Ryan just bought a car. And she’s a beauty, too. 2002 baby blue (uh, metallic blue) Toyota Prius with only 57,000 miles. Owned by a 91-year old grannie who used it mostly to drive to church and back. No kidding. Problem is, Ryan can’t drive it; never mind he doesn’t have his license. He barely has his permit. And taking an online course to get his permit happened after he bought the car.

How does a 15-year old with no permit end up with a pretty snappy car sitting at the bottom of the driveway? It starts with a plan.

When Ryan was 11 years old he got his first job. He delivered papers once a week after school. Most of that money went directly into his savings account. Although he was responsible for all his discretionary spending, there wasn’t a whole lot he spent money on. John and I customized his interest rate (KidsSave was a great help in this area), so that the more he saved, the more he ended up with. This was a great incentive. But an even greater incentive was the offer his grandmother gave him. She would match him dollar for dollar on his first car.

Over the years he added soccer reffing, teaching math centers, and yard work for our neighbor to his list of jobs. He also did the occasional lemonade and root beer float stand. Then there were his buys and sells on ebay. Again, most of it went into his savings account. Although I have to mention here, just in case you may think he never enjoys spending money, he bought his own $350 mountain bike, an ipod touch, golf clubs and other pretty pricey items. He knows when to save and he knows when to spend.

But my main point is that, when you have a goal in mind, when you know what you want and have figured out the steps to get there, it’s easier to keep your eyes on the target. That’s the power of goal setting. It keeps us focused. Even when you’re eleven years old.

Four years later the perfect opportunity presented itself. We live near a community college which doubles as a used car lot on the weekends. Nathan and Ryan, just playing around on the computer one day, discovered that a used Prius would be on the lot. A Prius is exactly what Ryan wanted. He’s my little eco-friendly kid.

The stars seemed to be aligning for him. About six months ahead of when he had planned on buying a car, it was an opportunity not to be missed. An opportunity on a variety of levels. This was his first major negotiation and he wanted to do it himself. So John and I prepped him. He needed to know exactly what his maximum offer would be. Start low, move up.

The owner, through her grandson, was asking $10,000. Ryan went in at $8800. They came back at $9200 which was exactly what Ryan had hoped. He had just made his first deal.

After registration and taxes, the total came to $9796. Split with his grandmother, Ryan’s share was $4898. He paid in cash. That’s how a committed 15-year old buys his first car.

Teaching our kids to set personal financial goals when they are young is so important. It starts with the little things…a video game then a bike then an ipad. They learn it’s possible and begin saving for the bigger things. To see how it’s done, check out this video: