Save Up for Something You Want

Proof required

Share your written goal showing: the item you are saving for, its exact cost, your target date, and your starting balance or weekly income. A photo of a handwritten goal sheet, a screenshot of a notes app, or a simple document all count. Accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents.

What gets checked

• Goal is specific: names the item and its exact price — 'save more money' is not a goal; 'save £120 for a new pair of trainers by 1 September' is
• Starting point is documented: includes either a current savings balance or a record of recent weekly income showing what is realistic
• Target date is in the future and plausible: given the starting point and the income or allowance, the timeline should be achievable with genuine effort

Common mistakes

• Setting a goal so vague you cannot tell when you have reached it — 'save up for something nice' has no finish line
• Not writing it down — goals held only in memory fade when competing wants appear
• Choosing a goal so large it would take years on current income — an unreachable goal leads to abandonment, not saving

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• K12 outcome — accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents
• Ask the student: what is the item you are saving for, and what does it cost? The answer should match exactly what is written in the submitted goal
• Check that the timeline is realistic given the starting balance and income — if it would require saving 100% of weekly income with zero spending, the goal needs adjustment

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Proof required

Share your tracker covering at least 6 complete weeks. Each weekly entry should show the date, any money received that week, any spending relevant to your goal, and your running savings balance. A photo of a notebook or a spreadsheet screenshot both count. Accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents.

What gets checked

• 6 entries with dates spread across 6 real calendar weeks — filling in all 6 on the same day is not tracking; the dates must show weekly progression
• Running balance is visible: each entry shows the total saved to date, so progress toward the goal amount is traceable
• At least one entry shows spending that competed with saving — a tracker showing only income with zero spending is not realistic

Common mistakes

• Filling in all 6 weeks at once the night before submitting — the dates give this away; entries must be made in real time to count
• Tracking income but omitting spending, making progress appear faster than it actually is
• Stopping the tracker after 2–3 weeks and attempting to reconstruct the rest from memory — reconstructed entries are guesses, not records

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• K12 outcome — accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents
• Check that the dates on the entries span at least 6 different calendar weeks — entries clustered in 1–2 days indicate retroactive completion, not live tracking
• Ask the student to describe one specific week's entry — what did they earn, what did they spend, what was the running balance? If they cannot recall any specific week, the tracker was not kept consistently

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Proof required

Share evidence that your savings reached the target amount from M1: a balance screenshot or record showing the goal amount, a purchase receipt for the item if already bought, or a parent/teacher confirmation of your balance. A brief note (2–3 sentences) on what was hardest and what you would do differently is optional but welcome. Accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents.

What gets checked

• Evidence clearly shows an amount equal to or greater than the goal set in M1 — the two numbers must be cross-checkable
• Evidence is dated within a reasonable period after the target date set in M1 — reaching the goal 3 years later is not this outcome
• If the goal amount changed mid-journey, the proof notes the change and the reason — changing a goal is fine; hiding the change is not

Common mistakes

• Submitting evidence of a different amount than the original M1 goal without explaining the change — the verifier needs to see M1 and M3 amounts together
• Spending the money before creating any evidence that the target was reached — buy first, screenshot second, is the correct order if buying the item
• Reaching close to the goal and calling it 'close enough' — the milestone requires reaching the specific target, not approximately reaching it

Resources

What a verifier looks for

• K12 outcome — accepted verifiers: peers, teachers, or parents
• Cross-check M3 evidence amount against M1 goal amount — they should match; if the goal changed, the proof should explain why
• Ask the student what was hardest about reaching the goal — a student who saved consistently should be able to describe at least one moment of competing temptation; a vague answer may indicate the tracker was completed retroactively

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