Saving for a Dirt Bike

By Jonathan 

            In the middle of August, my mom and I went to the Honda Motor Sports just to look around.  We were in the store for five minutes when I saw a dirt bike that spoke to me.  The salesman could tell I loved it and walked over.  He told about all new upgrades from last years model an electric start, four speed transmission, and light weight frame.  It was about Three thousand dollars.  Then my mom walked over, and she was actually thinking about letting me get one.  I could see it by her facial expressions.  So as we were talking and walking around the store my mom said “If you can pay half of the cost and get good grades, you can get a dirt bike."

I was so happy and once we got home I looked in my wallet to see how much money I had.  I counted it all up; it was four hundred and two dollars.  I started to go around the house looking for change.  That night I was on my laptop looking at the online store.  I kept saving and saving, looking for more loose change and asking for change after my mom would pay with cash.  I had been saving for quite a while and my piggy banks were getting heavy and I turn it into money.

            We went back to the Honda store a week later just to look around see if anything changed.  Of course I went over to the dirt bike section and surprisingly the price had gone down.  I asked the salesman and he said it was the end of the year blow out sale, and now it was only two thousand five hundred.  I was so amazed and was looking at the bike closer, looking at all the cool things , then realized that the price would soon go back to normal in a couple of weeks.  I knew I would never have the money by then.

            Once we got in the car, I asked my mom a question.  I asked if “I do yard work and clean the house can I get twenty dollars per hour?” 

She said “Um ok that sounds fair.”

That weekend I did a lot of work.  I mowed the lawn which took forever and I had to cut my neighbors grass too.  Then I cut trees into logs then stacked them in a pile to dry.  That took at least three hours and I almost cut my leg off with my chainsaw.  I had been doing yard work for about four weekends and was hoping for big results. 

I started to count my money $20, $40, $50, $70, $400, $420…$800.  That was the total $800.  I had come a little short, but I still had many more weekends to come.  We went back to the store and the guy must have thought we were crazy coming in and not buying anything.  I went over to the bike just to get a glimpse of it, and the same guy came over and asked how much farther I had to go and I said I have a little more to go. 

He told me to go look at the helmets and see what one I wanted.  So I went over to the helmets and there were so many of them and one popped to me. It was a grey and red Fox helmet.  It was and shiny and awesome.  Then my mom came over said it was time to go.  I said thank you looked at the bike and left.  We got in the car and drove off and I asked what my mom asked.  My mom said she asked what the monthly payments would be, and what would be included in the price.  I told her about the helmet I saw.  My mom said cool, and we drove to go get my sister.  I told my sister about how I could get a dirt bike, and she looked really annoyed, but I kept talking and told her about all the cool features.  She said nothing looking at her phone and then said “finally you are getting a dirt bike.”

            I had not saved enough to get a dirt bike. I am proud and disappointed because I worked hard, but did not reach my goal.