I opened my first savings account when I was 7 years old. I would save up birthday/Christmas money and the occasional bit of allowance money. As I got older, I saved up money from babysitting and my crappy high school jobs. It didn't stay in its savings account for long; I used it to buy gifts and later on for gas. I entered college with a couple thousand dollars though.
I'm now 23 and have started saving seriously. I have a Roth IRA that I contribute to each month as well as a Money Market account that I intend to use for car/house/wedding/etc. in the next 10 years or so. Soon I'll have income again (I'm unemployed this summer), and my savings can grow even more!
Any accuracy is lost on the confusing "47 things that you shouldn't do that I'm going to tell you to do, sarcastically" format. Credibility is lost on sarcasm.
I couldn't get a library card or my own passbook at the bank until I could sign my name, so as soon as I could, my mom took me to get both.
I had that same passbook (saved up for girl scout camp, and then college) until the bank got bought up by a bigger bank, and then an even bigger one, and then an even bigger one that wouldn't stamp the passbook and charged a service fee on small bank accounts, which drove me out (I was a broke college student by then).
My first job out of college had a decidedly savings-unfriendly policy of not letting you contribute to the 401K plan until you were 25. So instead, I started a Roth IRA, which I have contributed to every year in the 10 years since then.
I opened my first savings account with my mom when I was 5 with $5 I got for my birthday. I was saving up for an American Girl Doll ($100) but never ended up buying it because I didn't want to spend all my money. Oh well!
I post these on my blog occasionally; however, I do not advocate that you buy a product simply to get your money back. Many refunders do just that. But I only ask for my money back if I am dissatisfied.
I've read on refund forums that there's always a reason to be dissatisfied... and one that that person used a lot was price. That one is tricky because everyone values things differently. That being said, if I spent $10 on a gourmet product that tasted like a bottom of the shelf generic, I'd want my money back. If you are judicious in doing satisfaction guarantees, then I don't see why price couldn't occasionally be the reason you want your money back.
If everyone asked for their money back on satisfaction guarantee products, then perhaps the company would think their product was junk and quit manufacturing it.
I do think, though, that some companies keep track of habitual requesters. That is something to consider.
Sadly, I'm still struggling with proper saving. I've got a 401k (thank God it's something I can't touch), and I save for short term goals such as trips, but I don't have an emergency fund and I'm not quite *there* yet when it comes to saving/spending balance. It's quite frustrating, to be honest.
I wasn't quite as young as some of these savers, but around the 7th grade (I was 12) I babysat for the first time and my dad (who happened to be a bank manager) helped me open my first checking and savings account.
In the 8th grade I wanted an $80 windbreaker but didn't have the money for it. After begging my dad he "loaned" me the money interest free. I was lucky to babysit once a month for $10-$20 a pop, and after paying him about 75% of my earnings for a year, I decided it wasn't something I enjoyed!
I saved on and off after that but only for small purchases. I started saving a consistent amount when I got my first job out of college at 22. My dad recommended 10%, so that's what I've been saving for the past three years.
The savings habits my husband and I learned early on (we were married at 19 and 20) were a blessing to us. We relocated to a smaller town closer to family and he decided to go back to school. We have been able to save his entire part-time paycheck (about 48 hours a month) to pay cash for him going back to school, while buying a small house, saving for retirement, and living on my paycheck. And that has been AWESOME!
The first major savings effort that I remember was when I was 11, and my father told me that if I saved $100, he would be me ticket to Minnesota (from Florida) so that I could spend Christmas with my grandparents. I don't think he really thought that I would do it. Around November, I went to him with my hundred dollars, and told him I'd like for him to buy me the ticket. My mother then says, "I want to spend Christmas with my parents also." My savings effort ended up costing my father a Christmas trip for the whole family.
I keep a stack of them on my kitchen table to throw whenever the chipmunk who lives in my backyard decides he'd rather be an indoors rodent and launches an invasion through the gap in the bottom of my screen door.
I was forced into saving by my parents, but frankly when I was growing up, kids didn't have so much Stuff so it wasn't particularly painful.
When I started working as a teenager, I saved because it was My Money, and I wanted to keep it! My 20s and 30s didn't go so well with savings. 20s because desires for Stuff finally got the better of me, 30s because of family obligations.
Best way to save now is not to spend. That sounds so simple, but in our culture it's an uphill fight, but also the key to just about everything else financial.
