Saving Mr. Lincoln – April 2013 Update
Launched on February 12th, my Saving Mr. Lincoln project has been so exciting and rewarding for me! I’m proud to report that the Saving Mr. Lincoln – April 2013 Update netted an additional $80.00 to my savings account! Between March 12th and April 12th, I managed to collect 16 five dollar bills, organically.
Organically? What the heck am I talking about? Well, starting on February 12, 2013 (Lincoln’s birthday), I started saving $5 bills that are either given to me as a gift or as a result of change from a purchase.
From February 12th to March 12th, I saved $110.00 (okay, a little clarification here: when I started this project, I already had 8 $5 bills in my wallet – so, $40.00. If you exclude that, I actually collected $70.00 from February 12th to March 12th).
No matter – the end result is that my new savings account has $190.00 in it!!! In two months!
Last month, Charlie joined me in this project, so in reality, this $190.00 is a joint effort. Every time he ends up with a $5 bill, he brings it to me to add to my stash (so a gift!). It’s out of his hands and I’m happy to take it and add it to our growing account!
My Saving Mr. Lincoln project has been so motivating to me that I’ve decided to add saving coins to our “kitty”. Charlie never likes to spend his coins and just puts coins, that he receives as change, in the ash tray of his truck (no, he doesn’t smoke, so the ash tray isn’t full of ashes!).
And, when his ash tray is full, he starts putting the coins in the side pocket of his truck’s door! On top of that, he has a jar on his desk that says “New Truck Fund” (he has a really old 2002 truck).
New Truck Fund bank!
So, when I opened my new Saving Mr. Lincoln account at my bank in February, I asked them for coin wrappers. They gave me a nice stash and I sat in front of the TV one night and rolled about half of his coins and Charlie rolled the other half. Guess what? He had $93.50 in change!
This doesn’t include my coin change. I’ve always spent my change out-and-about. No more! I’m saving my coin change, too!
So, to recap, my new Saving Mr. Lincoln account has a grand total of $283.50 after 2 months of saving!
Last month, I challenged myself to not spend any money on coffee drinks in coffee bars/stores. I’m happy to say that I kept to that challenge, so the $70.00 saved this month did not include receiving change by purchasing a drink. I’m going to add a new challenge every month and this month I’ve chosen to stay away from fast food restaurants and drive-in restaurants. I’ll report back next month and tell you how I did. So, here’s my list of challenges, which will continue to grow every month:
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Don’t purchase coffee drinks from coffee vendors when out-and-about. If I want such a drink, I’ll create it at home.
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Avoid fast food restaurants and drive-through restaurants. Plan ahead so that I’m not hungry when out-and-about and, therefore, not tempted.
Join me in the challenge. I know you will find it rewarding and motivating because it’s fun to:
- Receive a $5 bill as change and immediately know that you will put it aside and add it to your account.
- Watch how fast your account grows with moderate effort on your part.
- See how painless it is if you stick with it and get it out of your hands and into your savings account.
Have you started Saving Mr. Lincoln yet? Let me know – I’d love to hear your stories!
Tootles,
P.S. I forgot to mention that my bank gave me a cute piggy bank just for opening my account! Here’s a picture.
My Piggy Bank
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(other posts in this series)
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