Welcome to my 52 Ways to Save $100 a Month series. We’re serious about saving money in 2016. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes it’s the big things. I’m here to walk you through some little things that can add up to BIG savings. 52 little things to be exact. Every week, join me back here for another small money saving tip or idea that might not seem like significant savings until you see the overall yearly savings. It might just blow your mind. So pop in each Tuesday and read a new tip that will help you on your way to save $100 a month!
A penny saved is a penny earned. Doesn’t that old saying go something like that? Well, it’s true. And today we’re talking about how change can change the size of your savings account.
Online: This can be done one of two ways. There are many banks that will automatically round up your purchases and transfer that amount directly into a savings account. So say for instance you pay $4.07 for a cup of coffee. $.93 will be transferred into a separate account. Might not seem like much, but let’s say you swipe your card 5 times a day. Even if an average of $.50 is deposited on each transaction, that’s hundreds plopped into savings each year.
If you don’t have a bank that will auto transfer, do it yourself. In your check register, simply round up each time you make a payment on anything. So if you paid a power bill of $91.39, you would physically pay that amount, but record it as $92 in your register. Then at the end of the week, transfer all of the tiny overages into a separate savings account. It will literally seem like pennies at first, but it will add up over time.
In Your Piggy Bank: Make a habit of emptying your pockets into a storage jar or container every time you walk into your house. Have your spouse and kids do the same. Also, do a weekly change roundup and collect all those loose coins in the couch cushions or at the bottom of the laundry hamper.
I had a friend who was saving for a family trip to Disneyland. They bought a 5 gallon water jug, labeled it “Disney Spending Money,” and got the whole family excited about collecting their spare change. Every penny {literally} they earned, went towards their spending cash on the trip. The whole family participated and the whole family benefited. At the end of the year, they were able to head on their vacation with almost $400 saved. And that was just from collecting coins!
Do you save your pennies? How do you do it?
How Much Can You Save: $100+ Some reports estimate about 1.3 million dollars in pennies are thrown out each year. That’s not 1.3 million pennies, but 1.3 million dollars worth. Holy pennies people. And that’s just pennies. Imagine if you add in all the nickels, dime and quarters. I suspect you could easily save $100/year by keeping the change!
More Ways to Save:
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clean Out Your Closet {Week 1 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Break Up with Cable {Week 2 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Barter Better {Week 3 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Change Your Own Oil {Week 4 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Adjust Your Thermostat {Week 5 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Take Advantage of Your Perks {Week 6 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Pack Your Lunch {Week 7 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make It Yourself {Week 8 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Preserve Your Bounty {Week 9 of 52}
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Heidi P says
I don’t spend my change I save it in a jar. When we go on a trip I cash it in for some fun money. I collected $175 in change in about 6 months last time. Awesome and somewhat painless. In Oregon we also get a .05 cent refund on cans and bottles I always save that money up too. Pennies do add up!
Rebecca W says
First of all, I love this series.
We have a change jar and my husband puts his change in there. I use my credit card for everything so that I rack up travel points, but even just his change adds up to usually around $150 a year. I used to use the money to buy seafood for our Christmas Eve party, but lately we have been using it for vacation spending money. My husband’s bank (we use different banks although we have joint accounts) has a coin counter that doesn’t charge you to count your change and exchange it for bills, which is nice.
Mars says
Check out the Acorns app. It will keep the change for you like B of A but by linking to your bank account and taking small withdrawals to round up purchase transactions.
Laura says
One of my favorite ways to save for travel is to not spend any change OR $1 bills we get. And, instead of rounding up to the nearest dollar, we round up to the nearest $5. So, if we spend $12.37 at Safeway for example, we round up to $15 and get back $2.63, which goes into savings. Coins are rolled and deposited in our travel savings account, and when we accumulate $25 in dollar bills that goes into savings as well. We saved over $1000 in a year’s time doing this, and it was painless (We tried to round to $10 and put away $5 bills as well, but that did hurt). We use cash most of the time, and recycle bottles and cans, and typically put away anywhere from $7 to $15 each week.
Wyoming Gal says
So I know this is a popular strategy. I realize it is about the psychology of putting away something little and seeing it grow bit by bit into something bigger. But to me, it isn’t very logical. I mean do you know anyone who literally throws away their change because it is too much bother? No, they spend it when they have something to pay for, they don’t discard it. If putting it in a bottle means you spend less because the change isn’t in your wallet – great. But to me it makes more sense to control your urge to buy things – that way you don’t spend your change or the bills in your wallet. I guess I understand the part about this being a good strategy with children because they usually have to learn to control their impulse to spend. And frankly, I only carry a few dollars around most of the time because I just don’t make impulse purchases, so the vending machine doesn’t call to me if I have change or if I have bills.
Teckla says
I like your thinking! But I guess it helps folks learn to discipline their savings habits to stash away change. I do it for 2 reasons. First, I don’t like to carry the weight of change around in my purse. It get heavy faster than you would imagine. Second, I don’t spend much outside planned purchases such as groceries or specific items for which I write a check. (I’m not disciplined to tracking, so I don’t use a debit card). My sister and I spent a few days at the coast beginning of November. I withdrew $300 for spending money and still have about $80 left at this point. I try to only carry $50 or less unless I have a specific reason to do otherwise. We’re all different and have different ways of doing things, but I keep trying to learn to be disciplined. Some things are easier than others, though.
I love all the ideas that Mavis and her readers share. Gives me lots of ideas and inspiration.