If you want to achieve something worth while, get uncomfortable.
This is how I saved 50k by college.
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How I Saved 50k By College
Today’s kids may have a tougher row to hoe just starting out, but my journey of how I saved 50k was one of focus and persistence. I managed to save and accumulate tens of thousands of dollars by the time I graduated from college. And the challenge was worth it.
NOTE: if you are new to personal finance, check out my post about the importance of the emergency fund. The emergency fund is the foundation of personal finance.
Now, back to how I saved 50k.
Growing up in a lower middle-class home taught me a lot of things. Most of which, if I wanted something, it was up to me to plan and go get it. Nothing is handed to you in this world, mom would say.
Now, in grade school I wasn’t one to crush athletics or anything. I did have a fun stint trying my hand at music, karate, and a bit of football. But, they never stuck. Those weren’t my passions. I wasn’t going to be the next Chuck Norris if you get my drift.
Those were the things that kept me busy, but in my down time as a child, I was constantly thinking about having a better life.
A better life meant one where I wasn’t struggling to keep up. I had one goal, – it was to reach retirement. Retirement meant freedom to me. It meant I’d be able to do what I wanted…on my terms. At 14 years old, that big three syllable word meant – if I work hard early, it’ll pay off later. That same year I went to my mother’s retirement party…I have a picture somewhere of the party.
I’m nearly 3 years shy of 40. Retirement has a completely different meaning to me now. There is no sitting back and relaxing – I’ve got young kids now and a wife. What was a silly goal of mine at 14, actually was well-rooted in maturity. Don’t ask me why I was thinking about saving money at such a young age – I don’t have an answer for you. But, let’s keep on the journey.
I Started Saving In High School
As we go into how I saved 50k by college, let’s go back to high school.
When it came to saving money, I was above average. Things just came easy to me when it had to do with personal finance. I remember getting my first job at a sandwich shop making $5.15 an hour. After school, I’d drive to work (in a car my stepfather paid $1500 for) and make people sandwiches. Honestly, I didn’t have anything better to do. I’d finish my homework when I got home.
My mother constantly told me, “you have to work.” So, that’s what I did. I have filed tax returns since I was 16! That’s kind of cool to think about now.
As the years went by, I kept working and saving money. I’d balance my checkbook by hand. Kids these days may not remember this, but back in the day when you received a book of checks from the bank, you’d also get a ledger. They looked like this:
I kept track of every single penny. If I purchased something, there’d be a handwritten record made for it. After each month, the goal was to see the balance growing.
Full-Time School, Full-Time Job
In my senior year of high school, there was a man that came and spoke to our class. He was a Financial Advisor from Edward Jones. I remember to this day, nearly 20 years later, what he said, “if you save $200 per month and invest it in stocks, after 40 years you’ll be a millionaire.” Interestingly enough, my grandfather told me to do the same thing, when I was 5! Sitting on his knee, he would tell me about how he saved his money and bought Exxon stock each month. Minutes later he’d shush me when wrestling was on TV…
After I graduated from high school, it was time to think about college. I wanted to go to the local state school, LSU. In the early 2000s, if a high school student had at least a 2.5 GPA, they could qualify for a TOPS scholarship. Basically, the scholarship was an incentive for local kids to go to the local school – for free. Want to guess what my GPA was? Yep – 2.5! After getting accepted, mom told me, “you can live with me for free if you stay in college.” I never thought about living on campus – not with a deal like that.
At LSU, the savings really started to pile up. Not only was I going to school full-time, I was working full-time any chance I had. Full-time school was 12-15 hours a week and that left a lot of extra time to work and save money.
I wasn’t making sandwiches anymore – I managed to become a bookkeeper for a local business. This was actually great, because the pay was pretty good for an 18 year old, but it also allowed me a lot of flexibility to schedule my hours. Also, accounting came easy to me. I enjoyed it.
Starting My Roth IRA
As hundreds became thousands, I knew I needed to start investing in the markets. I remember the phone call to this day. I called the Edward Jones branch (the guy that gave a speech at my school answered) and said I am ready to invest in the markets.
It didn’t take long and we decided to open a Roth IRA. I started with $2000.
You have to start somewhere. This image shows what I mean.
The rest is history. This post isn’t supposed to mean anything other than how I got out ahead of the pack early on. It’s how I saved 50k through hard work.
It was a long and simple process, but well worth it now that I look back. Planting the seeds early, gave me the ability to take risks later in life because I had built a cushion.
It is true, seeds become trees.