Rebuilding Our Savings With A Family Piggy Bank

In 2016, rebuilding our savings will be a priority for our family. Personal finance is something that I strive to teach my children early so that they can, hopefully, not make many of the mistakes I made as a young adult. I believe that giving them the opportunity to make “financial whoopsies” in the safety of our home will be learning lessons that will help them make wise decisions when they are out on their own.

My children love piggy banks. My younger two, especially, enjoy adding money to their banks and have a friendly competition to see who can fill their banks the quickest.

Most of us had piggy banks when we were young. Our parents or some other thoughtful adult often gave them to us as a way of teaching us how to save money. My mother is who gifted each of her grandchildren their first piggy bank. Often times before they were even born, they received a small piggy bank filled with change and bills she added throughout our pregnancies.

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But all too often, when kids become adults, we forget about those savings lessons learned in our younger years. We spend every last cent out of each paycheck, and we end up without anything left over. Wouldn’t it be great if we could save up some money to have fun with as easily as we did in our youth?

Actually, there’s no reason why we can’t. And I am committed to teaching my children differently with my actions.

For the past few years, my family has participated in the 52 Week Savings Challenge. We often put our own variation on it to make it easier for our children to participate. In addition to the savings challenge, each member of our family has a piggy bank (or some container to save loose change) and we take them into be added to our savings account once a quarter.

A family piggy bank works just as well as those piggy banks that we had as kids. And with the entire family chipping in their change, it can add up much faster than it would with just one child contributing. Here are some tips for having a successful family piggy bank.

Get the family together and decide what you’re going to do with the proceeds beforehand. Maybe everyone would like to go on a trip to Disney World, or perhaps a new home theater is on your family’s wish list. Talk it over, and take a vote if necessary. Having a concrete goal will help motivate everyone to pitch in as much as possible.
Find out how much money you need to make your goal happen. If you’re planning a trip, be sure to include everything, from travel and lodging to tickets and meals. Prices may change by the time you save up the money, but at least you’ll have a general idea of how much your family needs to save.
Find a nice, big bank. Since you’re saving up for something big, it’s good to have a large container for the change so that you won’t have to empty it so often. It’s also a good idea to use a bank that allows you to remove the money without breaking it, because you may or may not have enough money to meet your goal with one filling.
Keep the bank in a place where everyone in the family will see it often, and remind family members periodically to contribute. It’s easy to forget about saving your change as time goes on, so take it upon yourself to make sure everyone is putting money in from time to time.

If everybody contributes regularly, the change will add up much faster than you think. In a few months, you may have enough to meet your goal. The family will get a special treat, and the kids will learn first-hand about how beneficial saving money can be. Our children are aware of our family savings goal and why we are focused on rebuilding our savings. As an added bonus, we are, also, saving towards a family vacation in December 2016.

Does your family have a savings plan?
How do you include your children in financial planning for your family?

Rebuilding Our Savings With A Family Piggy Bank

divamdgarrett