I don't mean this to kick you when you're down, I really don't. But the mom in me (my kids are a few years older than you) just has to say this.

The time to worry about whether you can "afford" to have a criminal record is before you commit a crime. Once you do, it is no longer up to you whether you have one or not. That decision is totally in other hands than yours, and you don't get a say in the matter. $4 or $400, you made your choice when you stole it. Now whether you do or do not end up with a criminal record is no longer in your control. What IS within your control is whether you make the required restitution or not. If you don't have the money, get it, or make payment arrangements and FOLLOW THEM. If you can't get it or won't/don't follow the arrangements you make, then whether you can "afford" to have a criminal record or not, you very likely will.

You had the choice not to steal. Once you chose to do so, you do not get to choose what consequences you do and do not suffer.

Good kids may make bad choices, but once they choose to commit a crime, they no longer get to call themselves "good".