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Real-life money lessons

We Did It! An Update on Saving for A BIG Lego Set

A few months ago, I had a parenting win. J received a gift that he couldn’t use, and instead of exchanging it for something right away, he returned the item and put the money aside for something he really wanted — The Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon Lego set.

This BIG set cost $99.99, and with 6% tax, he needed a total of $105.99.

He started on August 26, 2017 with $25.17 in a Target gift card.

By saving $8.00 every two weeks (of his $9.00 allowance), he calculated that he would reach his goal on or before January 19, 2018.

The Power of a Goal

Not only did he save part of his allowance, but J was inspired to do chores for extra money and also added in some gifts from relatives. Both accelerated his progress towards the goal.

On November 10 (2.5 months in), he had $90.67.

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Start saving young

Having “The Talk” About Making Your Money Work Harder: Part 5 – Net Worth

Welcome back to our five part series on making your money work harder! This series is part of a BIG conversation I had with J where we talked about other ways to invest his money beyond the Bank of Mom.

In part 1, we talked about savings accounts, in part 2 savings bonds, in part 3 CDs, in part 4 stocks and today in part 5 we’ll wrap up our discussion with keeping track of your net worth.

Paying attention

It sounds a little pretentious, doesn’t it? Keeping track of your “net worth.” Like something only rich people do.

But think about this. If you go on a diet, do you log your meals and calories? What about if you’re training for a marathon? Would you write down your runs and workouts? And if you want to cut back on social media? Would you track your time?

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Start saving young

Having “The Talk” About Making Your Money Work Harder: Part 4 – Stocks

Welcome back to our five part series on making your money work harder! This series is part of a BIG conversation I had with J where we talked about other ways to invest his money beyond the Bank of Mom.

In part 1, we talked about savings accounts, in part 2 savings bonds, in part 3 CDs and now for part 4, my favorite conversation, stocks.

What are stocks?

A stock is a piece of a company. People buy stocks (or shares) of a company, and with that money, the company can grow their operations. When you own stock in a company, you actually own a piece of that company!

How much does it cost to buy stocks?

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Start saving young

Having “The Talk” About Making Your Money Work Harder: Part 3 – CDs

Welcome back to our five part series on making your money work harder! This series is part of a BIG conversation I had with J where we talked about other ways to invest his money beyond the Bank of Mom.

In part 1, we talked about savings accounts, in part 2 we discussed savings bonds and now here’s a recap of our conversation on CDs.

What are CDs?

CD stands for “Certificate of Deposit” and you can open one at your bank or credit union. CDs are very similar to standard savings accounts except you deposit a fixed amount of money for a fixed period of time at a guaranteed interest rate.

CDs typically earn a higher interest rate than standard savings accounts. In reference to our series here, CDs are making our money work the hardest so far — harder than both savings accounts AND savings bonds. (Well… except the Bank of Mom, which pays quite a bit.)

Additionally, you can earn a higher rate with a larger opening deposit and a longer term.

Some banks offer standard CDs only, and other banks may have additional types. Ally offers three types of CDs — a High Yield CD, a No Penalty CD and a Raise Your Rate CD.

When your CD matures (meaning that your fixed period of time is up), you’ll get a notice from your bank or credit union. At that time, you can either cash it out (receiving the principal plus interest) OR roll the money over into a new CD (and potentially add funds to it at this time).

What are the Pros and Cons?

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Start saving young

Having “The Talk” About Making Your Money Work Harder: Part 2 – Savings Bonds

Welcome back to our five part series on making your money work harder! If you remember, this series is part of a BIG conversation I had with J where we talked about other ways to invest his money beyond the Bank of Mom.

In part 1, we talked about savings accounts and now here’s a recap of our conversation on savings bonds.

What Are (Savings) Bonds?

In the most simple language possible, I tried to explain that a savings bond is a loan that you make to the government. You buy the bond, and the government uses the money now. After time passes (up to 30 years), you get your money back PLUS interest.