I read lot of times about savings and personal finance but never got serious about it. But after the age of 30 I woke up (better late than never). Started reading lot of good blogs about frugal living and personal finance like simpledollar.com, getrichslowly.com and wisebread.com. Now I can see something in my savings account after the hardwork of couple of yrs. Long way to go though
i started saving around the age of 10, when i begged my parents to take me to the bank and let me open my own account.
i used birthday money and the occasional babysitting moneys, and i believe i started out with somewhere around $50-$100.
my parents never took me to the bank for deposits after that, but i would get bank statements every three months, and it was fun watching my money grow.
the second bank statement i got said i had about $1.
my mother had wiped my bank account clean.
since moving out, i've managed to save up to $1500, but it's always with a goal in mind, so i really don't have anything to show for it except for really amazing memories.
Please wash your corks before reusing them. I was saving a bunch only to find them infested with ants. Apparently the ants were crazy for that vintage.
I guess I started saving when I was six. I pretty much saved every penny I earned from doing chores. I now have an unpaid internship, and I hate not being able to save right now!
I'm another one who has been saving all my life. Rarely spent money when I got it for my birthday or another occasion growing up, just stashed it in my savings account to watch it grow. I started seriously saving when I got my first jobs in high school and then in college. Honestly, I think my biggest problem is saving too much! I've always put away at least half of my paycheck - at times closer to 90%, especially when I was younger with less real expenses! What I'm bad at is spending my money for fun when I don't necessarily have to.
In the case of zero sum games such as poker and trading, talent matters. You must have a positive expectation in order to win. You don’t have to be the most talented poker player in the world in order to win; similarly you don’t have to be the most talented trader in the world in order to win. You just have to be better than the people you are playing against.
I started saving my money when I started getting an allowance at the age of 8. I learned that if I wanted anything extra I had to save. It brought freedom as well. It was my own money and I could spend it on whatever I wanted, including all the Beatles' records and magazines I wanted. Now, if I only saved those magazines!
i started saving when i was 12, when i started working. i saved up until college when that all was spent.
started saving again at about 24, but since i owed a lot of money i didnt consider it savings. now that i am just recently debt free, at 28, i consider myself actually saving again
i started saving when i was 12, when i started working. i saved up until college when that all was spent.
started saving again at about 24, but since i owed a lot of money i didnt consider it savings. now that i am just recently debt free, at 28, i consider myself actually saving again
I opened my first savings account when I was 7 years old. I would save up birthday/Christmas money and the occasional bit of allowance money. As I got older, I saved up money from babysitting and my crappy high school jobs. It didn't stay in its savings account for long; I used it to buy gifts and later on for gas. I entered college with a couple thousand dollars though.
I'm now 23 and have started saving seriously. I have a Roth IRA that I contribute to each month as well as a Money Market account that I intend to use for car/house/wedding/etc. in the next 10 years or so. Soon I'll have income again (I'm unemployed this summer), and my savings can grow even more!
www dot corkbo dot com
Eric Wallentine is awesome and handcrafts crossbows that shoots your wine corks!
This is a poorly written and backwards article.
Any accuracy is lost on the confusing "47 things that you shouldn't do that I'm going to tell you to do, sarcastically" format. Credibility is lost on sarcasm.
I couldn't get a library card or my own passbook at the bank until I could sign my name, so as soon as I could, my mom took me to get both.
I had that same passbook (saved up for girl scout camp, and then college) until the bank got bought up by a bigger bank, and then an even bigger one, and then an even bigger one that wouldn't stamp the passbook and charged a service fee on small bank accounts, which drove me out (I was a broke college student by then).
My first job out of college had a decidedly savings-unfriendly policy of not letting you contribute to the 401K plan until you were 25. So instead, I started a Roth IRA, which I have contributed to every year in the 10 years since then.
I opened my first savings account with my mom when I was 5 with $5 I got for my birthday. I was saving up for an American Girl Doll ($100) but never ended up buying it because I didn't want to spend all my money. Oh well!
I post these on my blog occasionally; however, I do not advocate that you buy a product simply to get your money back. Many refunders do just that. But I only ask for my money back if I am dissatisfied.
I've read on refund forums that there's always a reason to be dissatisfied... and one that that person used a lot was price. That one is tricky because everyone values things differently. That being said, if I spent $10 on a gourmet product that tasted like a bottom of the shelf generic, I'd want my money back. If you are judicious in doing satisfaction guarantees, then I don't see why price couldn't occasionally be the reason you want your money back.
If everyone asked for their money back on satisfaction guarantee products, then perhaps the company would think their product was junk and quit manufacturing it.
I do think, though, that some companies keep track of habitual requesters. That is something to consider.
Sadly, I'm still struggling with proper saving. I've got a 401k (thank God it's something I can't touch), and I save for short term goals such as trips, but I don't have an emergency fund and I'm not quite *there* yet when it comes to saving/spending balance. It's quite frustrating, to be honest.
