Comments on: Meet the challenges head-on

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:30:09 +0000

Sara, I just read your article in our morning paper,and was very interested. During the war in Viet Nam, I was living in Honolulu and the member of a large church there. After Sunday service, we always had a lunch on our patio to visit tourists. At one luncheon, as we passed a mike around, one lady asked if somebody in our church would drive her and her friend out to Punchbowl National Cemetary. Her son had been killed in Burma during WW2, and at wars end was re-intered at Punchbowl. So for some FIVE years, this lady had put all her change in a large bottle, so she could fly out to Hawaii and see her son’s final resting place. Her daughter, also in the service had previsiouly visited it, while passing thru the Islands. So after lunch, we all got in my car, and drove up to Punchbowl. We stopped at the office and a very nice guide took us right out to the grave site. The friend and I stood back, while Mom knelt down and placed a colorful lei on the head stone, and watched , with tears in our eyes as Mom spent a few quite moments with her son, then I drove them back to their Waikiki Beach hotel. But that day was one I’ll not forget. That is one ladies use of the coins she had saved for so long a a bottle. Thanks for the memories.
Henry L. Phelps

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:28:33 +0000

Many years ago money was very tight and with kids in college it got even tighter. Knowing that they wanted their college class rings in the worst way I started saving quarters having no idea how many I could accumulate in a year’s time. To make a long story short when it was time for their classmates to buy rings I was able to surprise them by coming to school,taking them to the bookstore and buying their rings also. They, until that time, thought it was just something they weren’t going to be able to have knowing there was no “extra” money in the budget for such things. Everytime I see them wearing that ring which they very proudly do, I remember how easily they got them. To this day I don’t spend my quarters. I still save
them for something special only now it’s something for my grandchildren or an overnight stay somewhere, or a very special dinner with the family.

Actually, I need to credit my mother with this whole idea because when I got my first sewing machine there were some accessories that I really wanted to go with it, but again there was no money for extras. She suggested that I save my dimes and within about six months I had my longed for accessories. Sometimes waiting makes the buying just that much sweeter and I never really missed the change in my billfold.

Now I save pennies and nickles for an occasional dinner out with a friend a couple times a year or something extravagant at the grocery store.

Thanks for your great column

By: Geneva

Geneva — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:26:16 +0000

I was just reading the collumn you wrote on “Meet the Challenges head-on” on the part about CHANGE-JAR CHALLENGE I wanted to let you know this really does work. My husband and I started to save all the change we would get back, several years ago. We save the change to go on a vacation, we go about every 2 years and we save, in change, alone, about $350.00. So it really does work to save just your change.

By: Pat Walworth

Pat Walworth — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:09:40 +0000

My husband and I have done the check register trick for most of the 53 years we’ve been married. At the end of the year it becomes our Christmas money.