Saving Up as a Family: The Washington Fund

About a year and a half ago, my family and I moved across the country from Utah to Massachusetts.  It was the trip of a lifetime.  My husband was already here, having started his new job while the kids and I (really just me) packed up our house, cleaned, scrubbed, painted, and in all other ways got it ready to sell as soon as we left.  Then my dad (who is honestly one of my favorite people ever, and the most generous person you'll ever meet) flew in just in time to help load the moving truck, and then climb into it and drive it nearly 3,000 miles.

Each day, one of my kids had the chance to spend the day driving with Grandpa in the moving truck, while the rest of us partied (laughed, cried, played, fought) together in my Suburban.  We spent three days driving to Arkansas to visit my sister (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas).  What?  You say Arkansas isn't on the way to Massachusetts?  Whatever.  What's an extra 450 miles when you're already going 2,400?

We spent three wonderful days playing with my sister and her darling kids: going to the park, barbequing, just generally enjoying ourselves and being off the road for a little bit.

Then it was back in the trucks for another three days of driving to Boston! (Missouri again, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts!)  We saw so much of the country, so many fun and interesting sights.  The last day was a killer, but overall we had a really wonderful time, and my kids each got to spend so much time with my dad.  It was wonderful.  It really was the trip of a lifetime.


We had big plans to make that drive again last summer, to visit our families and friends that we miss so much being out here...  But then I got pregnant, and the idea of sitting in the car for days on end with five kids and a broken air conditioner was just too much.  That plan was nixed from the beginning.  We looked into flying, but it was just so expensive, and we hadn't anticipated the cost, so we sadly told our kids that we wouldn't be visiting everyone that year.

Our kids were really, really bummed.  But they understood.  It's a cardinal rule around here: If you haven't saved up for something, you don't buy it.  Period. 

During that same conversation, talk turned to this upcoming summer.  How can we pay for plane tickets?  Surely we wouldn't be missing another summer with our family?

Well, once again we'll need to fly, instead of drive, or at least *I* think we need to!  I'm just not up for driving nearly 8,000 miles roundtrip with a six-month-old baby.  In fact, I'm afraid that if we were to try, I'd be calling my husband from somewhere in Indiana, informing him that he needs to get a job there, as we are permanently stuck, and absolutely cannot get back in the car for another mile.

It became immediately obvious to everyone that we were going to need to do some heavy-duty saving up.  This wouldn't be your run-of-the-mill saving up.  This would be the biggest thing we'd ever saved up for, and it was going to take a full-family effort.

We discussed exactly how much money this trip is going to cost.  My kids were surprised.  We discussed exactly what we as a family are willing to give up.  I was surprised.

Everyone was totally on board.  It was kind of inspiring to see how much they wanted to make this work.  One child ran and got a Mason jar and wrote "The Washington Fund" on it in her best handwriting.  My husband dropped a $20 bill into it ("seed money" he called it), and the sight of the first cash going into the jar absolutely galvanized my kids.  They all ran to their banks and emptied them into the jar.  They then ran and got my wallet and asked if they could empty that, too.  Then they scoured the house for any loose change and put that in, as well.

If you look closely, you can see the "Washington" written at the top.



I was kind of sure that once the initial excitement wore off, that we would all lose enthusiasm for "doing without" in an effort to save money.  Not so.

To date, this is what my family has done to save up for our trip:

• My kids collect change they find on the road.
• They raid my husband's pockets for change every day after work.
• My oldest three have spent some serious time shoveling snow.
• The younger kids constantly ask for extra chores to earn money.
• A couple of times when we've been out all day going between basketball games and running errands, we have offered the option of buying everyone tacos, or of putting another $20 into the jar - the vote is always for the jar.
• We got an insurance payout for a minor accident I was in last year, and we decided to stick with the dented door and put the check into the jar.
• Anytime any of us does anything that results in making some cash, it goes in the jar.

I am so impressed with my kids.  And I'm so grateful for this experience where they get to experience long-term effort to save up for something big.

Kate