Contest – What Are You Saving For? Win a Bank Full of Money
In a cultural full of consumption and instant gratification, the financial responsible and discipline to save for a purchase can be challenging…but, we all know it is the smart thing to do.
Regardless of your level of income, saving for a dream you have – such as a flat screen, a trip around the world or new BMW – can be easy if you get creative, even in these down economic times.
For instance, you could have your bank automatically take 5% of your paycheck and deposit it into a savings account for your dreams.
Another way to save is to not spend any coin money. Instead round all of your purchases up to the next dollar and deposit your coins into a savings account once a month.
Maybe you have given up your daily latte or quit smoking and instead put that money towards a goal.
The question for this month’s contest is:
What are you saving for and how are you doing it?
To enter, Post a Comment Below with Your Answer
No need to give a dollar amount – just let us know what dream or goal you are saving for and how you are going about saving the money, even in theses slow economic times.
Winners will be based on the creativity of their saving methods and chosen by myself and members of the Freedom Team.
PRIZES!!!
- First Place – A piggy bank full of money to put towards saving for your goal.
- Second Place – A piggy bank you can fill with money.
- Third Place – An Expect Success Book to keep you motivated towards achieving your goals and dreams.
Deadline to Enter
The last day to enter this contest is Friday, April 30, 2010. Winners will be announced on our blog and emailed on Tuesday, May 4, 2010.
Be Free!
David Shoup
Instructor
We’re saving for a year of traveling overseas. We’re going to travel around the world, learning about places, people, and culture by actually being there. The idea is to homeschool the kids that year, and instead of TALKING about the Great Wall, we’ll go to China; instead of talking about Blue Footed Boobies, we’ll go to the Galapagos. How are we saving? We have a total amount we want to have saved, we chose the year we are going, divided the total by the number of years, and got to work. We set up a special account to hold the money and we put a manageable size in each month. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! It’s amazing that something which seems like such a dream to people can be equivalent to a car payment each month–paid to us, in our savings, for our trip!
Comment by Leah Simpson — April 1, 2010 @ 7:48 am
I am saving money so that I can marry the love of my life. I am just about to finish college and my boyfriend graduated in December. We really want to get married and start our lives together, but we want to save up some money first. I want a small but beautiful wedding that I can share with my close family and friends. I am saving by not spending! I love clothes and shoes, but have limited myself, putting the money that I would spend into an account that we will use for our wedding and future home. I know that saving this money will help us in the future.
Comment by Dana Molenda — April 1, 2010 @ 8:33 am
I’ve been saving to purchase multi-family apartment complexes which I plan to upgrade with solar panels and wind turbines as an incentive for renters to live a greener lifestyle and diminishing electric costs. In this way I believe I can create a sustainable cash flow for myself while providing a greener and more economical template for the emerging post-peak-oil culture.
I’ve been doing energy conservation projects in my own home like increasing insulation, using LED lighting, caulking around doors and windows outside, growing an increasing amount of my own food and trimming off bad habits, in order to create the savings. As the savings grow, I’ve been purchasing silver as a hedge against inflation and potentially a way to grow the savings more quickly.
Once I’ve achieved my ambition, I’ll be writing a book detailing how I did it so that others may potentially benefit from the experience.
Comment by Bill White — April 1, 2010 @ 8:35 am
My dream is to build a technology focused school to help prepare students in 3rd world countries for today and tomorrow’s jobs. The school will teach them advanced technical knowledge that will help them succeed in their fields and eventually modernize the country through their efforts. In today’s job market having a basic education is not enough and this school will give people the edge and the confidence they need. I’ve been saving for this by putting $100/month aside, but I will need much more money than that. I started a company (www.getsphinx.com) and I will take a percentage of the profits to fund this project. Wish me luck and I would love to hear your feedback. Thank you.
Comment by Walid Saleh — April 1, 2010 @ 8:38 am
My wife and I have decided to create an area for the adults. So we are saving to costruct
the Man/Woman Cave (luckly she shares the same vision and decore as I do) so we can
have a space for entertaing friends free of kid toys. Anyone with youngs kids, and we
have three, knows you can not escape from them when their young. We will do much of the
work ourselves and that which I am not comfortable with a contractor will complete.
Items such as running electric or gas lines have the potential for fire hazards that I
nor my wife want any part of installing. The space will include the usual fun adult games
as a pool table, darts and the rest. The exciting part is tying it in with the outdoors
as it will spill out to a patio and firepit extending the indoor room outdoors even when
its a bit chilly out. Our neighborhood enjoys getting together many times impromtu and
this will be a perfect space to do just that.
Comment by Dan Kaplinski — April 1, 2010 @ 9:05 am
We are saving for a house one dollar at a time… mostly by living without things we’d like but don’t need like cable tv, eating out and new toys.
