I Resolve to…..Save My $5s!

There are plenty of areas of life about which we could have a New Year’s resolution. And for most of us, money is on the list.

Looking to buy a house in 2016? Hoping to pay down your student loan? Working to raise your credit score, or simply get out of credit card debt? Or how about the ultimate savings goal—a comfortable retirement and enough money to pursue your passions?

If you have financial goals for 2016, here are three ways that saving your $5 bills will help you reach them.

1. They add up over time

Even if you don’t save your $5s but feel you can afford to put away $5 a day each day of the coming year, by New Year’s 2017, you will have accumulated $1,825. Just by saving one $5 bill a day.

2. Easy does it

If you’re looking for an easy way to save, what could be easier? Save each and every $5 bill received as change in a cash transaction and watch your savings grow. There’s no need to deprive yourself to save. No need to set aside a fixed amount a month. No need to do anything but commit to using cash for many of your daily purchases, and then saving each $5 given back as change. Viola!

3. Five, ten, fifteen, twenty

Just like children get excited when they learn to count by 5’s, it’s fun for all ages to count a stash of $5 bills. On a recent holiday shopping excursion, I came home with six $5s to add to my pile, and honestly, it was fun adding them up. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30! It was certainly more fun than filing credit card bills. And if saving money equates to having fun, well, what could be better than that?

Happy New Year’s!

Yours in Fives,

Marie

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Save Your $5s and Rest Easy All Year

I’ve been a less frequent blogger the past few months, bogged down with my job as a college professor, and too busy to promote the idea of saving $5 bills with the same vigor as when I started SaveMoneyFastWithFives last summer.

In the spirit of Christmas, dear readers, I hope you’ll forgive me.

And during this season of Christmas, when we spend a lot of time worrying about how much it’s all going to cost, I have reason to cheer: I’ve already deposited $165 in my fives savings account this month and December still has 11 days to go.

Another way to explain my less frequent posts the last few months is that after a while, how much more can I say about my practice of saving $5 that I haven’t already? My husband said he is amazed that I’ve been able to write about this savings habits from so many unique angles. But here’s the thing: Even when the practice gets boring, even when I can’t think of anything new to say about it, it still works. It’s tried and true.

And that’s why I do it, why I save every $5 that I get back in a cash transaction. Because it’s easy to implement, even easier to maintain as a regular practice, and because it works.

Saving each and every $5 bill that passes through your hands will add up to a sizeable nest egg over time. Mine is nearing $40,000. after more than 12 years.

Very few of us are immune from fears about holiday spending or post holiday debt. But adopt the SaveMoneyFastWithFives savings plan, and rest easy now and all year long. Happy holidays!

Yours in Fives,

Marie