Goodwill store. Nicole, William and Brandon earn stipends through the Youth Corps program at Traverse City High School.
The school also helps Alisha and William get diapers and other baby needs for their son, who turned 7 months old Dec. 1.
"Either way, I'd have to work," Alisha said. "I couldn't see my family out on the streets. (I'm) just making sure my brothers and sisters have a nice place to be."
The family is behind on the $900 monthly rent, paid with Tracey's monthly Social Security checks. The teens pay the various utilities, and Vickers receives more than $600 a month in state food assistance.
"I don't feel right, but right now it's what we have to do," she said. "I know it's a lot on these two. But if I didn't have them here to help, I don't know where I'd be."
Vickers doesn't hide the family's situation from her children.
Mercedes, for instance, wonders why people keep losing their jobs. Charlie earned $15 doing odd jobs for neighbors and gave it to his mother, even when she insisted he keep it. And Tracey once told Vickers to buy gasoline for her car with her Social Security checks.
The older children are waiting until they turn 18 to get their driver's licenses, since they won't have to pay for the training courses.
"It's hard. I work a lot," Nicole said, adding that she's glad she can take care of her mother after all she has done for her. "She's bought me everything."
None of those selfless gestures surprise their mother, who said they always have gravitated toward helping others.
"Even if they had their last dollar and they knew we needed it, and someone else needed it, they'd give it to him," Vickers said. "They have a big heart and they care about a lot of people."
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