Never Spend a Dollar Bill

[PatsGirl]

Has anyone used Neal Boortz' proven method of saving? In his latest book, "Somebody's Got to Say It" which I absolutely love but won't go into detail about because it's too early in the am to discuss politics , he says that if you never spend a dollar bill you'd be amazed at the amount of money you can save. Every time you break a larger bill, say a $5 for coffee, you put the $1 bills away but can keep the change. If you break a $10, you can keep the $5 and the change but save the $1s. I've always saved all my change (except pennies now which I detest) and it really adds up but not sure if I have enough money to save all my dollar bills. I'm definately going to try this though. Anyone else tried this or anything like this? He absolutely swears by it and says of all the people he knows that have taken his advice everyone has saved a bundle.

 

[budbeerlady]

We do this to fund our trips. It really adds up, it pays for the MVMCP tickets, the BBB, the extra character breakfasts, the suvies, etc. It drives Dh nuts as I will pump $15.05 into the tank and pay with a $20. DD gets the change for her jar and I take the $4.

 

[jtoast]

It's a great idea but about 5 years too late. That's how long it's been since I carried cash on a regular basis.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I try and remember to do it. Sometimes I have to use the $1 bill for tip money, but other than that I save all my dollar bills. It goes towards my tip money for cruises!!!

 

[1of6]

I do this during the school year. All my singles and change go into a container to pay for all the extras at school...ie. field trips, lunch money, milk money, send $2 for this and $4 for that. I never have to scramble at the last minute.

 

[MrsPete]

Has anyone used Neal Boortz' proven method of saving? In his latest book, "Somebody's Got to Say It" which I absolutely love but won't go into detail about because it's too early in the am to discuss politics , he says that if you never spend a dollar bill you'd be amazed at the amount of money you can save. Every time you break a larger bill, say a $5 for coffee, you put the $1 bills away but can keep the change. If you break a $10, you can keep the $5 and the change but save the $1s. I've always saved all my change (except pennies now which I detest) and it really adds up but not sure if I have enough money to save all my dollar bills. I'm definately going to try this though. Anyone else tried this or anything like this? He absolutely swears by it and says of all the people he knows that have taken his advice everyone has saved a bundle.

Just like the change jar concept, this doesn't increase the amount of money you have -- it just shifts it around to a different place. The real answer, regardless of whether you're spending dollar bills or using a credit card, is to SPEND LESS.

If refusing to spend dollars makes you aware of "small purchases" that add up to large amounts, then it could be helpful. But most people'll just go to the ATM machine and withdraw more cash, which wont' help in the long run.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I think it's a great idea. I just don't carry a lot of cash on me. I use my debit card for everything.

 

[DiznEeyore]

I've actually been trying to do this to save for Christmas this year. It doesn't always work out -- we're on a tight budget, so sometimes I've just got to use the singles, but if you can hang onto them, they really do add up quickly!

 

[Tissa]

I never carry cash either so that is the problem for me. I've been looking into getting one of those Keep the Change accounts where every debit card purchase you make they round up and put the extra into a savings account.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I never carry cash either so that is the problem for me. I've been looking into getting one of those Keep the Change accounts where every debit card purchase you make they round up and put the extra into a savings account.

Do you have any idea what Bank does that? Thanks.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Bank of America does it. First the first 3 months after you join, they match funds saved 100%...it's 5% after that. I "saved" $80 last year because I always use my debit card.

 

[Rapunzel]

I do this with $1 Bills & $5 Bills. Normally DH and I use our debit card for everything, however each paycheck we've been taking out $100 in cash to use for random things. Each time we get change for a $20 any 5's or 1's get put into our change jar. We started this in Feb when I booked our trip to disney and I cashed in the jar about a month ago and had over $300!!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Bank of America does it. First the first 3 months after you join, they match funds saved 100%...it's 5% after that. I "saved" $80 last year because I always use my debit card.

Thanks for the info.

 

[kittymarcy]

I think it's a great idea. I just don't carry a lot of cash on me. I use my debit card for everything.

If you usually do debit and are good about recording each transaction in your checkbook register, just round the amount up there instead. You'll never miss the money & it adds up really quick! I do that AND the bank of american keep the change program.

 

[HayGan]

I didn't know that someone had actually proposed this as a way of saving but I have been doing it for several months now. I have managed to save over $350 by doing this. Plus, an additional benefit of it is that it makes me think twice about a purchase. I always think "do I really want to buy this and break a $10 or $20 for it?"

 

[Luv2Scrap]

This is how I financed my Sept Disney trip, except that I will start with a $20 and everything I don't spend out of it goes into my envelope at the end of the day. I never used to deal with cash either, but for this I did, and I took out a $20 whenever I needed money, which was easier for me because my bank is in the building where I work.

I started in Jan and by the time they announced Free Dining in Sept I had enough to pay for the trip in my Disney envelope!

 

[solferino]

Bank of America does it. First the first 3 months after you join, they match funds saved 100%...it's 5% after that. I "saved" $80 last year because I always use my debit card.

You can do it without Bank Of America's help (and account fees too!) but don't get the benefit of the matched funds.

Just round any transactions in your checking account up to the next even dollar. In the register I will write the actual transaction amount and in the tally column do the rounding.

 

[writersblock42]

It would never work with me. I pay all my bills online. At almost all stores, I pay with a credit card. To work I bring all my own drinks and I write a check for my account at work/school in the cafeteria or I pack my lunch. I use cash about twice a month. Instead what I do to save is I just work it into the budget. I say that I am going to save $400 a month. I make two transfers into a separate money market each month and pay it like it is a bill. I am guareenteed to save $400 a month-which I can almost guarantee is a lot more than saving $1 every time you break a larger bill.

 

[amsyw]

I read something similar to this in a magazine a couple of months ago. Only it was saving your 5's. We started doing it immediately! We have saved up over $200, that is just in about 2 months! Dh still uses his... unless I'm with him and then I just take them away from him! But he really doesn't use cash that much unless it is on the weekends and I'm with him anyway! If I get change I immediately stick the 5's in a different area of my wallet... that way if I want to buy something and don't have enough cash without seeing the 5's I don't make the purchase! I keep an envelope in the console of my vehicle and when I have $40-50 stashed I stop by the bank and deposit into our "vacation fund". After our trip, I'm going to continue to do it to help fund Christmas! We also quit using our change years ago. We keep a jar at home and empty pockets and wallets each night. It truly adds up fast. We save up a $200-300 about every 6 months. Pays for summer family vacation snacks/gas etc and DH & I take a anniversary trip every winter it pays for misc on those trips! We don't include any of it in our vacation budget, so it's for "extra's".

 

[izzyBandlivismom]

We have used some of this theory. I started putting 1 dollar bills in an envelope, I figured that I could put in a dollar a day. We are using it for our "Extra" money for our trip next may. For us, it is hard to part with a large chunk of $$ but when it is only $1, not so bad. We also save change and I do put a little away out of every paycheck, it is deposited in our account so we never even know that we have it!

I like the save your dollar theory!!