Your first savings goal

[just_hatched]

Since we're all the savings type around here (is that one of those letters in the personality test?), what was your first savings goal that you remember that meant something to you?

I think mine was when I was a teenager, I saved $150 from paper route money to buy a floppy drive for my Commodore 64 so I wouldn't have to use the cassette tape drive anymore.

My games no longer took 20 minutes to load!

 

[Marshac]

Since we're all the savings type around here (is that one of those letters in the personality test?), what was your first savings goal that you remember that meant something to you?

I think mine was when I was a teenager, I saved $150 from paper route money to buy a floppy drive for my Commodore 64 so I wouldn't have to use the cassette tape drive anymore.

My games no longer took 20 minutes to load!

Ugh, that tape drive SUCKED!

Remember those "SYS" codes that you would have to type in to start a game (rather than simply using the "RUN" command)? I seem to recall SYS 64738 for some reason...

Every summer a friend and I would mow lawns, and save money for fireworks.... $90 in a month for a 10 year-old was pretty good in the 80s

 

[just_hatched]

Remember those "SYS" codes that you would have to type in to start a game (rather than simply using the "RUN" command)? I seem to recall SYS 64738 for some reason...

One of the SYS codes locked up the computer, but didn't reset it. I remember using it to lock up the computer in a K-mart store after typing on the screen "Whatever you do, DON'T turn the power off !!!"

:

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

We will achieve ER or will die trying.  5 more years left.

davew894,

I'm the same age as you are, and I wish you the best of luck in getting to FIRE by 39. Based on my projections, I can see that as a strong possibility in my case as well, but it wouldn't be the type of retirement that I would prefer. At the same time, I'd like to have a couple of kids, which most here would agree will have the effect of delaying FIRE by 10-15 years. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but it's certainly a consideration. Are you planning on having kids?

 

[just_hatched]

I'd like to have a couple of kids, which most here would agree will have the effect of delaying FIRE by 10-15 years. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but it's certainly a consideration.

At 34, DW and I do not have kids yet, but we'd like to.

Do you think kids will delay FIRE by 10-15 years after you've already "got the ball rolling"? As opposed to having kids in your 20s.

I guess it depends on how much you want to provide for your kids (pay for their grad school, new mercedes for 16th birthday, private school, etc.)

I'm sure there is a related thread to this already...

 

[Gone4Good]

At 34, DW and I do not have kids yet, but we'd like to.

Do you think kids will delay FIRE by 10-15 years after you've already "got the ball rolling"?  As opposed to having kids in your 20s.

My colleagues here in New York City are paying $30K per child for ELEMENTARY school!!! That will set your ER dreams back some. Makes contraception seem like my highest returning investment

 

[Outtahere]

My first savings goal I can remember was to be able to pay the closing costs on my grandmothers home which I now own. I had a year from the time she died to the time it was put up for sale. I was working in a retail store as a clerk at that time (23yr old) and going to college nights. It was tough but I did it. That home is now paid off, another goal reached.

C__

 

[LOL!]

My paper routes earnings went to a 2-week trip to Mexico with the Spanish Club in 8th grade.

 

[Nords]

Golf course greenskeeping in high school to have spare change for college. (Then I joined the Navy and used the money for liberty.)

I can't remember saving for a single purchase as a kid. Freudian selective amnesia? Definitely not indulgent parents. Looks like I'll have to send Dad an e-mail...

 

[MooreBonds]

Ever since I first started getting an income (mowing lawns at my dad's company), I never really had a goal per-se. I merely had that drive to save, save, save (with the occasional splurge on video games, gifts for friends, family, teachers, etc.) Of course, I could mention that time I 'invested' a whopping $500 in 9th grade in certain contraband videos that I had plans to make copies of and distribute via the black market at school. Too bad a classmate overhead some of my peers talking about my operations and informed the head-of-upper school, whom was none too pleased.

Ever since coming across this site in September 04, I've had a long-term goal of ER/FIRE status (or perhaps a little part-time work at a grocery store for the health insurance), and save like mad until I reach 30.....at which point, I will update my calculations (not that I'm not already doing it on a quarterly basis ), sit back, and kick up the 'entertainment/travel/leisure' budget by a fair amount.

