I’m going to rant for a minute because of something I read earlier this summer in The Boston Globe: there is something inherently wrong about the fact that the co-founders of Google—Larry Page and Sergey Brin—each added $4 billion to their fortunes one day in July when their stock shot up 16 percent in one day. I suppose with profits like that you can afford to change your company’s holding name to Alphabet!
But that’s what I read, right there on the paper’s respected Business pages, a reprint of a story originally published by Bloomberg News. Yup, just another day on Wall Street. One day and $4 billion richer.
Then, there’s the rest of us on Main Street trying to balance our checkbooks, shop wisely, and pay the rent, or mortgage, or tuition bill on time.
I’m for capitalism as much as the next guy and I was literally lost last summer when I spent three weeks in Africa without the Internet and couldn’t ‘Google it’ at whim. But really, $4 billion in one day?
The rest of us will have to settle for profits a little less heady than the Google guys, and a method of saving a little less risky than founding a start-up technology company. So, instead of getting mad that these entrepreneurs made more damn money in a day than most of us would see in multiple lifetimes, I say, invest in yourself. Start small and grow large. Start saving your $5 bills now.
Save Money Fast With Fives!
Yours in Fives,
Marie
Save Money Fast With FIves 
I discovered your blog today through your recent guest ‘appearance’. A few years ago, a fellow bar tender (at my part time job–one weekend a month) shared with me that she saves her fives for vacation spending money, so I decide to try it too, for an upcoming cruise I had planned. Well, it worked!! A LOT!! I have fallen into this strategy so much that my ‘don’t spend the fives’ tactic pays for not only the fun stuff while on vacation, but the vacation itself! Multiple vacations a year, in fact. {4 this year} I am already living a debt-free lifestyle and reaping the rewards. I participate in the 401(k) at my full time job, too, with a 6% match from the employer, so I felt the recent bump in the market, but I’m in it for the long haul. I’ve taken advantage of the self balancing risk for the long term. Higher risk investments now, while I’m (haha) younger that will self-balance to less risky investments as I draw closer to retirement age (at least another 25 years, Ugh!)
Save your FIVES, folks, it is so worth it!
HJ in Delaware
Thanks for your comment, HJ. Your success with saving $5s is really impressive. Four vacations a year is also something most people only dream about. Good for you and thanks for following my blog!…Marie
Marie, just discovered your blog today via “My Domaine” daily emails, thank you for the “ah ha!” moment. A question please, I rarely use cash and purchase everything with my debit card. How do I work using cash so I can accumulate fives?
As I said in a few of my blog posts, you can’t get a $5 back if you pay with debit or credit cards. Maybe you could switch to cash for a few weeks and see how it goes? I go to the bank at the beginning of the week and estimate how much money I’ll need for the week—for groceries, gasoline, lunch at work, etc. —- and ask the teller for that amount, all in $20 dollar bills. I still use credit cards but only for large purchases, such as furniture, appliances, an airline ticket.
Thank you, sounds doable! Funny, years ago I used cash for everything. It will be an adjustment, but well worth it.
Just found this blog while Googling from a country in Africa!Wow!
I tried to like this article, but I could not get my phone to do it. Anyway, thanks for the tip. I’m on it!
Good luck to you, Nicole! One $5 at a time; wait til you see how fast they add up.
I am starting this. Thank you for the idea. Love it!