I wasn't quite as young as some of these savers, but around the 7th grade (I was 12) I babysat for the first time and my dad (who happened to be a bank manager) helped me open my first checking and savings account.
In the 8th grade I wanted an $80 windbreaker but didn't have the money for it. After begging my dad he "loaned" me the money interest free. I was lucky to babysit once a month for $10-$20 a pop, and after paying him about 75% of my earnings for a year, I decided it wasn't something I enjoyed!
I saved on and off after that but only for small purchases. I started saving a consistent amount when I got my first job out of college at 22. My dad recommended 10%, so that's what I've been saving for the past three years.
The savings habits my husband and I learned early on (we were married at 19 and 20) were a blessing to us. We relocated to a smaller town closer to family and he decided to go back to school. We have been able to save his entire part-time paycheck (about 48 hours a month) to pay cash for him going back to school, while buying a small house, saving for retirement, and living on my paycheck. And that has been AWESOME!
The first major savings effort that I remember was when I was 11, and my father told me that if I saved $100, he would be me ticket to Minnesota (from Florida) so that I could spend Christmas with my grandparents. I don't think he really thought that I would do it. Around November, I went to him with my hundred dollars, and told him I'd like for him to buy me the ticket. My mother then says, "I want to spend Christmas with my parents also." My savings effort ended up costing my father a Christmas trip for the whole family.
I keep a stack of them on my kitchen table to throw whenever the chipmunk who lives in my backyard decides he'd rather be an indoors rodent and launches an invasion through the gap in the bottom of my screen door.
Started late in life (35) but trying to make up for it now.
I was forced into saving by my parents, but frankly when I was growing up, kids didn't have so much Stuff so it wasn't particularly painful.
When I started working as a teenager, I saved because it was My Money, and I wanted to keep it! My 20s and 30s didn't go so well with savings. 20s because desires for Stuff finally got the better of me, 30s because of family obligations.
Best way to save now is not to spend. That sounds so simple, but in our culture it's an uphill fight, but also the key to just about everything else financial.
I read lot of times about savings and personal finance but never got serious about it. But after the age of 30 I woke up (better late than never). Started reading lot of good blogs about frugal living and personal finance like simpledollar.com, getrichslowly.com and wisebread.com. Now I can see something in my savings account after the hardwork of couple of yrs. Long way to go though
i started saving around the age of 10, when i begged my parents to take me to the bank and let me open my own account.
i used birthday money and the occasional babysitting moneys, and i believe i started out with somewhere around $50-$100.
my parents never took me to the bank for deposits after that, but i would get bank statements every three months, and it was fun watching my money grow.
the second bank statement i got said i had about $1.
my mother had wiped my bank account clean.
since moving out, i've managed to save up to $1500, but it's always with a goal in mind, so i really don't have anything to show for it except for really amazing memories.
Please wash your corks before reusing them. I was saving a bunch only to find them infested with ants. Apparently the ants were crazy for that vintage.
97% of poker players lose money in the long run to the 3% that are talented and experienced.
Same with investors/traders.
For most, they are simply hoping to be lucky.
Hope is not a strategy.
I guess I started saving when I was six. I pretty much saved every penny I earned from doing chores. I now have an unpaid internship, and I hate not being able to save right now!
I'm another one who has been saving all my life. Rarely spent money when I got it for my birthday or another occasion growing up, just stashed it in my savings account to watch it grow. I started seriously saving when I got my first jobs in high school and then in college. Honestly, I think my biggest problem is saving too much! I've always put away at least half of my paycheck - at times closer to 90%, especially when I was younger with less real expenses! What I'm bad at is spending my money for fun when I don't necessarily have to.
On and off for the last few years, so hopefully by the time I turn 29 I'll really be able to start the serious saving.
In the case of zero sum games such as poker and trading, talent matters. You must have a positive expectation in order to win. You don’t have to be the most talented poker player in the world in order to win; similarly you don’t have to be the most talented trader in the world in order to win. You just have to be better than the people you are playing against.
started around 12, blew it all in college. debt free as of 2 mos ago, 28, so now i consider myself actually saving again
I started saving my money when I started getting an allowance at the age of 8. I learned that if I wanted anything extra I had to save. It brought freedom as well. It was my own money and I could spend it on whatever I wanted, including all the Beatles' records and magazines I wanted. Now, if I only saved those magazines!
i started saving when i was 12, when i started working. i saved up until college when that all was spent.
started saving again at about 24, but since i owed a lot of money i didnt consider it savings. now that i am just recently debt free, at 28, i consider myself actually saving again
i started saving when i was 12, when i started working. i saved up until college when that all was spent.
started saving again at about 24, but since i owed a lot of money i didnt consider it savings. now that i am just recently debt free, at 28, i consider myself actually saving again