Although, if I reach 30 and I'm only 3 more years from ER or FIRE due to amazing bonuses and market returns, I just might stretch the cheap bastard lifestyle a few more years to make it happen.

Only time will make the unknowns known.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I never had one. Still don't!

JG

 

[Mr._johngalt]

My colleagues here in New York City are paying $30K per child for ELEMENTARY school!!!  That will set your ER dreams back some.  Makes contraception seem like my highest returning investment

I can almost guarantee that contraception is your highest returning
investment. I would not trade my kids for anything. Still, they are
horribly expensive.

JG

 

[Calgary_Girl]

At 34, DW and I do not have kids yet, but we'd like to.

Do you think kids will delay FIRE by 10-15 years after you've already "got the ball rolling"?  As opposed to having kids in your 20s.

I guess it depends on how much you want to provide for your kids (pay for their grad school, new mercedes for 16th birthday, private school, etc.)

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.

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. We will pay for their undergrad degree (because it's relatively cheap in Canada compared to the States) but they will not be getting a new car for their 16th birthday....take the bus like everyone else.

 

[laurence]

My siblings and I all went to public schools, didn't do after school leadership seminars or play 55 kinds of sports, only one didn't go to (or is not on the way) to college. We have an Ivy league graduate and an undergrad at UC Berkeley among us. Raising a child right does not take THAT kind of money. Parents who send their kids to 30 thousand dollar elementary schools should save that money for their kids phsychiatrist's bills, IMHO.

Back on topic, I didn't work a day until I was almost 19 years old, didn't even understand the concept of saving until I met DW. She raised my FICA 200 points and got me from -20k net worth to +$400k between the two of us. I'll keep her.

 

[Martha]

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! Now I know why you haven't been around as much lately.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Congratulations!  Now I know why you haven't been around as much lately. 

Thanks Martha! I think DH and I are still in shock but we are excited. Luckily, I haven't had morning sickness but I have been fighting a cold the past few days. Plus, work has been crazy the past couple of weeks so the time's been flying by.

 

[bosco]

My first savings goal was when I was 10 years old. I saved up for over a year to get a 4 1/4" reflector telescope. Cost $80. Got it when I was 11. What a thrill!! I saved birthday, christmas presents, allowance, odd job money...everything. My parents didn't contribute a dime, and looking back I am thankful that they did not even though I think they were pleased that I had the astronomy interest.

 

[Caroline]

Like Bosco, I set my first goal early. With six people in the house my sister and I wanted a television in our room so we could choose our own programs.

She babysat and I kept score for three leagues a week down at the bowling alley (those were the days before automatic scorekeepers -- am I dating myself, or what?). I was 13 and she was 12. Took us a year to earn $70 for a 12" black-and-white set that pulled in 3 channels.

We were SO proud of ourselves -- bet you were too, Bosco!

Caroline

 

[runchman]

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.) ....

And as an added side benefit, your kids will learn to be able to entertain themselves rather than have to rely on constant organized activities.

I saw how soccer rules my sister's life for so many years, and vowed not me! My 5 and 9 year old girls don't seem any the worse for it.

When those sleepless newborn nights come up, remember, IT DOES GET EASIER !!

Best of luck to you.

- John

 

[Mr._johngalt]

And as an added side benefit, your kids will learn to be able to entertain themselves rather than have to rely on constant organized activities.

I saw how soccer rules my sister's life for so many years, and vowed not me! My 5 and 9 year old girls don't seem any the worse for it.

When those sleepless newborn nights come up, remember, IT DOES GET EASIER !!

Best of luck to you.

- John

My wife and I had similar upbringing. We both lived in rural areas and unless
we got involved in something at school, our parents just turned us loose
to entertain ourselves. Completely unorganized. In my case, I have
mostly wonderful memories of just wandering around and coming and going
as I pleased. Never got in a lot of trouble either. That came later

JG

 

[Nords]

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...

 

[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.