College Savings Games

I play a game with myself to help me save more in my kids' college funds. When I'm going to spend money on a kid but don't for some reason, I put the money not spent into their college fund. The money not spent is money actually saved.

Every dollar that gets saved for college now is a dollar that we don't have to borrow later. So I also try to be aware of when my kids make money-saving decisions and reward them for it by putting money in their college funds.

Last fall, I was going to take two of my kids to the store for new winter jackets. One looked unhappy and said, "But I like my jacket and it still fits." She was 13. Not typical, I know. The other one said, "Mine fits too." Hunh. So we didn't go shopping, and I put the money in their college funds instead. This fall, they both actually needed new jackets, and I managed to find them jackets they liked on sale. Then the money that I had budgeted for jackets that didn't get spent (because of the sale) also went into their college funds.

I also match money that my kids give me that they have earned from babysitting or whatever. If they give me $5, I put $10 in savings, and so on.

What are ways you can squeeze some money out of your expenses to put into college savings?

Teeny, Tiny Steps Forward

I confess, I'm a book junkie.  Bigtime.

Today I had to bring one daughter to an orchestra competition. After dropping her off, I had some time before her orchestra actually played, so I went to the library and dropped off 5 books, then picked up my 6 reserved books, then trolled the magazine shelves, then grabbed 5 knitting books. Because I'll read 11 books in the next week or two. Riiight.

And after the concert?  I brought my other daughter to a workshop at another branch of the library. While she was in the workshop, I went to the library's used book sale just to check it out. Turns out I could not resist the shelves full of how-to books and tables full of best-sellers. I actually had to stop myself from buying 25 books--25!--mostly because I didn't want to carry them out to my car.

While I was sorting through the books to figure out which ones I really wanted, I got to thinking about the things we're addicted to that we easily spend money on. The daily/weekly/monthly money sinks. Books are definitely one of mine.

One of the easiest ways to cut your spending is to figure out what spending weaknesses you have. Is it books? Specialty foods? Cosmetics? Clothes? Sports equipment? Try to catch yourself before you actually spend the money. Take a moment to ask yourself, do I really need this? Then decide.

And at the book sale? I did manage to put back half the books. I got out of there with 12 books for $21.50. Plus a list of books I will get out of the library. And I put the $20 I didn't spend in my savings jar.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

I've read it takes three weeks to form a new habit. Just 21 days of real effort until it becomes a regular part of your life.

If you want to fix your finances, or just move them to a better track, start today. Don't wait until tomorrow. All the tomorrows will have their own issues clamoring for attention and you'll put if off again if you let yourself.

Start today. Just do one thing that will make your financial life easier. Put $20 in a jar to start a savings account. Sell some stuff you don't need on Craig's List or eBay and put the $ in savings. Set up an automatic payment for one bill. Open that college savings account for your child. Set up a Roth-IRA for yourself.

Just one thing. Pick one. Do it now.

Tomorrow, do another. The next day, do another.

Then you're on your way. Go go go!

Scary Finances?

Lower math doesn't scare me.  I get it.

But budgeting, financial planning and everything related to money really intimidated me for years. I did my best to avoid doing all but the most necessary stuff, like paying the bills so the phone, heat, electricity and water wouldn't be shut off. (Talk about incentive!)

I think most people feel that way--that finances are hard to figure out. It's intimidating, even scary. After all, what if you make a mistake? It could cost you your whole future! Except that, really, that's unlikely. Most of us make many mistakes when learning how to do anything, so why should finances be any different? And the real joke here?

Finances are all lower math. In elementary and middle school, you learned everything you need to know to get a handle on your money. It's all addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, all learned by 5th grade. And it takes a bit of work with percentages, which most of us learned in 6th or 7th grade.

But what about the long-term, loan-financing and interest-earning calculations to figure out whether one loan is a better deal than another, or one investment will earn significantly more than another?  You don't need to do that on your own either.  There are many websites with calculators on them that will do the math for you with a few numbers plugged in. The magic of the internet is at your fingertips, so you can put it to work for you.

Does knowing that it's all just lower math help a bit with the intimidation factor?  I hope so!