5 Tips to Jump Start Your Nest Egg Now

 

I’m close to reaching a pretty big milestone in my fives account. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment to have saved almost $40,000, all in $5 bills. I expect to achieve this by late Fall of 2017….heck, the account now stands at $38,700 so I’m not far away.

Looking for ways to jump start your $5 savings plan? Here are five ideas so simple to put into practice that you’ll be back on track saving your nest egg of $5s in no time.

1. Use cash

            You can’t save $5 bills unless you spend with cash. Credit and debit cards, store accounts, cashing in reward points and so on are all cashless, financial transactions. Sure, you can buy a lot of things with a Visa or a Mastercard but the only way to get a $5 back as change is to pay to purchase something with cash. Withdrawing a sum of money in cash from your bank every week (after estimating the funds you’ll need for the week’s expenses: groceries, gas and transportation costs, lunches, etc). is the easiest way to keep your spending under control while living mostly on cash. The side benefit is getting $5s as change that you can save.

2. Buy on demand

If you’re like most people, you spend money every time you walk into a store, especially say a supermarket or a retail health and beauty aid store. Restricting your retail visits to times when you need a particular item (shampoo, razor blades, a greeting card) not only helps keep your spending in check but increases your chances of getting a $5 back as change.

3. Pay with $20s

There are four $5 bills in every $20, which is just another way to look at your money. Spend less than $5 on a transaction, pay with a $20, and bada-bing, a $5, or maybe three $5s will come back as change. Buy something that costs $9.50, pay with a $20 and there’s a good chance you’ll get two $5s back. Bada-bing.

4. Touch your stash
   

When you think about it, money is a kind of energy, a sense of abundance or lack thereof that radiates from your inner you to the outside world. You’ve heard the theory that says what we put out into the universe is what we’ll get back. It’s the same with money which is what I suggest you really connect with, and touch your money, from time to time. I let my loose $5s accumulate until the wad hits $100. And then I deposit them in the bank. But during a typical week, I touch my stash of $5s every time I add one to the pile. I count it every few days, let the energy of the bills rub off and me…and bring more abundance.

5. Reward yourself

Imagine walking 10,000 steps a day (and having proof of this on your FitBit), and then, at the end of a successful day of movement, going out and eating three hot fun sundaes as a reward. Not a good way to trim down. For the same reason, if you save, say $60 a week or $240 in $5s in a month, it won’t help you grow your nest egg if you spent all of the $240 at month’s end. But how about banking $180 and using the remaining $60 to pay for something you really, really want, desire or need. An occasional reward for a job well done is a psychological tool that you don’t want to overlook. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Yours in Fives,

Marie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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