The $5 Savings Plan - Have you tried it? - Page 7

When my children were young, we saved our change all year long in a big jar.  In July each year we used that money to buy fireworks.

I have not done the $5 savings plan, but do put all change and excess $1 bills, whenever possible, in a jar to save for an emergency gas money stash.  It does not take long at all to have $20 or $30 and it comes in handy to buy gas (or some other essential) when running short on $$ a few days before payday.  

I'm not big on using cash (it just has a habit of disappearing on me and I can't say where it went, but that's a bad habit I'm working on!) so what I do instead is every payday, we have automatic transfers into various savings accounts.  It goes away on payday, so we never even see it to spend it or miss it - we budget without it.  It makes our Christmas savings easy!!  :)

We save all coins that we get as change.  We only use dollar bills to pay for things.  Plus, when I get cash and I have a few extra ones in my wallet I put those in the change jar too.  We save this each year for summer vacation and we usually average about $175.  This pays for ice creams, souvenirs and spending money on our trip!  You don't miss it all year long!!!

I save all my quarters!  I big plastic coffee can holds $700!  I think I will try the "envelope method" for spending and what ever is left get in $5's and try to save!  This sounds fun!

We did this with one dollar bills and they add up real quick. So yes i believe this will work!!!!!

I am currently doing something similar.  On payday I get a certain amount of cash in order to give the kids their allowance and have a bit of cash for smaller purchases.  Everything else gets swiped and paid off once a month.  When I take out cash, I take out an extra $100 and hide it in a designated spot.  Occasionally I need to use a little, but I try to replace it.  Having this stash has come in handy when I've needed money to make big purchases if we just can't afford it at the time.  In the long run, the goal is to have plenty of money for Christmas and our Anniversary, which is also in December.  We'd like to be able to attend a big Christmas performance with the kids as well as help a family in need.  I'm excited that it's working so far!  We'll see how much of a difference it makes come Christmas time.  This is my first year trying it.

I've not tried this but my my boyfriend and I have tried something similar.  Every week we have a set budget.  We use coupons and price match.  Whatever is left over (which might be a dollar or two depending on sales) goes in a container for us to save.  Aswell as any other extra money we obtain e.g: Scratch off winnings, side job cash ect. With our small savings we've already been able to buy two sets of weights amounting to $30, a tennis set amounting to $30, and two sets of curtains amounting to $25.  

We are not big cash spenders since we like to rack up the points on our reward credit card.  Of course we pay it off every month though.  Anyhow, my rule with cash is that if I purchase something any change that I get from the purchase gets put in my pocket.  When I get home, I transfer it to a pretty crystal bowl where we keep it until it is full.  I bought our kitchen table and chairs with my "change" money several years ago.  We tend to get less change these days because of using our credit card more.  But I did open a special bank account.  Whenever I sell something on ebay or get paid via paypal for anything, I transfer all that money into the special bank account.  I have that money earmarked for something special that I really want, an upgrade to my sewing/embroidery machine.  I have enough in the account now but my current machine is still in good working order so I'm not spending it  yet.
 

For years now, I've used my debit card almost exclusively for everything I buy. Lately, I've begun to take out a small amount of cash every time I deposit my paycheck, and use that for minor purchases throughout the week. Every time I have change in the form of coins or $1 bills they automatically go into my piggy bank (Yes, the cute pink princess piggy bank from Target. Why shouldn't adults get to have princess pigs hold our money too?) every once in a while, I throw a 5 in too, and it may not ad up as fast as the regular $5 challenge, but the coins add up faster than you'd think.