Saving Mr. Lincoln June 2013 Update
Welcome to the 5th edition of Saving Mr. Lincoln! This monthly update posted the 12th of every month provides an insight into my personal challenge: saving $5.00 bills (Mr. Lincoln’s) that are either given to me as change from a transaction or as a gift. I’m happy to report that for the Saving Mr. Lincoln – June 2013 Update, I’ve added 29 Mr. Lincoln’s ($145.00) to my ever-growing savings account!
I can’t begin to tell you how excited this makes me because I am not known for being a saver, especially a saver of money! But, per my very first post on February 12, 2013, I was inspired by a snippet in a magazine about saving $5 bills and decided to give it a try. In that first post, I included 5 tips to help others (as well as myself) get started on this challenge:
- Open a free savings account – check
- Write down goals – check
- Challenge yourself – check
- Enlist a partner – check
- Keep track – check
Tip #1: Open a free savings account
I opened my free checking account at my bank on March 15th. By that date, I’d saved $150.00 and decided it was time. After all, having $150.00 around the house in cash was too much of a temptation! And, I don’t keep them in my wallet either! When I get a $5.00 bill as change or a gift, once I get home, I immediately remove it from my wallet and keep it somewhere else. That way, I don’t have it on me and spending it is becomes a little more difficult (i.e., I have to consciously decide to spend it by finding it and putting it back in my wallet).
Tip #2: Write down goals
I knew my goals from the beginning, but I didn’t share them with you! So, here they are:
- I want to create an “Emergency Fund” that we can access in times of emergency without having to charge these hiccups on credit cards.
- I want to travel abroad for several months within the next 10 years.
- I want to be more aware of my spending habits so that I can scale back on unnecessary expenditures.
Tip #3: Challenge yourself
Here are my challenges for each month thus far:
- From February 12th to March 12th: save a total of 10 $5 bills. Well, I exceeded and more than doubled that goal! I saved 22!
- From March 12th to April 12th: I challenged myself to not buy coffee drinks while out-and-about, but instead, make them at home. I was good the entire month and stuck to that challenge.
- From April 12th to May 12th: in addition to the coffee challenge, I added the challenge of not going to fast food restaurants. I failed miserably at both of these challenges multiple times blowing up my commitment to making small changes! But, in spite of failing miserably at my challenges, I did save $70.00 in $5 bills! So, not a complete loss!
- From May 12th to June 12th: try to stick to both the coffee challenge and the fast food challenge PLUS a third challenge, i.e., make a shopping list and stick to it! I’m happy to report that I stuck to the coffee challenge and only went to fast food twice (still some work to do on that challenge; it’s really hard for me!). As far as the 3rd challenge of sticking to a shopping list, that has been somewhat successful although I went to Costco last Saturday with a list and didn’t stick to the list! But, the extra things I purchased at Costco weren’t “luxury extras”, but groceries I forgot to put on my list in the first place (excuses, excuses!).
- From June 12th to July 12th: all the above challenges (because, obviously, I need to still work on attaining and mastering those challenges {grin}!) and my new challenge – seek out other ways to have fun for less money! I’m inspired by this challenge because on June 1st, we went to the Fairy Festival and it was free! Look for future posts starting Saturday about the Fairy Festival.
Tip #4: Enlist a partner
I’ve enlisted Charlie (actually, he asked if he could join me) and it’s been fun to receive his “gifts” as a contribution to our ever-growing savings account!
Tip #5: Keep track
I keep track of our savings in our savings account passbook plus by posting the results every month on our blog!
Here’s a breakdown of the total so far:
- February 12, 2013 – $40.00 (8 – $5 bills)
- March 12, 2013 – $110.00 (22 – $5 bills)
- April 12, 2013 – $80.00 (16 – $5 bills)
- May 12, 2013 – $70.00 (14 – $5 bills)
- June 12, 2013 – $145.00 (29 – $5 bills)
- Total – $445.00 (89 – $5 bills)
You may be wondering how one person can save 29 $5 bills organically throughout the month. Well, in reality, I’m not doing this alone. I’ve enlisted Charlie in this challenge and he gives me all of his $5 bills. So, you can either view these contributions as “gifts” from Charlie to me, or that 2 of us are doing this challenge together. The point: if you tell your significant other what you are doing and report to them your success every month, they may join you too! I didn’t have to ask him – he asked me if he could do it too {duh!}!
Have you started your Saving Mr. Lincoln challenge? If so, we would love to hear about your growing account and what motivates you to save!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about saving more, losing less, building financial security)
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