Hey Bothered By Being Broke,

Okay look, an iPhone is A LOT of money, especially if your parents don’t want you on one of those monthly payment plans. So, you might want to start with a goal that’s a little more reasonable. Because you could work hard to save $100 and you still wouldn’t be anywhere close to an iPhone! Then you’d probably give up and decide you couldn’t do it.

How about working on your money saving skills with a few smaller goals? You’ll build your skills and your confidence and then when you’re more of a saver, you can shoot for something big, like that iPhone.

Here are a few ideas.

1. Keep track of what you spend and how you spend it. You could do this in a notebook or computer. Just keep a list of every penny you spend. List what you bought and when, plus how much it cost. Sometimes just knowing you’re going to have to write it down later might make you think twice about wasting money on something kind of pointless. After a month or so of keeping track, look at your list. Look for patterns. Are you spending most of your money on candy? Or video games? Or something else? When you know your habits, it’s easier to work on changing them.
2. Save first. Whenever you get money, take some of it and put it somewhere safe. That might mean giving it to a parent for safekeeping. So maybe you decide to always save half, and keep the other half for spending. You get $10? Before you do anything else, you put $5 of it into savings. Work up to saving more than you keep for spending. If you always keep a little to spend on small things, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on everything.
3. Ask your parents for help. If your parents see you working hard to save your money, they may be willing to help you reach your goal. Maybe they would agree to match each dollar you save with a certain amount. Like, say they agree to give you twenty-five cents for every dollar you save. Then if you save $100, they’ll pitch in $25 and you’ll be closer to your goal.

Saving money is hard. But it’s a good skill to learn, since it’s something we’ll have to do for the rest of our lives. I hope these tips help!

What’s something you’ve always wanted to save enough money for? What are your best money-saving tips? Tell us in the comments.