HOW TO SAVE WITH A FRIEND!

11:45:00 am  

When you do it together, it’s more fun… and you’ll have more money

Recently, my best friend zainab and I have been talking about our plans for our future. Zainab wants to be a teacher and I’ve been thinking about studying to be a nurse. Problem is, studying is so expensive! So we decided to start saving for our studies together and it’s been awesome because:
We’re responsible for each other. We decided to save together because we trust each other – a lot! At the beginning, we told each other our goals and wrote them down in our own notebooks. Every time we put some money away, we write down how much and on what date in our notebooks. It helps us see how much progress we’ve made and makes it easier to update one another – something we agreed to do every two weeks.
We help each other say no. Having someone else saving with me means that when we’re out with our friends and they want to spend money on a treat, it’s easier to say no because I have zainab to back me up. Even if she isn’t there, I know I’ll have to tell her later, which discourages me from spending too much.
We plan low-cost rewards. We’ve both set ourselves small goals for how much we’d like to save every month. When we reach a goal, we get to have a small treat – like a delicious sweet cake.
We encourage each other. Whenever I feel like my goal is impossible and I should just give up, I can talk to zainab and she’ll encourage me to keep going. It helps to save with someone else, we support each other when it feels like we’ll never save enough or it feels like we’re going off track!
We help each other out. When zainab had to attend a wedding a few weekends ago, she knew she needed a new dress, but didn’t want to use her savings. Instead, she borrowed a dress from me. By helping each other out – sharing clothes and sometimes even a school lunch – we’re able to put more money aside.

YOUR GUIDE TO SAVING

Why it’s important

When you have money, it can be so easy to spend it! Especially when there’s something you’ve wanted for a long time – like material to sew a new skirt or a novel by your favourite author. Buying yourself a treat sometimes isn’t a bad thing, but saving for your future is very important.
Saving even a little bit whenever you get money is a way to do something great for your future self. But it’s not always easy, so here’s how to start:
Work out how much money you need right now – if you have to buy school books or another necessity, like medicine, spending is okay. From there, you can set aside a little bit of money to treat yourself with something small – maybe a wonderful new soap. The rest is what you should save. How much is enough? Try put away at least half of what you have.
Speak to your parents or a trusted adult like an aunt about opening an account with a bank or a local savings group. Some savings groups may let you open your own account but others might only let an adult open an account for you. The great thing about putting your money away like this is that it will be more effort for you to get to it – and spend it!
If you’re not able to get to a bank, use an old jar, tin or box with a lock to put your money in so it’s out of your purse. Ask your parents to keep the jar for you or store it in a safe place where you can’t easily get to it – this will make it easier for you not to spend!
Saving is important for your future – and it’s a good habit to get into now. A lot of the big things you might want in life – like studying, opening a business, even getting married or buying a house one day – can cost a lot. By learning how to put money aside now, it will be easier to afford a big life expense when it comes along later!