An Awesome Savings Incentive Chart

 The ten year old got the most awesome savings incentive chart in the mail today.

 His aunt was here a couple weeks back and she noticed he was having a hard time saving his money for anything big.  It was too easy to spend it on whatever was in front of him at the checkout stand :) So she told him she would make something that would help him, and then send it to him.

 What she came up with was pretty amazing.

There are three parts to it - the chart on the wall, a savings bank, and a change tracker.  Now that he's been moved to the top bunk, he chose to put it up on the wall above a dresser, where no little fingers can get to it (at least not without a lot of effort).

 The chart is awesome.  So colorful and fun.

 He loves archery, and has been wanting a compound bow of his own for a couple years.  Right now he just borrows one from 4H, but he'd love to have one he can use all the time.  So the goal right now is to save up enough money for a bow, a $250 goal.

 The bottom of the chart starts at $0 and the top ends with $250.  Each square is $1 more than the last.

 The stick figure has plasti-tac on the back of it so he can be moved along and will stick well.  Right now, he has $15, so that's where the stick person is.

 There are several prize spaces along the way - the first at $30.  My awesome sister even sent prizes, wrapped up in gift wrap for him when he reaches those spots.

 We made a deal with him that we would match his money if he saved $125.  We would also pitch in $125 toward the purchase of his bow.  But my sister included another option for him.  If he keeps going, rather than spending his money, he will get a much bigger reward.  He won't know what it is until he actually gets there though.

 The second part of the system is a savings bank she made from a glass block.  She told me she saw that idea on Pinterest.  She decorated it with ribbon around the sides, a cool background (and a frame on the back with a picture of a bow, which I forgot to take a picture of.  The picture can be changed out as the goal changes.  Once he finishes saving for the bow, he can put a new picture in and start saving for something else).  The bottom corner of the front of the block has a chalkboard sticker on it, where he can write what he's saving up for.

The last part of the goodies include a rules sheet, and a change jar, laminated so he can use a Vis a Vis marker to keep a tally of how much change he has.  He will only track dollars as whole dollars on the chart, so even though he has $15.04 in the jar, his man stays on the $15 space.  If you look closely you can see four tally marks in the jar, and whenever he puts change in the jar, he'll add that amount so he knows when his change adds up to move him another dollar space up the wall chart.  Genius idea for keeping track of change, if you ask me :)

I told my sister I like the chart so well that I need one for every topic I can think of :)  Definitely good for savings though, and maybe to count down to debt free status :)  I'm gonna have to think about it for awhile and figure out what my goals are.

Oh, and would you believe my sister thinks she is not very creative?  Yeah. Crazy.  I'm not gonna believe that anymore! ;)