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Mickey and I have started saving for our kids future’s. We have for their college educations and for our own retirement. Every month we work at this, because we don’t want to find out that it is time for our oldest to go to college and we haven’t saved a dime.

Side view of a little girl with text beside her.

Did you know that over 70% of Americans are finically stressed? I knew that we would have to start saving money for our kids to go to college and I didn’t want to be lying awake in 20 years worrying about it, so I started saving now. 80% of people admitted that their personal finances keep them awake at night. I didn’t want to be one of the 80% or one of the 32% of adults say their finances keep them from living a healthy lifestyle.

Money should never be the reason why you can’t be present, present in the moment or present to enjoy ALL the moments that matter most to you. SunTrust is helping to make sure that this doesn’t happen. As most of you know, if you have been reading my blog a lot, I partner with SunTrust bank a lot, because they want everyone to save their money (we actually have our mortgage with them for this reason).

My husband and I are both college graduates and we have seen how rewarding a college education can be. He attended a private school, where he studied managerial economics, and he played football for the team. (Here is a picture of us at one of his football games. We went to college four hours away from each other, but I went there every weekend that he had a football game.)

Here we were after one of his college football games…
A college football player and his girlfriend posing for a picture after the game.

I attended the University of Pittsburgh, where I studied elementary education, with a minor in writing. I went on to obtain a certification in Play Therapy, which I do today (play therapy and writing – I was a teacher, too, before we had kids).

A couple smiling while posing for the picture.

We moved to NC …

And started working on our dreams…

Two years after we moved, we had our first child. I knew that I wanted a wonderful life for him. We welcomed three more kids and our dreams became their dreams. We are now watching their dreams grow.
A family posing for a birth announcement photo.

We want our children to go to college, study something that they love and have a happy life! College will give them that edge that they need. It will keep them well-rounded and open their eyes to the possibility of becoming whatever it is that they are dreaming of becoming. It will be the ladder for them to climb to enable them to reach their goals.

​Saving money for our children’s college education is something that is very important to me. We save for our retirement (our future) and we save for their future.

A group of siblings lying in the grass posing for a picture.

Here are a few ways to save:

1- Put away a set amount each month into each child’s college fund. Whatever it may be… $25, $50, $100. Have it put away through direct deposit, so that money is not even seen by you.

2- Pay off your house before your kids go to college. This is our goal. We will pay our house off early (see how we are doing that here) and we will use our ‘monthly mortgage payment to pay towards college instead.

3- Do not spend ANY of their birthday or holiday gift money. Put it towards their savings. If they want some of it, give them a dollar or two. I don’t even tell our kids that they just got $50. It is too much money for them to handle. I put away at least 2/3 of it, into their college account.

4- Ask your family to donate to their college funds instead of gifts. They can do this with a savings bond or a deposit into their account.

5- Get out of debt BEFORE you start saving. You need to take care of YOUR finances before you can take care of your KID’S finances!

A little girl in rain boots.

I know that they say that you should save for your retirement before saving for college, but my thought is that THEIR money (birthday gift money, etc…) goes into THEIR account. Just like a 401 K, I can contribute (or “Match it”), too. Its the least that I can do to help them reach their dreams one day… and get rid of your stress today.

Remember to enjoy these times, putting away a little at time. This will reduce your stress later, so you can enjoy those other moments today! ♥

At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well-being. When you feel confident about your money, you can save for your goals and spend knowingly on what matters most to you.

The onUp movement was created to guide millions of people one step at a time towards a more financially confident life without ever losing sight of the moments that matter along the way.

 

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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10 Comments

  1. I love this post!! It’s nice to see the timeline of you and your family. Saving is important. Before you know it they will be teens and college is right around the corner!

  2. I enjoyed your flashback pictures that went along with this amazing post.

    As a Mom of three I think about my kids going to college too and all that we can do to help them with the financial burden that College can be. This is a great post offering many awesome ideas on how to do that.

    Thank you!