Comment by Brittney — April 1, 2010 @ 9:13 am
My husband and I are saving for a home renovation, including landscaping, all bathrooms, the kitchen and new flooring throughout. While are home is in good shape, we want to create the home of our dreams. The method we are using comes from Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Make Over are founded on common sense spending and saving! Our first step is getting completely out of debt…including paying off our house. We have been focused thus far and made amazing progress. We reduced our payoff plan from 2 years to 18 months because of our “gazelle intensity” with getting out of debt. The saving step is more about common sense spending which is don’t buy unless you have the CASH to buy it. So what that means for us is that we have set our home renovation goal, and are developing a savings plan and a schedule for purchasing materials and hiring subcontractors. We are operating as GPS systems in that we know where we are going, we are on the road to get there and as things shift us off course, we make the necessary corrections to get us to our destination. Discipline is key and I am finding discipline to be rewarding at all levels!!
Comment by Kim Miles — April 1, 2010 @ 9:25 am
In my post, the first line should read “…While OUR home is..”
Comment by Kim Miles — April 1, 2010 @ 9:27 am
A few years ago my daughter had lapband surgery and lost way over 100 pounds. Now we are ready for phase 2 of that surgery that would remove all the excess skin. This may seem like a vain thing to do but she is very young and it is my lack of parenting that got her to the point of needing the surgery in the first place. I never thought it possible to save this large amount of money but I am doing it one week at a time. I have decided to take 200-400 dollars each week and put in savings, something I have never done before and it is adding up slowly but it is adding up. Everytime I think of making a purchase for whatever reaseon, even food, I second guess if it is really needed and usually it is not. It is amazing what you can do if you use your mind and really think about your needs in advance before spending.
Comment by Jaynee — April 1, 2010 @ 9:55 am
Climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa has been my dream for years. I want to see and touch “the snows of Kilimanjaro” before they disappear. The flight to Africa is expensive, and when you toss in the climbing guide fees of a safe outfitter you’re looking at a lot of coin! Speaking of “coin,” I save each and every coin I receive as change from a purchase, never spending a single one. I place them in a jar labeled “Honeymoon Fund,” and deposit the change in an interest bearing savings account every few months. Birthday gift checks, Christmas bonus checks from work, and any dollar bills I can spare make their way into the jar as well. Over our 15 years of marriage, the honeymoon fund has taken us to Australia, Costa Rica and soon to Kilimanjaro! Who said you can’t have more than one honeymoon?
Comment by Michelle Ressell — April 1, 2010 @ 10:52 am
I am saving for my invention. I have a product I’ve invented for parents, but it’s a small fortune to make my dream a reality. There are legal costs associated with patenting, production costs, website creation fees, etc. Supporting my family has put this dream on a backburner as other things are more of a priority.
I’ve been saving VERY slowly by changing our cell phone plan, changing our light bulbs to energy efficient ones, etc to cut back on expenses. I have also cut back on small luxuries to increase my savings with things such as that daily morning coffee. Another thing I’ve done recently is cleaned out closets and toy boxes to sell items to second-hand stores. These are small steps, but they are helping me get one step closer to making it a reality. I just hope no one else comes up with the same idea in the meantime.
Comment by Ashley — April 1, 2010 @ 11:13 am
I am saving for a vacation with my wonderful bride. We have been married for 6.5 years, seven when we will hopefully be able to take a vacation, and we have not been on vacation since our honeymoon. We have been working diligently on paying off our debt so we don’t accrue anymore when we take a vacation. I have pictures of Hawaii in front of me at my desk so I am always faced with The WHY. Why I work hard, why I don’t have a new tv or clothes that I don’t need, why I don’t need to go to Starbucks today. Other than taking time away from the real world, I dream about spending time in another place with Lindsay (and now my son Jack)!
The way I am saving is simply by having an automatic monthly transfer to my money-minded brother’s account. It is small right now but increases as my commission increases.
Comment by Brett Williams — April 1, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
I am saving for a rainy day fund. I have learned the lesson of not having 3-6 months of savings. Once that is done, I am saving to invest in another property.
Comment by Corey Kaster — April 1, 2010 @ 10:57 pm
I am refinancing my house to pay it off sooner with the same monthly payments I am now making. That will enable me to purchase my parents home, so I can use it as a business deduction and enable them to live there ‘rent free’
Comment by Karen Josephson, MD — April 2, 2010 @ 12:37 am
I have been assisting my parents financially, but needed a way to benefit from it as a tax deduction. I decided to purchase their home, use it as a rental property (not actually charging them rent) and thereby be able to write off the assistance I have been providing them on my taxes. I also have 2 children who will need money for college. I estimate the eldest will need it in about 6 years. I plan to refinance my house with a low interest only for 5 yrs, but still pay the amount I currently am paying, so the previous 7 year loan will be paid off in 6 and I will have saved over $30,000 in the process. We are also teaching our children about fiduciary responsibility by having them spend their own money for small things (candy, toys) that we would normally have covered. We remind them to consider the long term value of saving for a larger item versus the immediate gratification of the smaller purchase.
