Do you find yourself saving money until you know exactly what you want to spend it or do you spend money on just about anything all the time? I’m a saver so I'm always trying to find new ways to save money. I've read books about budgets, improving your credit and plain old money management.
My first introduction of saving money was when I was younger around four years old. I would collect my spare change or any money that I could find and save it in a piggy bank. Sometimes I would purposely not give my mom her change and keep it for myself. I still have a habit of “accidently” not giving people their change back and putting it directly into my money jar.
As I got older my shiny change slowly turned into crisp bills. It became a routine of mine to put all my change and single dollar bills into my money jar every day. If I received change it was going directly into the jar. After a while I realized that saving change might look like a lot but essentially it's not. I would save my coins for months just to take them to a coin machine and realize I only had $30. Imagine that!? Saving for months and I mean months, just to go to the coin machine and leave with just enough money to fill your gas tank. Talk about feeling disappointed.
While online one day I read about a $5 challenge and decided to give it a try.
Here's how it works:
• Every time you come in contact with a $5 bill you put it to the side and save it!
I soon decided that if I saved my ones and lose change then I could easily save more. Working as a waitress it's easy to have multiple $5 at the end of the night. If someone gives you change and it's a $5 bill save it like you would save your ones. If your about to buy something and need to use a $5 to pay for the item remember this challenge and you'll probably realize you didn't need the product anyway. We spend $5 here and there all the time without even realizing. Soon you will see the difference in saving more than just your lose coins and single dollar bills!
As a result of saving since January to July 2022 I have saved $2,650! And that just my $5, I haven’t even counted all my spare change and $1.
Surprisingly I don't even know what to spend this rainy day money on! Should I buy some living room furniture that I so desperately need? Or maybe a vacation? Maybe I can even invest in some stock! All I know is that saving my $5 has left me feeling more accomplished as opposed to just saving my spare change.
Because of this challenge it's made saving money more fun. All it takes is commitment but once you start and realize how much you've saved in such a little time you will be surprised. You never noticed how many $5 you come into contact with daily.
