Getting Something Right

Before the week is up, I will post pictures of Zach with his brand new class ring.  You may ask how this family of six that lives paycheck to paycheck and carries more debt than we care to could afford a class ring...a very good question which leads to one thing that I did the way I should have as a mom.

When the kids were toddlers, we started savings accounts for them.  Andy was waiting tables, so he always had lots of change, and we just collected it until we had the minimum amount required to start the accounts.  Once the accounts were started, I put $5 per paycheck into each child's account.  A credit union is the way to go for this as they are more flexible than banks. For us the money came out of my check before we ever saw it, so we did not miss it.

Once the kids reached elementary school, I began to realize that we weren't likely to have extra money when the expensive years of high school arrived.  Therefore, I doubled the amounts going into their accounts when they reached fourth grade.  The difference would be there for class rings and senior pictures.  Soooo, when the order form came home for Zach's ring, we were prepared.  It arrived much earlier than we expected, but we were ready.

We certainly have made mistakes along the way from a financial perspective, but we try to stick with the budget, and saving this way was a huge help.  We did the same thing to afford their 8th grade trips. I learned the amount when they were in 6th grade and divided it up by the number of paychecks until the payments were due. I then started a vacation account and deposited the money in it.

For Zach's class ring, we did not pay for real gold. The other metals available today are durable and unlikely to tarnish, and let's face it, a class ring is a pricey token that will end up in a drawer after only one or two years of wear.  Zach was fine with it, and he was able to customize it to his liking.  Zach gets to participate in a nice tradition that goes back a couple of generations, and everyone is happy.

While we prepared for senior expenses, we did not prepare for activities and sports.  Zach was very disappointed to sit out the band trip his freshman year because we could not afford it.  Once I learned the price, I saved for his sophomore trip so that he could attend.  We continued to pay for sports, but Zach would have attended a different high school had I known how much football would cost.  It was too late to switch schools when I learned the price, and we felt very strongly that football has been really good for Zach.  Therefore, I took a second job to keep him on the field.  Now that he works, he foots some of that bill.

One of my financial mistakes has been to lock the kids' money into CDs.  It was not a really big deal, but because their savings were initially meant to pay for their first semester of college books or to buy dorm necessities, I started investing in CDs so that they would receive some interest.  Unfortunately, I did this without thinking about Zach's senior trip and locked up his money until the spring of his senior year.  The trip is pricey, and there is not much fundraising allowed.  Therefore, we will likely have to finance the trip and pay back the loan when his CD matures.  Ugh!

If you are a mom to young children, I highly recommend this way of saving.  It worked for us, and I am so glad we did it.  If only we were always so disciplined.