As a single mom, the life lessons Colleen shares with her children come from her own upbringing. “My dad is very conservative. He worked hard for his money; he really valued it, and was very conscientious about how he spent it.” She also understands the impact of modeling the right behavior, “If my kids saw me coming home all the time with
new shoes, new clothes or a new car, it would be hard for me to teach them about savings.”
When asked what she tells her kids about savings, Colleen says, “We talk a lot about needs versus wants. If my gas gauge is low, I need to buy gas. If the kids want to go out to dinner I point to the fridge and say, we need to fill the fridge; we don’t need to go out to an expensive restaurant. And we talk about it not just in regards to money, but time too – like TV, my daughter may want to watch her favorite TV show, but she needs to do her homework first.”
This understanding of the importance of planning for her needs started when Colleen was young. “When I was in elementary school my parents started talking to me about the need to save for college, and how much college cost. We set up a savings account for my college
One of Colleen’s favorite experiences with savings comes from when she and her kids faced tough times. “I was going through a divorce. We had a lot of unknowns, not knowing tuition.” Colleen’s mom was clearly a big advocate of savings. As a school superintendent in Humboldt County, Colleen’s mom worked with Umpqua Bank to set up the “Learn to Earn” program to make savings convenient, easy and fun for students. Colleen now manages the program for the bank, “I’m really proud that all of the components that my mom put in place years ago are still in place today. And I love that it gets kids jazzed about savings!”
what was ahead. I wanted to do something neat with the kids, because now it was just the three of us. We were a little family on our own. I saved up, cut corners and was smart about my money until I was able to afford a trip to Hawaii for us. It was such a wonderful vacation, and I remember that having the kids at the forefront and knowing how much they would appreciate it made it easier to save for it.”
Colleen’s final words of wisdom have to do with her favorite habit for saving. “I don’t carry around a lot of cash. I try to get it out of my wallet and into the bank. I know myself, I like to shop, so not having easy access to it helps me plan my spending. Sometimes when my daughter has some money and we go shopping she feels badly if she has not spent her money. I tell her, your money is not going to go away if you don’t spend it, it will wait for you till you find something special.”
*This is the first interview of a series that we will be posting daily to celebrate America Saves Week! Stay tuned for more or get in touch with us to share your savings story: contact@innovativechanges.org or 503-249-5205
