One of the ways I save money is by utilizing my piggy bank. Yes, I know it’s quite common for people to use piggy banks.
If you can have enough willpower to not raid it, it can be quite useful. It’s not uncommon to raid piggy banks. People do it all the time, mostly when they run out of money before the next payday or when they really want to buy stuff. This used to happen with us all the time, now we just go without if we went through all our money.
It may take a while to get into that mindset if you aren’t already, but it’s worth it. In 2010, my piggy bank helped us save $372.08 plus whatever we earned on that interest-wise.
Coins aren’t the only thing piggys like to eat, they also ♥ dollar bills. Yum! Whenever I feed my piggy, I immediately write off that money. When it’s full, I cash in the change at my bank (they have one of those nifty change counters) and then put the money in my ING savings account. That way, I earn interest off all that money we saved.
Now, you don’t have to use a traditional piggy bank, there are many other things you could use. Such as:
- Jars
- Coffee cans
- Zip-lock bags
- Vases
- Bottles
- Cans
- Buckets
- A sock
- Boxes
- Tissue boxes
- Bags
- Pretty much anything
The whole point is that you have something to put it in. Obviously, having something where you don’t see the money itself would work best.
Do you currently use a piggy bank?
Does it work out for you?
How much do you save by using piggy bank and what do you do with the money?
I use a “piggy bank” in the shape of another.
It yields around $500 a year. I use it for my annual weekend trip to NYC.
Frantic- $500 a year. WOW, that’s awesome.
We have a big coin jar that “found” money like yard sales or craigslist profits also goes into. Not sure how much is in there but it’s getting pretty heavy to move.
No Debt MBA- That’s cool, I wish I could get myself to put money from selling stuff in mine too. Is it easy for you guys not to get into it? Is the money for overall saving or do you guys have something planned?
It’s easy for us to get into. We actually steal quarters for laundry from it and replace them with $1 bills. The savings plan is basically long term we’d like to spend more time together than we do now. So maybe two weeks on the beach somewhere or (very long-term) downshifting career wise.
@No Debt MBA- Those are some great plans for your piggy savings. It’s way better than a huge TV or whatnot—time is precious and so many people take it for granted. I still have a hard time now and then focusing long-term with things. Sounds like you too are doing great staying on track.