Saving Money. It is very necessary for every boy and girl to begin as soon as possible to save money, even though it be only a small amount like a few cents a week. When the sum amounts to a dollar, it can be deposited in a savings bank where it will begin to earn interest. As they receive deposits as small as even a few cents, the school banks are very helpful in the matter of starting a bank account. There is little that makes more surely for a feeling of selfrespect than a bank account. The fact that the amount of the deposit may be small is of little moment; it is the act of saving a regular amount, however small, every week, that counts. Savings Banks. Trust companies and other forms of banking institutions have savings departments. These pay about 2% interest every six months on all sums of money left with them for that period. The savings banks are organized solely for the interests of the depositors and the organizers receive no pay for their services. Savings bank deposits are among the safest of investments because these banks are governed by strict laws, and are permitted to invest the earnings of depositors in only the most conservative ways. When a person opens an account in a savings bank, he is given a small pass book in which are to be entered the amounts of all his deposits. Every six months, the interest earned is entered to his credit as if a deposit. Whenever the depositor wishes to draw out money, he takes the pass book to the bank, and the amount withdrawn is entered in it. But, he ought not withdraw his savings, except for extraordinary needs. WRITTEN EXERCISE 1. A boy saves an average of 8¢ every week day and 10¢ every Sunday from his earnings on a paper route. At the end of a year, he sends his mother to the country for two weeks, at a cost of $24.20. How much money has he left. 2. A girl saved from her salary $2.20 a week for one year and deposited the sum in a savings bank. How much interest will this sum earn for her in a year at 4%? 3. A boy is saving up to go on a camping trip. If his expenses will be $26.50 and he can set aside 85¢ a week, how long will it take him to save the money? 4. A working girl saves 15¢ every week day. To what will this amount in a year? 5. A man bought for his family a summer bungalow costing $1845. He paid $800 cash and agreed to pay $55 a mo. on the balance. How long will it take him to make the full payment? 6. An office boy saved 25¢ a day for 310 days a year. How much did he save in 2 years, not counting the interest? 7. A girl decides to buy a suit priced $22.50. If her salary of $16 a week is paid at the end of every week, how many weeks must she work to buy that suit, if she saves 15% of her salary? 8. A young man earning $12 a week, finds he can save 22% of his salary. How much will he be able to deposit in a savings bank at the end of two months? 9. From his earnings in selling a weekly magazine, a boy was able to save 48¢ a week. He continued this for 2 yr. 4 mo. until he entered high school. How much did he save in all? 10. A man's income is $1850 a year. How much does he save if he puts aside 12% of it? 11. A house owner decides to install in his house electric lighting. He finds that this will cost him $110.25. If he sets aside $12.25 a week from his salary, how many weeks must he save to make up the amount? 12. To save the 10¢ carfare each way a boy walks to high school 190 da. in the year for four years. What per cent of his first year's college expenses of $200 that expedient? can he save by 13. A school boy saves 15¢ a week, his sister saves 80¢ a week and an older brother saves $1.25 a week. If they do this for 52 wk. a yr. to how much will their savings amount in a year and a half? 14. The mother of a little girl saves for her three cents a day until she is 12 yr. old. The money is then deposited How much was the deposit? in a savings bank. 15. A boy working during vacation and on Saturdays, found that he saved $124 a year. At the end of the next year he has increased his savings 22% at which time he deposited his savings for the two years in a bank at 5%. How much interest do they earn every year? 16. Mr. Treddel was offered a set of furniture for $250 at 7% discount for cash, or for $50 down and $10 a month for 1 yr. 10 mo. What per cent did he save by paying cash if he drew the money from a savings bank which paid 4% interest on his deposit? The Postal Savings System. The government of the United States accepts deposits from the public and guarantees to repay them with interest upon demand. When people live far from a savings bank, the postal savings system is very convenient. The rate of interest, only 2% a yr., is lower than in most savings banks, but depositors can always get their money when they wish it, and it is absolutely safe. Opening Accounts. Any person 10 years old or over may open a postal savings account by depositing one or more dollars in any post office. In case the post office does not run a postal savings department, it will accept the deposits and forward them to the nearest authorized office. Nobody is allowed to carry, at one time, more than one account, either in the same office or at different offices. A person may deposit any number of dollars, at any time, until the total of deposits amounts to $1000, exclusive of accumulated interest. After a postal savings account has been opened, deposits may be made either in person, by a representative, by money order, or by registered mail if the money-order service is not available. Postal savings deposits are acknowledged by postal savings certificates which are made out in the name of the depositor and serve as receipts. These certificates are not negotiable or transferable. If certificates are lost, stolen, or destroyed, new certificates may be obtained. A depositor may at any time withdraw all or any part of his postal savings deposits, upon demand, from the post office where the deposits were made. Withdrawals may be made in person, through a representative, or by mail. Interest on Deposits. Postal savings certificates bear interest at the rate of 2% a year. Interest begins on the first day of the month following the deposit and becomes due and payable at the expiration of each full year from the day the interest begins and continues as long as the principal remains on deposit. No interest will be paid for a period less than a year. Amounts less than $1 may be saved by purchasing postal savings cards and postal savings stamps at 10 cents each. A savings card with nine savings stamps affixed will be accepted as a deposit of $1 either in opening a postal savings account or in adding to an existing account. A depositor may exchange the whole or a part of his deposits for United States postal savings bonds, bearing 21% interest, issued in denominations of $20, $100, and $500. When bonds are issued in exchange for postal savings deposits, the balance to the credit of the depositor is reduced accordingly, and he may make further deposits until his account again reaches $1000. WRITTEN EXERCISE 1. What is the interest for 1 yr. on $15 deposited in the Postal Savings Bank Feb. 4, 1917. On what date does this interest become due? 2. A man deposits in the Postal Savings Bank $48 on March 15, 1915, and $160 on Apr. 24, 1915. What interest will these sums earn in a year and when will the interest be due? 3. A boy deposited in the Postal Savings Bank $3 on June 2, 1916; $4 on June 18; $3 on June 28. the interest due on July 1, 1917? What was 4. How much interest will $420 earn in 2 yr. in a Postal Savings Bank? How much more interest would it earn in a regular savings bank at 31%? 5. A man deposits in a Postal Savings Bank $81 on Apr. 20, 1915. On what date can he claim the interest, $1.62? 6. How much interest will $75, deposited in a Postal Savings Bank on May 29, 1916, earn in 2 yr.? At what date will the interest be due? |