Why I Save Pirates Gold (a.k.a. Gold Dollars) & a Sexy Photo-shoot

So, Mr. J. Money over at Budgets are Sexy mentioned that I should take a pic of my plunder; how brilliant! So here are some sexy pictures of my gold dollars and why I save Pirate’s Gold.

It started like 6 years ago, I think??? My dad started giving these shiny little things to me here and there, for my birthdays and holidays. Immediately, I thought “Pirates Gold” and was hooked. Nope, I don’t have a treasure chest yet, but would like to find a small one someday.

Anyway, it is very difficult for me to part with these, which makes it easier to just save them. I have sort of pawned them to family once or twice, only in desperate situations.  Unfortunately, said family member is highly unstable, I wasn’t able to purchase them back. So there went a few hundred of them. :-( I haven’t always tried to save money like I do now, so these were a great starting point to get me moving in the right direction.

Saving gold dollars might not be realistic to some people, especially since they aren’t real gold. Like many things, there are pros and cons.

Pros:

I am saving. It still counts because it’s money either way, like saving your $1’s.
I am far less likely to use them.
They were all free because my dad gives them to me.
They’re kinda fun to save.

Cons:

I’m not earning any interest on these, it’s not like it would be much though.
People think I’m weird, not like I care, but still.

I figure as long as my dad keeps forking them over, I’ll keep saving them. Free money is free money. :-)

About Jen Perkins

Likes: saving money, being debt free (aside from our house), zombies, travel, getting money, blogging and dogs. Dislikes: debt, being broke, bunnies, wasting money, not having enough money to travel the world and paying interest. Facebook  ♥  Twitter  ♥  Google+  ♥  RSS

Comments

Why I Save Pirates Gold (a.k.a. Gold Dollars) & a Sexy Photo-shoot — 23 Comments

  1. These are sooo COOOL!!!!! i love ’em!!! and yes you totally need your own treasure chest – only then will it be complete :) Work it, yo!

  2. Oh my gosh – I so totally love this!!! I’d go to the bank and exchange some extra dollar bills for the coins just to do this!!! (I LOVE being weird.)
    One of my kids would think this is cool, too. His birthday is coming up (he’ll be 14) and maybe I’ll give him ten or so of these to get started!
    J’s right – you totally need your own treasure chest! (and get some “gems” and other treasures, for finishing touches)

    • Yeah, I’m pretty weird too. 😉 It sure makes life more interesting. Hoping to find one at a yard/garage sale one day.

  3. ha! I used to save those things too!!! I’d roll my coins in my piggy bank and exchange them for golden dollars so I had more portable coins in an emergency… instead of pennies… but it was harder to spend them

    I really should get back to stashing em! (your pictures are awesome.)

    • South County Girl- That’s a good idea about exchanging your piggy $ for them, and I could see how they would be easier to carry. Thanks! :-)

  4. I work in retail and i buy $1 coins from the till with my spare change. The managers like it because they can’t deposit the $1 coins anyway. Haha and i love the treasure chest idea!

  5. I do the exact same thing! My dad gave some to my kids years ago, and the tradition just stuck. Right now I keep them in an old metal tin, and every so often the kids will say “how much Gold do we have mom? They have started trading their allowance money for Gold coins too!! lol!

  6. Cool gold coin collection Jen! I think despite not earning interest, it’s a great way to encourage savings. Some people are great at building collections, but struggle with carrying that mentality over to saving money. You could always consider this a last resort emergency fund.

    • Good point, Jeremey. Financially speaking, my collecting gold dollars is way healthier than what I used to collect—designer bags and accessories. It would still be hard to use them as a last resort, I’ve become quite fond of my plunder. :-)

      • Yes if I had a cool collection like that I wouldn’t give it up easily either. Still, if something drastic did happen, you’d have that extra just in case all other options are tapped out. And it is definitely better than a designer bag collection. That gets damn expensive especially if you want the latest style each season. I used to buy purses for my girlfriend and the prices made me wince.

        • It really does get expensive. I’ve sold almost all my expensive purses over the last year and just have my favorite couple left. I chose to keep ones that would go with any outfit and I’m happier than when I had tons. I stopped keeping up with new styles and trends, it makes it way easier if you don’t know what’s out there. :-)