Long-term Saving Pays Off

It’s important in life to set short-term goals because if you stick to those goals they will eventually lead to long-term advantages. The same goes for money because if you practice saving a little money now it will be worth a lot more in the future.

Just today I saw my parents—they came to watch our tennis match vs. Rider University. It is pretty much a guarantee that every time I see my parents they will give me cash—they are so generous, but I would never ask them for cash because I would feel too guilty. Each time I go home for Thanksgiving, winter or Easter break they give me a bit of cash right as I’m walking out the door to head back to school. Before I began budgeting my money I would have taken that money and spent it freely. It would be gone in about two weeks because I did not know how to save or spend money wisely. I guarantee that if I did not start saving money this semester, I would have spent the money my parents gave me at the mall (specifically Forever 21), on food and drinks at restaurants, on random things at the George Mason Bookstore, on the “Jamaican lady” who comes to campus with really cute jewelry, on gas and the list goes on.

Since I began to budget my money this semester, I’ve earned $300 from my parents. The first $100 came as I was getting ready to head back to Mason for spring semester; the second $100 came when I went home for a weekend in March to hang out with my family before my dad got surgery; and the third $100 came today at the match. I’m proud to say that I have not spent a dime of it. My point to all this is that little-by-little the money I’ve saved and resisted from spending will keep adding up if I stick with it.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I always make sure I put $5 into my savings each week as soon as I take out my weekly $150. In addition, if I have money left at the end of the week I will throw it into the savings, too. By the time summer comes a long I will have close to $500 saved from a semester of saving. Originally, I planned on testing my willpower with this budget just for the semester so I made the choice to not open a savings account. I didn’t open an account because I figured I wouldn’t make that much interest after a couple of months since interest rates are fewer than 2%. Now that I see how successful I can be with budgeting my money I’ve decided I want to open a savings account at my bank (Wachovia), and see how much money I can earn before the summer is over. I plan on taking it one day at a time—I’ll refrain from spending my money on frivolous items and keep focusing on saving money and being thrifty.

Gone with the Wind...or Just Gone by Wednesday

I was bad this week. I blew it. I spent $60 last week on TOMS shoes for my best friend who’s turning 21 on April 19. I had to listen to my mom nag about how spending $60 on shoes is “ridiculous.” I was able to convince her that because Heather (my best friend) and I have been friends since we were in cribs and because it’s her 21st birthday that she deserved a nice gift. Besides, TOMS shoes are made for a good cause. They donate a free pair to a child in need for every pair you buy. I decided I would make up for the shoes by taking out $20 less—so $130 instead of $150 for the week.

Well that money came and went a little too quickly. It just so happened that this past week was a week I had to spend more on groceries. In addition to the staple items like fruit, veggies and milk, I needed to stock up on more cereal, bread, tuna cans, cheese, Boca Burgers (I don’t eat meat), energy bars for tennis matches, protein powder (yeah I said it…I like to drink protein shakes), and other odds and ends of groceries to get me through the week. My Jeep, like me, also needed some nourishment—it was pretty much running on fumes so I filled it up with $30 of gas, (I normally put in $20). I had a whopping $20 before Sunday was even over.

I knew the whole week was going to be hectic starting with an hour and a half long presentation on Monday, editing a video for my Electronic News Gathering (ENG) class on Tuesday (which by the way I ended up staying in the studio editing for 7 hours), a paper due and a tennis match on Wednesday, shooting a video for my ENG class on Thursday and a tennis match on Friday. I normally eat dinner at home most nights with my roommates, but not this week. I was way too caught up writing papers and editing stories to even make it home for dinner. Which meant I had to buy food on campus. I had perfectly fresh groceries at home, but it would have taken too much time to drive home to eat. I also probably would have gotten distracted by, oh I don’t know…my comfortable bed…TV…the couch…talking to my roommates—definitely more exciting stuff, I just didn’t have the time. At any rate, that $20 was gone before I could say “Wednesday.”

It was only Wednesday and already I was out of my weekly cash. I had to charge cookie dough on my card at Safeway Wednesday night because the next day I would be shooting a consumer news report to find out where the best cookies are from on campus. I would conduct a blind taste test to find the answer, but the cookie dough I bought at Safeway were part of a little “twist” I decided to throw in my story to see if students didn’t choose campus cookies at all and instead chose mine. The next day, the day of the shoot, was even worse. I had to spend $10 on an 80-minute mini-DV tape for my camera, and 3 cookies from Starbucks, Freshens, and Jazzman’s Cafe, which totaled approximately $18. Charging all of this on my card was frustrating. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re trying so hard to watch how much you spend—the first dollar spent over your limit feels like you actually spent $100 over. It’s not a good feeling at all. I know I’m new at budgeting and have not yet mastered all the tricks of the trade, but each new week offers another lesson learned. This week I suppose I’ll just choose to watch TV on the couch with my roommates over getting good grades. :-)