Starting Out - Katherine

So far, the experience of having a savings account is helping me to get prepared for the future, also it's helping with saving money. I've learned that I can accomplish my goals if I try to. This savings challenge is going to help me with what goals I have for when I graduate. I enjoy having a savings account.

- Katherine

Why NOT to Lend Friends Money

Would YOU let someone borrow money?

I was in college and had a roommate, like most of you do when you go to college. My mom helped me build my credit by putting me on some of her credit cards so by the time I got to college I had good, established credit. She also taught me how to live on a budget, no matter how much I made.

One day my roommate came to me and asked me if I would do a cash advance of $1500 for their business. My roommate didn’t go to college but owned a painting business and needed some money to get materials to finish a job and get paid. They told me that they would pay me as soon as the job was done and they got paid.

So I lent them the money. Why?

Because I trusted them. About a week later they gave me the $1500 and I applied this to the credit card. I was worried because my mom had always told me that you never charge what you cannot pay off at the end of the month and to never carry a balance.

Well about a month later, my roommate came to me, again, and said that they needed $1800 for the same reason, but for a different job. Since I got the money quick the first time I didn’t hesitate to drive to the credit union and get the money for them.

Well a week passed, no money, 2 weeks passed, still no money. I was about 4 weeks from graduating college when I asked my roommate if they had the money they owed me. They said the job was done but they were waiting to get paid from their client.

Soon after that, my roommate decided that they were moving back to Michigan and they were gone within a week. Two weeks before I graduated college I called my roommate to ask about my money and found out their phone was disconnected. That's when I realized that I would not be getting my money back.

At that point, I did one of the hardest things I had ever done at that point in my life. I took some inheritance money that my great grandmother had left me and paid off the credit card. Most of you would not do this but I didn’t want to graduate college and start my first “real” job in debt.

To this day, I have never let anyone borrow money. You have to realize that if you let someone “borrow” money, consider it like gambling. There is no guarantee that you will get it back. Are you willing to take that risk?

- Coach Kim

Concerts, ATMs, and Tracking - Solana

WELL, where do I start?

My first meeting with my coach went great, I’m very lucky to have a coach as wonderful as Kim.

One of the things that she gave me was a print out of my spending history from the past couple months, which in the past I have never looked back on, nor even kept up with for that matter.

Seeing all the things I spent money on made me realize how much I can cut down on little things that I don’t even need. You don’t comprehend how much the little things add up to sometimes until you actually see them in front of you.

So what’s a solution to keeping up with your spending? It’s simple! Balance your checkbook.

I am currently documenting every time I make a transaction. Before the challenge I would call in and check my balance through a simple telephone call, sometimes it wasn’t the prettiest reaction on my end after hearing my current balance.

I would often ask myself: "How can I only have X amount of money in my account? Where did it all go?"

After keeping track of all my spending now and often balancing my account I no longer ask myself that question, because I always know how much money is in my account, what I spent here, and how much I can spend there. Sure it’s a little work to document every little dollar spent, but in the long run it pays off, and you’re not sitting there having to back track on everything you spent money on.

Recently I planned to attend a concert in New Braunfels, and to pay for it I had my debit card with me, without thinking that there was a possibility that they would only be taking cash. When I handed the man my debit card he of course said “It’s cash only, but we do have an ATM!”

I then thought to myself, "oh great an ATM but I hate those silly service charges they force you to pay". So of course without any other option I get money out of my checking from the ATM, with an additional charge of almost 5 dollars for just simply using it.

It was at that point I thought to myself, why don’t I just always have some cash on me just in case I need it so that I am not having to use the ATM every time I need cash on the spot.

I depend on using my debit card for everything not thinking that some places don’t take debit cards, only cash. For instance football games, concessions, concerts or any type of sporting event doesn’t usually accept debit cards unless you by in advance or something.

The solution I came up with to this is each month when I deposit my check; get about $40.00 dollars in cash out just to be safe. This eliminates being jibbed with the service charges ATMs force you to pay.

I’m continuing to save for my goal of paying my parents back for the wreck I got in and determined to achieve it!

I plan to cut down on my spending; eliminating the little unnecessary items I tend to splurge on.

Until next time,

Solana (:

Meet Nikki!

Meet Nikki, one of our Savings Challenge Coaches. She loves writing music and performing and is looking forward to helping her contestant succeed.

Getting Ready for the Holidays- Lynda

Hi, it’s Lynda. Just thought I would blog real quick about my meeting I had with Nikki. We met this Friday November 20th and we talked about what we are going to do this year in the challenge. We discussed how to save money and from my track record I am doing a very good job of that. I only spend on things that I need, not want and so far that has been six dollars on Christmas cards for the soldiers in Afghanistan.

I have also thought about ways for my money to go further this holiday season. For Christmas gifts I plan on spending a maximum of twenty dollars for four gifts for my mom, dad, grandma, and brother. You might wonder how this is possible, but I have my ways.

First I found the movie Push for ten dollars for my brother, and for my dad I am making him a CD with all my favorite songs, and finally for my mom and grandma I am making a bracelet since I love making jewelry.

We also talked about when we would be able to meet with each other which would be more than once a month. Nikki mentioned what we are going to be doing next in the workshop which will be setting and achieving goals. I am really looking forward to this workshop.

Nikki and I also discussed the presentation I have to prepare for, and gave me a copy of the criteria from last year. With a lot of great topics to choose from it is going to be very hard to decide on the top two topics to do research on. We also have to decide what venue to present our topic, whether it’s in class, club, SMHS branch, or another place.

Nikki is very cool and is nice to talk to. With my coach, I am going to learn a lot this year about credit cards, car loans, investing, and building my credit. Nikki says I am already on my way with saving for college. I am so excited and grateful to have been chosen for this challenge.

- Lynda

Meet Solana!

Meet Solana- an SMHS Savings Challenge contestant. She is saving money to pay her parents back for a car accident from the beginning of the school year.

Tracking Time- Katelyn

So, Kelsey B. is totally awesome. I love having her as my Savings Coach. We are talking about the lingo, which I am so naive on. But I'm getting better.

We have been discussing different ways of saving and which would be best for me. Having my money put away so that nobody can reach it is what we decided would be the best approach.

At our first meeting, she had printed up all my transactions from this year and totaled them up. It was amazing to see how much I really spend. I never thought I could spend a thousand dollars on things “just because,” especially when I try to be so frugal. I thought that by remembering I had a truck and school and life to pay for that I would be able to not spend very much. But by not keeping track I had no way of monitoring my spending.

I've started keeping track of all the money I spend, even if its spare change at a gas station and it has really helped. I realize when I am spending money and stop to think, do I really really need this?? Or is it just something that I want?

Although it’s good to get things you want every once in a while, you have to be careful when purchasing “discretionary” items. Personally, I tend to binge shop. I will do really well for a while. Then all of a sudden the urge to buy things hits me, and I spend a couple hundred dollars easy. So now, when I get the urge to binge shop I go to target and shop in their dollar section. They have a lot of really cute stuff and it usually ends up being fifteen dollars or under for a bunch of stuff.

Being a part of the Savings Challenge has made me consider the value of money much closer than I have ever had to before. Yes, I pay for a lot of my own stuff, but money was never something I stressed or worried about. It's money; it's not a big deal. Wrong.

While money is not the most important thing in life compared to happiness or love or peace, it is vital in living a comfortable life. The future I want to have will cost a lot of money, but it will be worth it. Over ten years more of schooling will cost a small fortune, but when I make it I hope to be able to pay back any loans I may have…as long as I remember what I learn and watch my finances along the way.

- Katelyn