When Meggie went to the department store in her town she would see things that she liked.  One day she saw a small corduroy purse and thought it would be perfect for carrying her new lace handkerchief from her aunt.  She asked her Mom if she could get it, but Mom said that Meggie should save her own money to buy it.  This made Meggie think about her pink ceramic piggy bank.   It felt pretty full but it didn’t have an opening in the bottom so she wasn’t sure how to tell how much money there was without breaking it open.  Besides, she thought it might mostly be pennies so it wouldn’t be enough.  How could she get more coins and dollar bills to buy this purse?

Mom suggested several things Meggie could do to earn money toward the purse.  She also said, “You could save your money instead of spending it on penny candy.”  Now this was something Meggie hadn’t thought about.  She loved going to the corner store where she could get candy necklaces, caramels, lollipops, and taffy for a penny or a nickel.  But she decided that she wanted the purse enough to save the money instead.

Over the next few weeks she didn’t buy any candy (this was difficult) and she walked the dog and kept her room tidy.  She carefully put all the dimes and quarters she earned in the piggy bank. It seemed like it was taking forever to save money!  Finally she thought it was time to check, and she shook all the coins out of her bank so she wouldn’t have to break it.  After counting her money several times she had enough!  Her Mom took her back to the department store and Meggie proudly paid for the purse.  She admired it so much she almost didn’t want to put anything in it, but soon she was carrying it everywhere.  She also started dividing the money she got for her allowance and birthdays into categories.  She kept some for buying candy and saved the rest for things she might want in the future.  It was so much fun picking up the piggy bank and shaking it to hear the coins inside jingle.  What would she save for next?