We put away $25.00 every other week for each of the kids... So $50 a month and what ever b-day & Holiday money they get is put in there as well. My husband and I also put all of our change in a jar and when it is full we split it in half and put 1/2 in one acct and 1/2 in the other. That is normally a total of $200-250 every 3 months or so. When I was a kid unfortunately my parents were unable to put money away for us but now that we are grown my parents are stable in their lives after hard work and my mom and dad also put away $20 a week for each child so there should have nice amount of money (hopefully) for college. But I think anything you can put away is wonderful. When My 1st ds was born we were living off of $1000.00 a month (YIKES) and we put $1.00 a day away for him so it was about $30 a month. it wasn't a lot but it was all that we had at the time.

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Thanks for everyones replies!! We're not making a lot of $$ right now, hubbys hours fluctuate between 24-37hrs/week.. usual is 32 hrs, so i'm hoping to start each of the kids with $100, then $25/month each working up to $45 a month each... will have to wait on hubbys hours, but definitely something is better than nothing!

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~@~ Carla ~@~

You're right that something is better than nothing! And it's great to start now while they are young if you can. We put $50 into each of our ds's college fund. Plus any cash they get as a gift goes in too and any spare change that we collect throughout the year. They do not need to spend any of their cash on yet another toy!

I do the same for my son. Everytime I get a bonus check, ranges from $300 - $500. I will deposit it into my sons acct. Every paycheck, $50 ($100 per month) gets thrown into my personal savings. I do have the option of transferring funds

By next month, when my car is paid off, Ill sign up with payroll to have another $50 sucked from my paychecks and put into my sons acct.

Having $100 per paycheck taken out doesnt put a damper on me.
But every little bit adds up!

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www.myspace.com/sassy143


Alex & the spider monkey

Having come from a family where there was only birthday money put away and we didn't get to use any of it for fun let alone having any for college. I was broke the week after I had left home with no money management skills. And later on so much debt I couldn't cope.

I decided my kids needed to learn better.

Our children 5 and 3 are responsible for their own savings with supervision. They have 4 money boxes each with pictures of what they are for, one with a house for their future, one with a car for when they are older, one with hands for gifts and donations, and one with lollies and toys for spending.

They each get a dollar for how old they are each week, so the 5yrs old gets $5 per week and the 3yr old gets $3 per week. It is all in change.

They were taught early on to put half the coins into the house box, then halve whats left and put half into the car box then half again into the gift box and the remainder into the living box for spending.

Once every 3 months we empty the house and car boxes record how much is in there in an exercise book written up with budget columns and then deposit it into the bank accounts. They love seeing that they have money in the bank but still enough to spend. We also make regular donations which they both get to choose because they contribute, the enjoyment they get from helping and being grown up is so rewarding to us.

They take their wallets with the living money to the shops, if they want something we check how much they have, if it's not enough then they don't get it, if it is enough then we finish the shopping without it, if they still want it we go back and get it.

This way they learn to save and budget early and don't become impulse shoppers, nowadays mr 5 reminds me to finish the shopping before I buy the other stuff... has saved me from impulse buying as well.

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Aussie Kath

'If you ever need a helping hand, you will find them at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and one for helping others.' Audrey Hepburn.

Kath30- what a wonderful idea

I make automatic deposits to a mutual fund for DD once a month. I use ShareBuilder.

We also periodically purchase a US Savings Bond in her name. Other than that, at 5-yrs old, the bulk of her savings is in cash which she can physically manipulate, see grown, and handle. Right now she's saving up for a drum set - oh joy.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

Kath30 - Great ideas. I notice you are new. Welcome to the boards. It sounds like you have some great ideas. We look forward to your posts.

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I love the boxes idea. My oldest will be turning 5 in June, I think I will be starting that with her!

I don't know if you all are aware or not, but my principal had us talk with our students about getting into college at the beginnning of the school year, and I learned something I didn't know. When appying for financial aid for college, the government expects that a child will contribute 60% I believe of their savings towards their college costs. However, the government only expects the parents to contribute 30-35% of their savings towards college costs. I just thought that was an interesting piece of information.

My oldest right now has a savings account, however we moved out of the county that the bank is in, and it's really inconvenient to get there to make a deposit. So I plan to go there over spring break and close it and most likely start up an online savings account for her as well as my youngest. I do however like the idea of her being able to go to the bank and deposit money herself, so I will probably open an account for her at the nearby credit union, where she can deposit her money, and I'll use the online one for me to dave money for college in.

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Pain is temporary, quitting is forever....

Aussie Kath, LOVE your idea! We were going to start the Financial Peace Jr system with the three envelopes-save, give, spend, but your idea is so much cuter!! Thanks and welcome to the board!

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A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt