I have told a few friends about this trick now, and they have all loved it, so I thought I'd share here as well. Maybe some of you will find it helpful too.
I budget a set amount of discretionary spending money every two weeks (every paycheck) that I take out in cash so I know exactly how much I am allowed to spend and I can keep track of it closely. It's around $200 but varies depending on the time of year and other expenses that I might have. One rule I have set for myself with this cash is, quite simply,
I am not allowed to spend my $5 bills.
I take out my cash in twenties, usually, and when I break a twenty if I get a fiver back, I put it in a safe at home. I am not allowed to spend my fives, but anything else is fair game. I have found that I am never really inconvenienced by this rule, and it doesn't take long before I've saved up several hundred dollars in five dollar bills. Once every few months if there is a big purchase that I've been thinking about making, I'll spend my saved fives on it.
Let me know what you think, or if you've got similar savings tricks like this one!
December 19, 2019 at 06:54PM
