<prompt> Human: My sisters and I are planning a family trip for 4 to Europe. We want to surprise my dad for his birthday in December 2015 with plane tickets for AprilMay 2016. We have already budgeted the trip and know we have to save approximately 235.00-250.00 per montheach to make this work. We are all in our 20s with steady jobs and dont think we should have any problem doing this. My question is what would be the best way to go about putting the money aside? We thought about opening a joint savings account that we can all deposit in, but Im not sure if it is practical to open an account for such a short term 1 year. Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.  <response>: Joint accounts are a hassle. Easiest way is that everyone keeps their contribution separate until December. Maybe if everyone has a smartypig goal you can know how much everyone else has saved. 