Recently, I asked Tim to find something to save for. Especially for someone with ADD, it’s hard to give up something for the nebulous idea of “saving.”
Instead, I want something a little more concrete. This means that each time we determine that money has been saved by some activity, we’ll transfer it into a new sub-account I created at ING.
To really drive home the idea, I’m going to print out a picture, tape it to a piece of paper and slap both up on a wall in the kitchen. Then we can keep a running tally, and he can see how easily little amounts really can add up.
My only concern is that this is supposed to work toward our actual savings going up. So I don’t want to throw every cent saved into his own little project.
I’m thinking that 1/3 of whatever we save will go into regular savings. The rest can go into his fund. It’s enough that our account will see at least a little benefit but not enough to discourage him.
The first goal has finally been decided: a new iPod touch. Those run $199 (4th gen) or $299 (5th gen).
Shortly after we moved in here, Tim found the one drawback to tile floors: they don’t cushion a falling iPod like carpet does. The screen is cracked. It’s still working, but we don’t know how much longer it will. Also, the system is old enough that we can’t use any of the newer features.
This is perfect because it’s small enough to be achievable within a few months, but it’s big enough that it’ll take some work on his part.
The real issue here is what we should count as “savings.”
I’m tempted to go pretty nit-picky to encourage saving. There are the obvious ones, like choosing to eat at home instead of fast food. But I think I’m willing to go further. Like, if he does order fast food, to count count the savings from skipping fries or whatever.
It’s a slippery slope, so we’ll have to hash it out as we go.
As of Wednesday, there will be $20 in the account because he chose not to spend on a souvenir at a sporting event he went to.
It would have been more but we chose to have a sit-down meal. So there’s a good illustration for him of trade-offs.
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I like the idea of a visual goal. It is such a fun idea. Maybe one day we can make giant red fundraising thermometers. =)
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Abigail Reply:
October 20th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
You get the construction paper, I'll bring the scissors!
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Abigail Reply:
October 20th, 2012 at 10:35 pm
You get the construction paper, I'll bring the scissors!
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After saving up for the replacement, you might want to see if you feel comfortable replacing the screen yourselves and keeping the older model as a backup. (As an iPhone user, I completely sympathize with TIm–I've done that a time or two myself! It's always helpful to have a backup plan!)
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I agree that I like the idea of a visual goal also. My husband was seriously ill earlier this year and we had been saving for the unknown, and possibly sad, future.
When we were notified recently that his health has improved and he is "out of the woods" we have switched to another equally important financial goal for our household – early pay off of our small-ish mortgage.
It's great to have a goal to focus on though our earlier goal was driven by a serious illness which thank G-d is gone.
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