From Paying Off Debt to Planning for Our Kids’ Future

November 6, 2025

When we first started our journey with Project Money at Summit Credit Union, the idea of saving for anything beyond just paying the bills felt impossible. Every dollar had a job: groceries, gas, debt payments, you name it. I remember always thinking, “Maybe one day I’ll be able to save for my kids’ college,” but honestly, that day felt like it would never come.

Fast forward a few months, as we are reaching the end of our Project Money Challenge, and something amazing has happened. We actually can start saving! Not huge amounts, but for the first time in years, we can actually breathe and think ahead.

At our most recent meeting with our financial coach Jess, we talked about what’s next now that we’ve made progress on our debt and met some of our savings’ goals. For the first time, we shifted the conversation from catching up to planning ahead. That’s when Marco and I talked about saving for our kids’ education. Our son is seven, and our twins are two, and we already feel behind on preparing to help them with some of their higher education expenses.

I’ll be honest, we didn’t know much about college savings options. We’ve heard of 529 plans and even something called an “Educational Roth,” but it all sounded complicated. We reached out to a close friend in personal finance, and they broke it down in a way that finally made sense: it’s not about how much you save, it’s about starting. Even $25 or $50 a month adds up over time, and starting small is still starting strong.

That conversation changed everything for us. Suddenly, we weren’t just focused on paying off what we owe, we were looking at how we could help our kids avoid the same struggles. We are planning for our kids’ future in a way that gives us hope and pride. We’ve even started talking to our son about what we’re doing and why and seeing him get excited about saving too just melts my heart. He is learning lessons we wish we had known earlier.

If you’d told us a year ago that we would be writing about saving for college, we would’ve laughed. But thanks to Project Money and the amazing support from our Summit financial coach, we are doing things we never thought we could.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “That sounds great, but I can barely save right now,” trust me, I’ve been there. You don’t have to start big. Just start. The small steps matter: one automatic transfer, one new savings goal, one honest conversation about money. That’s how change happens.

Want to Learn More About Education Savings?

If you’re curious about saving for your child’s education, Summit Credit Union offers a , a great way to set aside money for tuition, books, or other educational expenses. It’s a tax-advantaged account that can make saving for school more manageable, even when you’re starting small.