a .25 for every $1.....

[sabrelvssammy]

i have created a new challenge for myself for 2010....

taking 2 glass jars with large bellies but very small mouths/necks ...

spray painting the outsides so that i cannot see the contents inside....

ear-marking one for x-mas 2010 & the other vacation spending....

here's the plan.....
everytime i spend $1 i will put a .25 in the bottles (alternating equally)...dh pays the 'fixed' expenses and i will not include those-- while i am responsible for all 'variables' (food, hba's clothing, gifts, etc).....for every $1 that leaves my pocket--.25 goes into the jars....

i will also take .25 of every dollar of 'unexpected or found' money and contribute to the jars...(like when i get checks from taking survey's or refunds or any other 'unexpected' money coming in not from dh's paychecks).....

the purpose of the bottles and their shapes will require me to break them to access the money (kinda like the old 'piggy banks' when we were little)....and i won't be able to 'shake' any money out....
the spray-painting will help keep the balances a 'secret'...(i won't be able to look in and 'guess').....

when the next vacation rolls around i can break the vacation bottle and spend the contents....then start a new bottle for the next trip....

x-mas 2010 will be for purchasing presents (i have decided to most likely go with gift cards next year coz that seems to be what is making most of my family happiest)...if i do purchase a physical gift i will put the receipt into the jar and count it as money spent.... come dec of 2010 i will break the jar...purchase the gift cards on my list and whatever money left over will be a x-mas present to dh and i to do with whatever we want...and we have to buy ourselves something or go out to eat or something...no bill paying with it....(we could put it into the vacation fund bottle even)....(if i have any receipts i will re-imburse us for that amount back into the checkbook)....so the balance will be a total surprise to us...kinda like a 'surprise gift' from dh & I to dh & I......

so that is my new plan and goal beginning jan 1.....and i am excited to see just how much i can 'rack up' during the year...(hopefully this won't make me want to increase my spending....haha)....and i may 'tweak' and find reasons to have to add more to the jars as i go along...(maybe everytime i eat a snack i didn't need)....

[mama2James]

Very creative! I hope it works out wonderfully

[hotprincesscm]

Very cool idea!

[porembam]

Good Luck - sounds likes a fun game!

[Debbie-cat]

Good idea SS! You just want make sure you go on that trip again next year!

[sabrelvssammy]

i'm thinking i need a third bottle for b-days, anniversary's, when i need to send flowers for some reason, etc.....but this bottle i will be able to get into coz these things occur thruout the year and i don't want to have to keep busting bottles everytime....so i will be alternating between the 3 bottles....

i got to thinking i might just decorate the outside of the bottles too...(make me less want to break them)...x-mas i am going to take x-mas paper (before i pack it up and away) and cut out x-mas'y pictures and 'decopage' them all over the bottle and add stickers and other things..maybe some ribbons around the neck, etc... the vaca bottle will have a beach picture on it plus names of places i would like to visit covering it, shells on a ribbon tied around the neck or a luggage tag, etc.... same with the 'special occasions' bottle.....i'll cover it with themes from the above mentioned uses that it is for....

[danni]

I use any shape jar for my savings as long as it has the metal lid. Then I crazy glue the lid on and punch a piggy bank hole with a hammer and screwdriver. When the jar is full the only way in is to make the hole bigger by ripping apart the lid or smashing the jar. Have fun!!!

[savininfl]

I use an oversize tomato sauce can. I poke a slot threw the top for the coins to go in and empty the sauce out that way. I rinse and dry it out. I can't see in and the only way to get to it is with a can opener. I have 2 full right now waiting to spend on vacation!

[nodmicks]

Neat idea!

[tervsforme]

What great ideas! My mom loves to save change/coins. She has little boxes and containers of coins all around the house! She never spends any. She gave me my grandma's coins that she saved. I'm not allowed to spend them! LOL Well, most of them are wheat pennies I will need to go through one day.

[Dancing Lotus]

I love this idea.
I'm going to save all my change. I doubt I could afford .25 for every dollar I spend but I could put all my change in a jar.

It I couldn't get it open and I couldn't' see it that would remove the temptation to spend it.

I think I will use an empty broth can. I could just punch a hole in the top to get the broth out. Then the only way to get the change out would be to use a can opener.

[Greebo]

Very aggressive - looking forward to hearing about your progress!

[wwe11]

That sounds like a cool idea. I might have to do that with next Christmas.

[nuisance26]

~Saving money is always a good idea but I'm a little confused by your strategy. If you don't have this money in the budget to put away every month in a bank account, where is it going to come from now?~

[piney]

I started saving change the day i cashed it in a few weeks ago,i just put it in a coffee can.But i am thinking about saving eather $1. or $5. and that may be tempting to get into especially when yard sales start.