Your first savings goal

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl

We've already discussed that we won't be one of those parents that constantly enroll their kids in the flavour of the month club (i.e. dance classes, soccer, karate, etc.) just because their friends are doing it.* If they have a true talent for it and are interested in it, then it's up for discussion.* Other than that, no way.

Good luck with that policy, CG. We've worked through your entire list and quite a few more. Our kid enrolled in all those activities precisely because all her friends were doing them too. The best we could do was to hold it down to one activity at a time and require her to stick with it for the minimum commitment (usually a month or a season). Most of them went for two-three months but one commitment was six months and that one taught her a lot about commitment. But as kids do for the first 20-30 years, she just rotated through them all and stuck with the ones she likes the best.

The good news is that our kid found out at a very early age that she didn't care for dance, gymnastics, hula, soccer, T-ball, or volunteering at the Humane Society. But today she uses the skills that she learned in those activities and she's a very coordinated kid who also appreciates watching a good hula performance and knows a lot about pet care. She really DOES enjoy swimming/surfing, tae kwon do, basketball, volleyball, & Kumon math, but she wouldn't have tried them without the flavor of the month club.

Besides, which would you rather be doing: sitting in the bleachers catching up on your sleep cheering your kid on (while they're getting good & tired for a long nap), or sitting at home trying to come up with other activities that compensate for being unable to enjoy organized sports with their friends?

I haven't found the study, but my FIL claims to have read that Earl Woods introduced Tiger to golf because he, Earl, liked the game and it was a way for Earl to spend time with his kid while still enjoying the experience. Tiger didn't show any special talent for the sport (he was only about 10 months old at the time) but Earl's constant playing around with him (and all the attention that Tiger was getting) turned it into Tiger's talent. Pediatric researchers speculate that kids under the age of two can absorb just about any physical skill and become good enough at it to appear to be a child prodigy. They're not born with a particular talent, they're born with the potential to become extremely talented at anything they're exposed to. If their senses are particularly strong in an area like hearing or spatial perception, then they may indeed become the next Mozart or Pelé.

Of course I agree that many parents deserve to be banned from their kid's organized sports. But that's no reason for the kids to avoid organized sports.

It's amazing how our kids survive our attempts to raise them. That's their real "talent" at keeping the human race from extinction. War plans never survive the first contact with the enemy, and many wise parental policies don't survive the first diaper change...

[HFWR]

First goal was to save enough for a bag of weed bicycle... :P

[Spanky]

Started to save when I was 16 for car purchase, expenses and insurance since our parents did not provide any money for them. Worked nights and weekends for a car that I really did not need (in retrospect) since public transportation in the Bay Area was sufficient. I could have saved the money for something else that was more important, e.g., education and retirement.

[Dreamer]

I saved for a car also. I was 15 yrs old when I started to work and I would ride the school bus to my job and then my aunt or uncle would have to come pick me up at night. They did not like going out as late as I worked. I had my car bought and the money for car insurance saved before I turned 16.

Dreamer

[TargaDave]

First memorable savings goal:
College transportation 1976. Bought a 1964 Dodge Polara, straight six, push button automatic for $240. Insurance was another $250/ yr. Shared it with my older brother. Put ~60k miles on it. It finally threw a rod and I drove it to right the junk yard. Best vehicle investment I ever made.

[Martha]

This is pretty pitiful, but I never have had any real savings goals until it looked like we might be able to retire soon. Fortunately, DH had plenty of goals.

[BigMoneyJim]

I can't think of a single savings goal I've ever had. But neither did I conspire to spend every spare penny. And my ace was starting the 401(k) early unsure why but figuring I'd be happy later.

If you want to call them goals, I've been saving for retirement and recently for an income loss/drop, but I don't have dollar targets in mind and frequently consider using the money for other reasons. (401(k)/IRA for home purchase, after-tax money for car or other things.)

[P.S.]

Originally Posted by Calgary_Girl

DH and I are expecting our first child in April (if all goes well) and we are 35 and 33.* I expect that kids WILL delay retirement but that they are well worth it in the end.*

Congratulations, very exciting!

[LiveWell]

My first savings goal was to buy a stereo for my room. I did it by delivering papers and flyers and saving any allowance or birthday money people gave me. It was $100 and I loved that stereo.. kept it until I moved out of my parent's house.

My second savings goal was a GIC (Canada equiv. of a CD) that I later used for tuition. This was back in the late 80s and I got 12.5% interest rate Such a high return is what sealed my desire to invest as much as possible. It truly opened my eyes that you could "make money" while sleeping.

[CyclingInvestor]

My first goal was just to see how much I could save. I had a paper route
(and substituted on several others) from age 9-17. I saved virtually all
of my earnings (of course I mooched off of my parents for expenses).
When I graduated high school, I had over $11K. This formed the bulk
of my down payment on my first house 5 years later.

[yelnad]

My first goal (that I remember) was to save for an optional school trip for my AP Biology class in 11th grade. We spend a week snorkling in Key Largo.

[Martha]

Originally Posted by yelnad

My first goal (that I remember) was to save for an optional school trip for my AP Biology class in 11th grade. We spend a week snorkling in Key Largo.

Careful, the boys here are going to be asking for pictures.

[Jay_Gatsby]

First savings goals are great motivators for additional saving in the future. Going forward, kids also need to learn to ask themselves the question "do I really want this?" when considering whether to spend their hard earned money. They may find that after having spent a month or two saving weekly allowances and doing odd jobs around the neighborhood they may find that parting with such "sweat equity" (slight misuse, I know) isn't really worth having the object of their heart's desire.

[Nords]

Originally Posted by Martha

Careful, the boys here are going to be asking for pictures.* *

Naaaah, thanks anyway but I've already seen Key Largo...

[deserat]

First major savings goal was when ex-husband and I knew that I would go to graduate school and we wanted to be able to let me go to an Ivy League school if I was accepted and pay for the first year's tuition in cash. We also wanted to pay off our cars. We did it in one year - was amazing to both of us how much we'd been wasting of our salaries - we started bringing our lunches to school, stopped cruising the mall on weekends, used the library a lot more, stopped eating for dinners, bought furniture and clothes either only on sale or second-hand, negotiated for prices to things - it all added up and quickly.

I actually ended up going to a school that paid me to go there, but that money saved gave us a cushion when a few years later we both were out of jobs. I still practice those frugal habits today towards my early retirement goal.

Bridget

[justin]

Originally Posted by deserat

... stopped eating for dinners...

A savings plan or a diet plan?

[deserat]

Good catch! Stopped eating out for dinners - although as one gets older stopping eating of dinner can help prevent the older age 'spread.'

Bridet