Saving Mr. Lincoln – Update 2016

For this year’s annual Saving Mr. Lincoln – Update 2016 report, I’m happy to share that we’ve saved Mr. Lincoln’s for 3 years today!  What is this all about?  Well, in honor of our 16th President’s, Abraham Lincoln, birthday (which is today) I post an annual update on our progress.  Saving Mr. Lincoln – Update 2016 is my attempt to resurrect this plan, once a year, and share with readers the easiest, most effective and painless way to save ever…and not even realize you are doing it!

On February 12, 2013 I did my very first post about this idea, Saving Mr. Lincoln, which I’ll share briefly here:

Save $5 bills.  

But, you don’t consciously save them.  You save the $5 bills that you receive as change from a purchase or as a gift.

After the first month of Saving Mr. Lincolns, Charlie joined in the plan and we both saved Mr. Lincolns until April 2015.  In late March, April, May and June of last year (2015), Charlie was very ill, hospitalized for two months during those four months and when he was home, he was bedridden.  So, since April 2015, I’m the only one Saving Mr. Lincolns again because Charlie no longer goes anywhere without me.

That little detour into Charlie’s health condition wasn’t meant to illicit sympathy or pity because Charlie is doing great!  His doctors are astounded at his recovery and he has recovered about 90% of what he was able to do before.

But, he no longer drives, so doesn’t go anywhere without me, which means I’m really the one doing all the spending (and receiving those Mr. Lincolns as change), so I want you to consider that when I announce the total.

Are you ready?  Drumroll…

$4,340.23

I’m so excited to share with readers that for Saving Mr. Lincoln – Update 2016, in 36 months, we have saved $4,340.23!  That’s 868 Lincolns!  Over 36 months, that’s 24 Lincolns a month OR an average of $120.00 a month.  Easy.  Painless.  Effective.

I wont’ spend the next few minutes outlining all the details about how we have done it.  Instead, if you are truly interested, just read my earlier posts (links below):

• Saving Mr. Lincoln
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – March 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – April 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – May 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – June 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – July 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – August 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – September 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – October 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – November 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – December 2013
• Saving Mr. Lincoln – January 2014

For an entire year, I posted our progress monthly, gave myself monthly challenges (some of which I failed miserably) and shared ways to have fun without spending too much money.  I truly believe this exercise blazed the way for me to become a better consumer.  This Saving Mr. Lincoln plan has transformed me from the “ultimate” consumer to a more “mindful” consumer:

• I’m more aware of my frivolous spending.
• I’m more aware of ways to save (a novel idea to me – but one way to save is to not spend; a concept that I’ve wrestled with for years).
• I’m more aware of using things up or recycling them or repurposing them or reusing them rather than throwing them away.

After a year, while I continued with my Saving Mr. Lincoln plan, I decided that I’d probably more than made my point on this blog and decided it was time to announce Saving Mr. Lincoln’s Retirement!

After another year, I shared an annual update in 2015:  The Easier, Most Effective Way to Save…Ever.

Anyway, I’m a firm believer in this plan and wanted to resurrect it again this year in honor of Mr. Lincoln’s birthday!

This is a Mr. Lincoln rose in my rose garden – stunning!

One more thing:  I want to share a story with you that my defacto niece by default (her name is Rhianna, and she is my niece’s, Tiffany’s, step-sister) told me last November.  She saved her Mr. Lincolns for about a year and splurged on a big screen TV!  Isn’t that exciting?  She saved for something rather than putting it on a credit card!  And, she had money left over so she still has a Saving Mr. Lincoln account going strong!  Congrats, Rhianna!  Good job!

Here are a few posts on other sites about this same concept:

Save Every $5 Bill for a Painless, Fun Way to Build Your Savings Account on Lifehacker

Saving $5 Bills on Livewell Network

Turning $5 into Thousands on Get Rich Slowly

Tootles,