Can my savings goal help my community too?
No matter how big or how small, you might consider including a savings goal in your budget to support your community. By sharing with others, you can create positive impacts right in your own community, and build lasting friendships along the way.
Remember Isabella? She walked dogs and raked leaves so she could go to basketball camp. Isabella really enjoyed everything she learned at camp. She wants to continue to improve her basketball skills. She would like to play with teammates in her neighborhood. However, the park near her does not have a basketball court. After sharing her idea with her parents and neighbors, they decided to help her raise money to put a basketball court in the local park. Isabella plans to donate $50. She has set a new goal and changed her budget to add this to her savings plan.
Setting new goals
Your goals and budgets will change as things in your life change. You might earn more money, or have to spend more than you expected. You might also save more or add new savings goals. You can also change your budget to share some of your money, like Isabella.
How do you plan a sharing goal?
You plan for sharing just as you would saving and spending. If you are adding a sharing goal to your saving and spending goal, you might plan how to split it up. Let’s say you make $10 a week. If you spend 50 percent, save 30 percent, and share 20 percent, then each week you could spend $5, save $3 for yourself, and save $2 to share. In five weeks, you would have $15 in your savings and $10 to donate to your cause!
Plan for the amount you would like to share, figure out when you would like to donate it by, and set money aside to reach your goal.
How does sharing money help your community?
Isabella’s neighborhood now has the basketball court where she can practice every day with her friends, along with her neighbors for years to come. Through good planning, she met her sharing goal, improved her community, and made new friends along the way. Isabella learned how to work with others and became an even better team player. She was very proud of herself.
What would you like to share in your community?
Student Questions:
- Why should you include a savings goal in your budget?
- Think about your community. What are some places you would like to support, like the homeless, animal shelters, or the elderly?
- How could you reach out to others to help with your sharing goal?
- How would you set the amount of your sharing goal?
- How could your sharing goals make a difference in your community?