Comment by Karen Josephson, MD — April 2, 2010 @ 12:48 am
My dream is to create a ceramic and glass art studio in my backyard. I am saving for a large electric kiln and a potters wheel. I envision a refuge where my creativity grows and nurtures my soul. I find that my life is more balanced when I can find quiet time to grow myself. My son is also an artist, we are having fun thinking up new creations and we just need a place to produce them. I am saving money by eating out less. Growing my own vegetables and using coupons whenever possible. I also took on a part time job working for the 2010 census. That should be interesting. Happy Spring!
Lisa Perrecone, Carlsbad, CA
Comment by Lisa Perrecone — April 2, 2010 @ 2:03 pm
Since we are retired and on a fixed income, we plan to save in a separate account which we will open with a bank that offers $100 to open an account. We will have to move funds from another bank’s savings for the initial minimal deposit and then divide the months till our desired cruise for the remainer of the needed funds. Then we will cut back going out, which has been an on-going luxury for us, and deposit into the new account every month the amount needed till our cruise occurs. This will insure an amount to have a wonderful vacation.
Comment by Irene Koontz — April 2, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
We are saving for my daughter’s wedding. The wedding is in four months. We still need a significant amount of money. I am saving us approx. 65%off the subtotal of our grocery bills by aggressively couponing. This involves 4-5hrs of prep work each week cutting, sorting, reading the sale ads, sending in rebates, and going to five different stores (which adds on another 5hrs). This is reaping rewards steadily.
Comment by Vallari — April 3, 2010 @ 11:32 pm
I am saving everywhere I can to help my 4 children pay for most of their college educations. There are a lot of ways to save compared to the way we used to live. First of all I always make my own coffee and that for my husband instead of buying it at a coffee shop. Secondly, I make do with the clothes that I have and trade some with friends for a little change of wardrobe, it’s really kind of fun.Thirdly, we eat at home much more often now than we used to, we entertain at our house and have everyone bring whatever is thir specialty instead of going out and meeting at a restaurant. It’s informal and I think everyone looks forward to these Friday & Saturday nights “in”. In short, we are just doing what our parents did in their generation, nothing in excess.
Comment by Jeanne Sumner — April 5, 2010 @ 2:00 pm
My wife and I are systematically saving a portion of our paychecks to assist others with adoption. We’d love to be able to assist with placing orphans in loving homes.
Comment by David — April 6, 2010 @ 5:44 pm
I am saving up to get $576 to take my friend and I sky diving! it’ll be a first for both of us and I can’t wait!
Comment by william Anguiano — April 9, 2010 @ 6:16 pm
I am saving for diesel pickup which I will buy cash. I will again have the ability to tow my travel trailer, which is also my house, and will remain on track to be completely debt free in less than two years.
The how am I saving is the important part of this question. It should be obvious that how you save money is you don’t spend it. Currently my only motor vehicle is an old motorcycle that I found on Craigslist and paid for cash (great price because 30 years old when purchased, great gas mileage, cheap insurance, no car payment). I live in an 8×26 travel trailer that will be paid for this month (the current “house payment” is less than many folks car payment, and after this next payment there will be no house payment). I sew many of my own shirts (I wear shirts that would have cost $20 to buy, but often pay less than $2 for materials). I am helping my daughter sew her own prom dress (less than $50 for a one of a kind gown that would probably sell for $300+, and great quality time with my daughter). I shop at thrift stores (enough said). I use clothes lines rather than pay to use a dryer. I have a programmable thermostat that sets back the temperature while I’m at work. Cheap entertainment such as the zoo or museum on free days. Using discount cards and coupons at various merchants (restaurant coupons and cards for free burritos, BBQ, dinners, and donuts). Use the library instead of the book store. Only a cell phone instead of cell phone and land line. No cable TV. Buy used computer games instead of new release. Craigslist, eBay, and salvage yards for purchases rather than new. I brew my own coffee rather than buy designer coffee from the local barista. I use synthetic motor oil and an extended drain interval. Most of these things don’t amount to much if taken individually, but are significant when taken in aggregate.
I also worked a second job during the tax season to jump start the truck fund.
Comment by Paul Wyles — April 26, 2010 @ 4:52 pm
In todays economic times I, just like many, find it hard to save, yet sometimes it is just waiting for that next paycheck. But if you have a drive, enjoy what you do for a living, you can succeed. My only child, my son, is now in the Army stationed in Kansas leaving overseas in Nov. He had tried college but he just was not college material. Of course I want the best for him, and he decided to join the Army. He has a 7 month old beautiful girl who is living with me. So trying to make ends meet and supporting another child (I thought I was done!) can be demanding on our budget. My goal is to save for her college education. I stuggled to pay for my college and want the best for my grand daughter. Her mom has a baby bottle bank we try to put money in to save. But of course, I really want to try other means. Investing in our children’s children is the future of our country.
Comment by Maxine Crabill — April 27, 2010 @ 12:44 pm