Save A Dollar A Day
Multiple $1 Into 70,000!
Can you save a buck a day? This is a great exercise to do with older kids, but I know many frugal adults who do it too. Get a jar, and then scoop out your change every day. This includes any change you find on the floor or in the laundry or in your couch. Try to make sure you put at least $1 in the jar every day.
At the end of the month you should have about $30. Now it is time to find a bank that has a coin machine, so you can take that jar down to the bank and deposit it into a savings account. If you use a coin sorter at the grocery star, like a Coin Star Machine, they usually charge a very high amount for their service. The one by me takes 8%, which is quite a lot. But I have a nearby bank which lets me do it for free.
Even without interest, that $1 a day or $30 a month, is $360 a year. With interest, even at 3 percent interest, you should have over $4,000 at the end of 10 years. If you can get your kids to do this for 30 years, they will have over $15K. And this is at an online savings account interest of 3%. Hopefully you can find some savings vehicles that do a little better over time. And this took into account a tax rate of 28%, which is certainly too high for a 30 year span. Your kids probably aren’t being taxed, and you may retire at some point so your tax rate should not be that high!
Now turn that $1 a day into $5, or $150 a month. I am still taking taxes into account, as well as interest. In only 15 years, you should have over $30,000!
Now I am paying a home mortgage with 15 years to go. I plan to have that savings account meet the amount left on my loan at some point so I can own my home outright. This will get my home paid off well before the retirement age of 65.
Look at this handy Savings Calculator.
How To Save $1 a Day (Or $5 a Day)
My big problems are impulse stops at the corner drug store, and impulse buys at the grocery store. I know I grab stuff I don’t need. I need to get my pantry organized so I can see that I have purchased 3 jars of pickles and 6 containers of applesauce. Though my family loves applesauce and pickles, we would appear to be well stocked this month.
I am, pretty much, cutting out movies at the theatre. We would go once a month, and with dinner, it would end up costing my family almost $100. We are replacing it with movie rental night at home, which I can pull off for $20 max. So that $80 is going into the jar. I figure we can wait a month or two until first run movies come out on DVD.
And when I am out and about on errands and business, I really do not need a $5 cup of coffee. A $1 cup of convenience store coffee will serve. That should get me a lot more small bills to scrape out of my wallet every week.
Can you save $1 a Day or $5 a Day. Post your Comments!
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Why Aren’t We Saving Money? Impulse Spending and No Budget!
Why Aren’t Americans Saving Money?
FREE EASY BUDGET WORKSHEET TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT
Most of us aren’t saving enough money for one simple reason. The reason is that we spend too much! The reason that we spend too much is because we have not spent a few minutes to prepare a budget, and so we have totally underestimated our monthly expenses. That is why we have included this simple budget worksheet.
I have to be honest. When I sat down and worked out my budget, I had underestimated my monthly expected by hundreds of dollars. Oh, I figured in my mortgage, and I even allowed for utilities and insurance. But I think I made the same mistake that many people make, and I underestimated what I spent every month on groceries and other consumable goods.
See I remembered what I spent on groceries, but I did not remember to include the mid-week trip to pick up more shampoo and dog food, or the three times a week I ran into my corner drug store, and the almost daily stops at the convenience store. I needed to double the figure.
That miscalculation made me think I had more money for eating out, movies, and clothes then I did. That miscalculation added up to $500 a month. And that was before I remembered to add in $50 a month for family haircuts, $200 a month for my kid’s lunch money, and another $200 a month for the cash that I handed them when they needed something at school or had a function to attend. So I miscalculated by almost $1,000!
So why not prepare your budget summary now?
budget, saving money
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